I am interested in a variety of geomorphological and glaciological problems. An early and continuing curiosity about deposition on alluvial fans and playas in arid regions led me to studies of the affect of recent tectonic movements on pluvial lake shorelines and on depositional patterns on fans. In the general area of fluvial geomorphology, I conducted a laboratory study of the mechanics of flow in meander bends. Most of my research, however, has been in the field of glacial geology and glaciology. My early work in this area was on Barnes Ice Cap on Baffin Island in the Canadian arctic where I studied the mechanics of moraine formation at the margins of polar ice sheets and the temperature distribution and deformation in such ice sheets. Between 1981 and 1995 I directed a glaciological research program on Storglaciren, in northern Sweden, focusing on the effect of subglacial water pressure variations on glacier dynamics and on subglacial till deformation. I’ve also done some ‘ballpark’ calculations on the role of humans in shaping the landscape, and am particularly concerned about the effect of overpopulation on resources and ecological services.
Presently I am mapping river terraces and eskers in Maine, and integrating my observations on the morphology and sedimentology of the eskers with theoretical work on water flow and transport of coarse sediment in subglacial conduits. I am also analyzing the adjustment of the crust in New England to retreat of the Laurentide ice sheet.