ISGM – About Us

Leaders

Rachel Nanson (Geoscience Australia)

Rachel is an applied geomorphologist with over 20 years research experience in fluvial (PhD), coastal (postdoc and PI), and marine (government: 2017-) depositional systems, ranging from alpine peatlands through tropical deltas to deep marine environments. A key focus of her work has been developing geomorphic classification and mapping systems that distil detailed sedimentary facies interpretations into spatial data to support environmental reconstruction, resource management, hydrological studies, and risk assessment.

 

 

Riccardo Arosio (University College Cork)

Riccardo is a marine geologist working at University College Cork as a Senior Postdoctoral Researcher. He is involved in the development of geomorphological mapping protocols for the shallow Irish seabed. His main research interests are fundamentally marine and Quaternary geology, the decipherment of the sparse evidence left by past events to reconstruct ancient landscapes, utilising different tools from geomorphology to sedimentology. He also collaborates closely with ecologists to create map products that can have an impact on marine spatial planning and influence policy makers.

 

Members

Joana Gafeira (British Geological Survey)

Joana is a marine geologist with more than 20 years of experience. Joana began her career with the marine geology team of the Portuguese Geological Survey before moving to the UK to complete a PhD at the University of Edinburgh and joining the British Geological Survey. Since then, Joana has contributed to various government-funded marine mapping projects, blue skies scientific research and worked on numerous commercial projects. Joana’s ongoing research spans all aspects of marine geomorphology and geohazards, and she specialises in the interpretation of multibeam bathymetric, backscatter and seismic data.

 

 

Dayton Dove (British Geological Survey)

With scientific, policy, and commercial applications, Dayton’s work focuses on characterising the geology and physical character of the seabed and shallow sub-seabed, which underpins a range of marine activities, e.g., offshore renewables, ecosystem science, marine management, and research on environmental change.  From post-grad in Alaska, to geophysical survey company in UK, to British Geological Survey (BGS) in Edinburgh since 2008 (minus two-year Sabbatical working with NOAA in Hawaii).

 

 

Mardi McNeil (Geoscience Australia)

Mardi is a marine environmental geoscientist with a background in carbonate depositional environments, marine geomorphology, sedimentology, and paleo-environmental reconstruction. Having transitioned from academic research to a Commonwealth government geoscience agency, her work is currently focused on mapping and characterising the geomorphology of seabed features in Australia’s vast marine estate, translating data into information to support key national priorities and programs. Fieldwork at sea has taken her from the tropics to Antarctica.

 

 

Lilja Bjarnadóttir (Geological Survey of Norway)

Lilja’s background is in marine, glacial and Quaternary geology (PhD), with fieldwork and research experience from contemporary and palaeo-glacial environments in terrestrial and marine settings in Iceland, Norway and the Arctic. Her scientific work includes mapping and interpreting sediment characteristics, stratigraphy, geomorphology and related processes, e.g. for ice sheet reconstructions and seabed maps for ocean management. She leads the Quaternary geology section (2021-), and the geology-part of Norway’s MAREANO seabed mapping programme (2013-) at the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU).

 

 

Margaret Dolan (Geological Survey of Norway)

Margaret is a marine geoscientist with a particular interest in seabed geomorphology for habitat mapping. Building on experience from the tropics (SE Asia, Caribbean) her work has drawn her ever closer to the importance of geomorphic features for benthic habitats. With a focus on geomorphometric analysis and classification methods to support the development of geological and habitat maps she spent several years in Ireland and has been working at the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU) since 2006.