Biography

Biography
David Robinson graduated from the University of London in 1967 and moved to Sussex in 1970 after 3 years as a post-graduate Tutor at Kings College, London.

He is currently Reader in Physical Geography.

He has spent short periods as a visiting lecturer at the Universities of Zambia and Sierra Leone.

From 1993-99 he was Dean of the School of African and Asian Studies and is currently the University Director of Academic Programmes

He was Treasurer and an Executive Committee member of the British Society for Geomorphology 2006-2011

Role

Director of Academic Programmes, University of Sussex and Reader in Geography, School of Global Studies.

David has has pursued two distinct fields of research throughout his career at Sussex.
These are:

i) rock weathering and landform evolution, which in recent years has focused on coastal environments in particular.

ii) soil erosion and land degradation

In rock weathering and landform evolution, David has collaborated extensively, both in the field and in the laboratory with his colleagues Drs Rendel Williams (now retired), Cherith Moses and Julian Murton. He has undertaken field studies of weathering processes and landforms in a wide variety of environments in Britain, mainland Europe, Africa and North America, and conducted numerous laboratory simulation experiments into processes mechanical rock weathering. He is a member of SWAPNET, an interdisciplinary network of international researchers who study various aspects of stone weathering. He is a member of the Coastal and Esturine Research Group at Sussex (CERAS) whose research in recent years has been supported by the EU, EA and DEFRA. He has collaborated and published extensively with Dr. Uwe Dornbusch, a former post-Doc researcher at Sussex, who is now a coastal specialist at the Environment Agency. His current research interests in rock weathering and coastal processes include:

• Sub-aerial weathering of natural rock outcrops; building and monumental stones.
• Weathering and erosion of sea cliffs, shore platforms and beach shingle
• Sandstone weathering and the evolution of sandstone landforms

Coastal research has in recent years focussed in particular on the impacts of environmental and climatic change on weathering and erosion processes and on the sustainability of beaches and coastal management practices

In soil erosion, David has undertaken research and published papers on aspects of soil erosion and land degradation in Africa, southern Europe and southern Britain, work that has been funded at various times by British Council, Leverhulme, NERC/MAFF and the EU.  Current research interest is focused on:

• the relationships between soil crusting and erosion;
• the influence of the stone content of soils on erosion processes
• the influence of farming practices and farmers attitudes to erosion on arable land

Geography 1st and 2nd year: Field classes in Sussex and Vietnam. 

Geography and Development Studies 3rd Year: Environment, Ecology and Development

MA: Environment, Development and Policy: Critical Debates in Environment and Development.

MSc. Applied Geomorphology: Risk Mitigation, Planning and Engineering.

Administration
David has held numerous Senior administrative posts within the University and is currently Director of Academic Programmes for the University.

Student Consultation

Thursday 10.00 - 11.00 and Thursday 14.00 - 15.00

Dornbusch, U and Robinson, D A (2011) Block removal and step backwearing as erosion processes on rock shore platforms: a preliminary case study of the chalk shore platforms of south-east England. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 36 (5). pp. 661-671. ISSN 0197-9337

Moses, Cherith and Robinson, David (2011) Chalk coast dynamics: implications for understanding rock coast evolution. Earth Science Reviews, 109 (3-4). pp. 63-73. ISSN 0012-8252

Robinson, David A and Moses, Cherith A (2011) Rock Surface and Weathering: Process and Form. In: The SAGE Handbook of Geomorphology. SAGE, pp. 291-309. ISBN 9781412929059

Robinson, David A and Moses, Cherith A (2011) Rock surface weathering: Process and Form. In: Sage Handbook of Geomorphology. Sage.

Short, Brian and Robinson, David (2011) Geography. In: Making the future: a history of the University of Sussex. University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, pp. 279-82. ISBN 9780904242690

Dornbusch, Uwe, Moses, Cherith, Robinson, David A and Williams, Rendel (2010) Soft copy photogrammetry to measure shore platform erosion on decadal time scales. In: Coastal and Marine Geospatial Technologies, Coastal and Continental Margins, Volume 13. Springer, pp. 129-137. ISBN 978-1-4020-9719-5

Dornbusch, Uwe, Moses, Cherith, Robinson, David A and Williams, Rendel (2010) Soft copy photogrammetry to measure shore platform erosion on decadal time scales. In: Coastal and Marine Geospatial Technologies. Springer, pp. 129-138. ISBN 9781402097195

Curoy, J, Moses, C A, Robinson, D A and Williams, R B G (2009) Profile evolution and active layer measurements on a macrotidal composite gravel beach, Somme Estuary, France. Zeitschrift fur Geomorphologie, 53 (3). pp. 387-409. ISSN 0372-8854

Curoy, J, Moses, C A, Robinson, D A and Williams, R B G (2009) Profile Evolution and active layer measurements on a macrotidal composite gravel beach, Somme estuary, France. Zeitschrift fur Geomorphologie, 53 (3). pp. 387-409. ISSN 0372-8854

