Professor Richard Williams

  • Professor of River Science (School of Geographical & Earth Sciences)

telephone: 01413304788
email: Richard.Williams@glasgow.ac.uk

School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, East Quadrangle Room 510, G12 8QQ

Import to contacts

ORCID iDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6067-1947

Biography

I am Director of Research in the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences. I facilitate a research environment that enables our students and staff to undertake distinct research, often interdisciplinary and international, to address the world’s most important geographical and environmental challenges. Our School’s research engages with the public and generates impact, often related to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

I co-create and lead large, international, interdisciplinary environmental research projects that aim to understand and mitigate anthropogenic impacts on river systems. Project PAMANA will provide a holistic understanding of the legacy, present and future environmental and ecological impacts of mining on Philippine river systems. The Philippine Catchment Project has quantified national-scale river mobility, generated new geodatabases on catchment characteristics, and modelled the impact of landscape change on flood risk. These projects support, and have supported, the development of many Early Career Researchers to use machine learning, analyse geospatial big data, and interpret associated patterns and insights. They have also led to national-scale policy briefings and the incorporation of a nature-based geomorphic approach to river management.

In the United Kingdom, I am a co-investigator of the NERC Strategic Programme GALLANT: Glasgow as a Living Lab Accelerating Novel Transformation. My role is to direct numerical modelling to assess how climate change, and nature-based and geo-engineering solutions would impact flood risk along the River Clyde. I have also previously led projects that have investigated the impact of hydropower schemes on river dynamics (with SEPA and NatureScot), assessed the risk of river erosion to water and sewage pipeline crossings (with Scottish Water) and assessed change in physical habitat from river restoration (with Tweed Forum). These projects have changed river management practices. For over a decade, I have been leading field-based monitoring projects using novel geospatial techniques (progressing from ground-based laser scanning, to UAV photogrammetry, to UAV laser scanning) that assess the geomorphological evolution of (i) six upland river restoration schemes and (ii) the rewilding of a braided river.

My field and remote-sensing observations of rivers primarily focus upon the Philippines, New Zealand, Scotland, northern England, Indonesia and Canada. Field highlights, with local partners, include an eight-month campaign quantifying the morphodynamics of the braided Rees River (New Zealand), assessing the geomorphological and geochemical consequences of the Mt Polley tailings dam failure (British Columbia, Canada), mapping the impacts of a large landslide on the Dart River (New Zealand), and exploring the interaction between landscape change, anthropogenic management and flood risk on the Bislak River (Luzon, the Philippines), and evaluating the environmental impacts of small- and large-scale mining on the River Ambalanga (the Philippines).

I serve the academic and professional river science community through a variety of roles. I am a member of the Chartered Institute of Water and Environment’s (CIWEM) accreditation board for university degree, continued professional development, and professional development schemes. I am also a member of NERC’s peer review college. I have previously (to 2023) served as Secretary for the British Society of Geomorphology.

Research interests

My primary research focuses on sustainable riverscape management. I use the term riverscape because rivers are connected to their landscape and are thus intrinsically intertwined with the locations and dynamics of sediment, people, infrastructure and ecology. Riverscapes are one of the most biologically rich and threatened ecosystems on Earth, yet are also a source of peril through their conveyance of floodwaters and contaminants, and their role in eroding and depositing sediment. Through teaching, mentoring and supervision I aim to build the capacity of river scientists, students and management practitioners to improve the health of the world’s rivers whilst mitigating the consequences of natural hazards.

I have led the application of a variety of ground-, air- and space-based sensors to quantify river flows and landscape change. Recent research has focused upon generating reach- to catchment-scale repeat topographic surveys to enable the calibration and assessment of hydraulic and morphodynamic numerical models. I have also led research that has pioneered the use of archival satellite imagery to quantify national-scale river dynamics. I also use a variety of interdisciplinary techniques to gather data on riverscapes, including historical archives and citizen science. Since a significant proportion of my research takes places in a development context, I have also conducted research on capacity building to enable reflective and adaptable knowledge co-production.

