Biography

1933-41 Prince Henry's Grammar School, Evesham

1941-42 St Catharine's College, Cambridge University

1942-45 RAF: Flying instructor in Canada 1943-5

1945-47 Returned to Cambridge. 1st Class honours, Geography

1947-49 Geographer attached to Geological Survey Department, Nigeria.
Reported on gullying in south-east Nigeria and soil erosion on Jos Plateau

1949-82 Lecturer, Geography Department, Cambridge University

1949-54 Studies of soil erosion in Scotland and coastal change in England for Nature Conservancy

1954 Married Jean Clark and collaborated with her in studying Little Ice Age and related topics for almost 50 years

1964-92 Fellow of Downing College, 1971-77 Senior Tutor, 1988-91 Vice-Master

1952 -55 Studies of population and land use in Katsina Province and Benue Valley, Nigeria

1955- 80 Studies of climate history of the Sahara and Kalahari, Ethiopia and East Africa.

1958 Member of Cambridge University/BritishArmy Expedition to Tibesti

1963 Visiting Professor University of Legon, Ghana

1965-81 Editorial board, CUP Cambridge Geographical Studies Series

1969 Member of Trans Africa Hovercraft Expedition

1970 Fieldwork in Ethiopia followed by semester as Visiting Professor at UCLA

1971 Consultant ECA/UNESCO Seminar on Human Environment, Addis Ababa
Correspondent IGU Working Group on Arid Lands and Dry Land Management.

1972-75 Member of Council, Royal Geographical Society

1976 Director United Nations Graduate Course on "The Control of Desertification"

1980-82 Editorial Board of Arid Lands Abstracts
Editorial Board African Archaeological Review

1982 Awarded Busk Medal by Royal Geographical Society

1980-86 Director, African Studies Centre, Cambridge University

1988-93 Project leader of European Community Research Programme, Environmental Change in Crete and the Aegean

1992-95 Took part in MEDALUS (Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use)
European Union Programme.

1995-2011 Research and writing on climate history and climate change