Dornbusch, Uwe, Robinson, David A, Moses, Cherith A and Williams, Rendel B G (2008) Variation in beach behaviour in relation to groyne spacing and groyne type for mixed sand and gravel beaches, Saltdean, UK. Zeitschrift fur Geomorphologie Supplementband, 52 (3). pp. 125-143. ISSN 0044-2798

Robinson, D A and Woodun, J K (2008) An experimental study of crust development on chalk downland soils and their impact on runoff and erosion. European Journal of Soil Science, 59 (4). pp. 784-798. ISSN 1351-0754

Dornbusch, Uwe, Williams, Rendel B G, Moses, Cherith A and Robinson, David A (2008) Foreshore Narrowing along the Coast of Southeast England, UK-A Reevaluation. Journal of Coastal Research, 4 (Supp). pp. 14-24.

Dornbusch, Uwe, Robinson, David A, Moses, Cherith A and Williams, Rendel B G (2008) Temporal and spatial variations of the chalk cliff retreat rate in East Sussex 1873 to 2001. Marine Geology, 249 (3-4). pp. 271-282. ISSN 0025-3227

Dornbusch, Uwe, Moses, Cherith A, Williams, Rendel B G and Robinson, David A (2008) Foreshore Narrowing along the Coast of Southeast England, UK- A Re-evaluation. Journal of Coastal Research, 24 (4). pp. 14-24. ISSN 0749-0208

Watt, Tamsin, Robinson, David, Moses, Cherith and Dornbusch, Uwe (2008) Patterns of surface sediment grain size distribution under the influence of varying wave conditions on a mixed sediment beach at Pevensey Bay, southeast England. Zeitschrift fur Geomorphologie, 52 (S3). pp. 63-77. ISSN 0372-8854

Dornbusch, Uwe, Robinson, David A, Moses, Cherith A and Williams, Rendel B G (2008) Temporal and spatial variations of the chalk cliff retreat rate in East Sussex. Marine Geology, 249. pp. 271-282.

Curoy, J, Dornbusch, U, Moses, C A, Robinson, D A and Williams, R B G (2007) Cross-shore and longshore transport of tracer pebbles on a macrotidal mixed sediment beach, Somme Estuary, France. In: Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium on Coastal Engineering and Science of Coastal Sediment Processes.

Moses, C A, Robinson, D A, Williams, R B G and Marques, F M S F (2006) Predicting rates of shore platform downwearing from rock geotechnical properties and laboratory simulation of weathering and erosion processes. Zeitschrift fur Geomorphologie Supplementband, 144. pp. 19-37. ISSN 0044-2798

Dornbusch, U, Robinson, D A, Moses, C, Williams, R and Costa, S (2006) Retreat of Chalk cliffs in the eastern English Channel during the last century. Journal of Maps, 2006. pp. 71-78.

Watt, Tamsin, Dornbusch, Uwe, Moses, Cherith and Robinson, David (2006) Surface sediment distribution patterns on mixed beaches in response to wave conditions. In: Proceedings of Coastal Dynamics 2005, Barcelona.

Dornbusch, Uwe, Moses, Cherith, Robinson, David and Williams, Rendel (2005) Soft copy photogrammetry to measure shore platform erosion by decadal time scales. In: Proceedings of CoastGIS 2005, Aberdeen.

Dornbusch, U, Moses, C A, Robinson, D A and Williams, R B G (2004) Laboratory abrasion tests on beach flint shingle. In: Coastal Chalk Cliff Stability. Geological Society Engineering Special Publication 20, pp. 131-138. ISBN 1862391505

Williams, R B G, Robinson, D A, Dornbusch, U, Foote, Y L M, Moses, C A and Saddleton, P R (2004) A sturzstrom-like cliff fall on the chalk coast of Sussex, UK. In: Coastal Chalk Cliff Stability. Unset.

Dornbusch, U, Robinson, D A, Williams, R B G and Moses, C A (2003) Estimation of abrasion on flint shingle beaches in East Sussex, UK. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Coastal Sediments 2003..

Moses, Cherith and Robinson, David (2002) Rapid asymmetric weathering of a limestone obelisk in a coastal environment: Telscombe Cliffs, Brighton, UK. In: Understanding and managing stone decay. Karolinum Press.

Dornbusch, U, Williams, R B G, Moses, C and Robinson, D A (2002) Life expectancy of shingle beachers: measuring in situ abrasion. Journal of Coastal Research. pp. 249-255.

Murton, J B, Coutard, J-P, Lautridou, J-P, Ozouf, J-C, Robinson, D A and Williams, R B G (2001) Physical modelling of bedrock brecciation by ice segregation in permafrost. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 12 (3). pp. 255-266. ISSN 1045 6740