I supervise a diverse range of masters by research and doctoral students, who are passionate about rivers. Research topics of ongoing and recent students include: river restoration and rewilding; landslide dynamics; rivers and vegetation; tropical rivers; natural flood risk management; quantifying flood dynamics; distributive fluvial systems; more-than-human encounters with rivers; and satellite remote sensing. Studentship funding sources include NERC, ESRC, China Scholarship Council, British Council, Department of Science and Technology (Philippines), Petroleum Technology Development Fund (Nigeria), Lord Kelvin Adam Smith (Glasgow), and self-funding.

Career

Richard has an undergraduate degree in Geography, from the University of Cambridge, and a masters degree, in Science of the Environment, from Lancaster University. After his masters, Richard worked for four years at JBA Consulting, an environmental consultancy, where he undertook research and applied projects for the UK Government, private developers, and the insurance and reinsurance industries. Richard moved to Aberystwyth University in 2009 to work as a Research Assistant on the NERC funded ReesScan Project; he was based in New Zealand for an eight-month field campaign and a subsequent six-month visit to NIWA and the University of Canterbury and Auckland. At this time he also commenced his doctoral work on modelling braided river dynamics, cumulating in a PhD in 2014. Richard was appointed to a lectureship at Aberystwyth University in 2013. He moved to a lectureship at the University of Glasgow in 2015 and was promoted to Professor in 2022. Richard undertook a six-month industrial secondment to CBEC eco-engineering in 2016-7 and was an international visiting scholar at the University of Auckland in 2019.

Richard is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and a Chartered Member of the Institute of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM).

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011
Number of items: 46.

2024

Panici, D., Bennett, G., Boothroyd, R. J. , Abancó, C., Williams, R. D. , Tan, F. and Matera, M. (2024) Observations and computational multi-phase modelling in tropical river settings show complex channel changes downstream from rainfall-triggered landslides. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, (doi: 10.1002/esp.5841) (Early Online Publication)

Prasojo, O. A., Van Yperen, A. E., Hoey, T. B., Owen, A. and Williams, R. (2024) Using delta channel width to estimate paleodischarge in the rock record: geometric scaling and practical sampling criteria. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 94(1), pp. 62-75. (doi: 10.2110/jsr.2022.057)

Masafu, C. and Williams, R. (2024) Satellite video remote sensing for flood model validation. Water Resources Research, 60(1), (doi: 10.1029/2023WR034545)

2023

Masafu, C., Williams, R. and Hurst, M. D. (2023) Satellite video remote sensing for estimation of river discharge. Geophysical Research Letters, 50(24), e2023GL105. (doi: 10.1029/2023GL105839)

MacDonell, C. J. , Williams, R. D. , Maniatis, G., Roberts, K. and Naylor, M. (2023) Consumer-grade UAV solid-state LiDAR accurately quantifies topography in a vegetated fluvial environment. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 48(11), pp. 2211-2229. (doi: 10.1002/esp.5608)

Mitchell, D., Laurie, E. W. , Williams, R. D. , Fryirs, K. A., Brierley, G. J. and Tolentino, P. L.M. (2023) Developing an equitable agenda for international capacity strengthening courses: environmental pedagogies and knowledge co-production in the Philippines. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, (doi: 10.1080/03098265.2023.2235668) (Early Online Publication)

Liu, N., Zhao, Q. , Williams, R. and Barrett, B. (2023) Enhanced crop classification through integrated optical and SAR data: a deep learning approach for multi-source image fusion. International Journal of Remote Sensing, (doi: 10.1080/01431161.2023.2232552) (Early Online Publication)

Tolentino, P. L., Boothroyd, R. , Williams, R. , Brierley, G. and Quick, L. (2023) Policy Brief: Making Space for Philippine Rivers. Documentation. University of Glasgow, Glasgow.

