Prof Stephen Tooth

Geography BSc degree from the University of Southampton

PhD in Physical Geography from the University of Wollongong, Australia.

Prof Stephen Tooth

Chair

Geography and Earth Sciences

Contact Details

Professor Stephen Tooth graduated with a Geography BSc degree from the University of Southampton and completed a PhD at the University of Wollongong, Australia.  Following a short stint as a Temporary Lecturer at the University of Nottingham, England, he undertook postdoctoral work at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, before joining DGES (formerly IGES) in April 2000.

Group Affiliation

Earth Surface Processes Research Group

Research Interests

Geomorphology and sedimentology, especially in the drylands of Australia, southern Africa, southern Europe, South America and India. Particular research themes include: anabranching rivers; floodplains and floodouts; wetlands in drylands; channel-vegetation interactions; bedrock-influenced rivers; controls on gully erosion; long-term fluvial landscape development; palaeoenvironmental change; global climate change and the Anthropocene; and the use of drylands on Earth as analogues for Martian surface environments.  Other interests include environmental issues more generally, such as current debates about global climate change and the Anthropocene, science-art collaborations, and science education.

Current PhD Students

: Blue Bell  (AU, co-supervised with Dr Hywel Griffiths, DGES)

: Jayesh Mukherjee  (AU, co-supervised with Dr Hywel Griffiths, DGES)

: Nuala Dunn (AU, co-supervised with Julian Ruddock, School of Art)

: Tasmin Griffiths (University of Gibraltar, co-supervised with Keith Bensusan, Gibraltar Botanic Gardens)

‘A flash in the pan’ or a more enduring contribution? A retrospective on Micha Klein’s (1976) ‘Hydrograph peakedness and basin area’, Earth Surface Processes, vol. 1: 27–30. / Mukherjee, Jayesh; Tooth, Stephen; Singh, Manudeo et al.
In: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, Vol. 51, No. 7, e70355, 10.07.2026.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/Debate › peer-review

Human-nature interactions in the Chambal Badlands, India: geomorphological perspectives on the dual challenges of land degradation and geoheritage promotion. / Singh, Manudeo; Ranga, Vikram ; Kumar, Ajay et al.
2026. Poster session presented at EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria.

Research output: Contribution to conference › Poster

The potential of poetry for enchanting and communicating geomorphology. / Griffiths, Hywel M.; Tooth, Stephen; Gwynn, Elinor.
In: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, Vol. 51, No. 5, e70277, 31.05.2026.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

The Thar Desert in India: Landscapes transformed by human activities. / Tooth, Stephen; Singh, Manudeo; Mukherjee, Jayesh.
In: Geography Review, Vol. 39, No. 3, 01.02.2026, p. 22-27.

Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article

A geoscience perspective on the gully erosion problem across the interior of southern Africa. / Tooth, Stephen.
In: South African Journal of Science, Vol. 121, No. 9/10, #21672, 29.09.2025.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

More publications on the Research Portal