Boothroyd, R. J. et al. (2023) National-scale geodatabase of catchment characteristics in the Philippines for river management applications. PLoS ONE, 18(3), e0281933. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281933) (PMID:36888610) (PMCID:PMC9994713)

Prasojo, O. A., Hoey, T. B. , Owen, A. and Williams, R. D. (2023) Down-delta hydraulic geometry and its application to the rock record. Sedimentology, 70(2), pp. 362-380. (doi: 10.1111/sed.13062)

Boothroyd, R. J., Williams, R. D. and Hoey, T. B. (2023) ‘InfraRivChange’: A Web Application to Monitor River Migration at Sites of Critical Bridge Infrastructure in the Philippines. In: DRI Technical Conference 2022, New Delhi, India, 12-13 Oct 2022, pp. 45-51. (doi: 10.1080/23789689.2023.2181552)

2022

Li, Q. , Barrett, B. , Williams, R. , Hoey, T. and Boothroyd, R. (2022) Enhancing performance of multi-temporal tropical river landform classification through downscaling approaches. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 43(17), pp. 6445-6462. (doi: 10.1080/01431161.2022.2139164)

Masafu, C., Williams, R. , Shi, X. , Yuan, Q. and Trigg, M. (2022) Unpiloted Aerial Vehicle (UAV) image velocimetry for validation of two-dimensional hydraulic model simulations. Journal of Hydrology, 612(Part C), 128217. (doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.128217)

Tolentino, P. L. M., Perez, J. E. G., Guardian, E. L., Boothroyd, R. J. , Hoey, T. B. , Williams, R. D. , Fryirs, K. A., Brierley, G. J. and David, C. P. C. (2022) River Styles and stream power analysis reveal the diversity of fluvial morphology in a Philippine tropical catchment. Geoscience Letters, 9, 6. (doi: 10.1186/s40562-022-00211-4)

Williams, R.D. , Griffiths, H.M., Carr, J.R., Hepburn, A. J., Gibson, M., Williams, J.J. and Irvine-Fynn, T.D.L. (2022) Integrating historical, geomorphological and sedimentological insights to reconstruct past floods: Insights from Kea Point, Mt. Cook Village, Aotearoa New Zealand. Geomorphology, 398, 108028. (doi: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2021.108028)

Prasojo, O. A., Hoey, T. B. , Owen, A. and Williams, R. D. (2022) Slope break and avulsion locations scale consistently in global deltas. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(2), e2021GL093656. (doi: 10.1029/2021GL093656)

Williams, R. , Downs, P., Moir, H. and Lavarini, C. (2022) Sediment Continuity Through Run-of-River Hydropower Schemes. Project Report. Centre of Expertise for Waters (CREW).

2021

Bird, G., Hudson-Edwards, K. A., Byrne, P., Macklin, M. G., Brewer, P. A. and Williams, R. D. (2021) River sediment geochemistry and provenance following the Mount Polley mine tailings spill, Canada: the role of hydraulic sorting and sediment dilution processes in contaminant dispersal and remediation. Applied Geochemistry, 134, 105086. (doi: 10.1016/j.apgeochem.2021.105086)

Brierley, G., Fryirs, K., Reid, H. and Williams, R. (2021) The dark art of interpretation in geomorphology. Geomorphology, 390, 107870. (doi: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2021.107870)

Boothroyd, R. J. , Williams, R. D. , Hoey, T. B. , Tolentino, P. L.M. and Yang, X. (2021) National-scale assessment of decadal river migration at critical bridge infrastructure in the Philippines. Science of the Total Environment, 768, 144460. (doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144460) (PMID:33450685)

Martin, B., Owen, A. , Nichols, G. J., Hartley, A. J. and Williams, R. D. (2021) Quantifying downstream, vertical and lateral variation in fluvial deposits: implications from the Huesca Distributive Fluvial System. Frontiers in Earth Science, 8, 733. (doi: 10.3389/feart.2020.564017)

Boothroyd, R. J. , Williams, R. D. , Hoey, T. B. , Barrett, B. and Prasojo, O. A. (2021) Applications of Google Earth Engine in fluvial geomorphology for detecting river channel change. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 8(1), e21496. (doi: 10.1002/wat2.1496)

2020

Stott, E., Williams, R. D. and Hoey, T. B. (2020) Ground control point distribution for accurate kilometre-scale topographic mapping using an RTK-GNSS Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and SfM photogrammetry. Drones, 4(3), 55. (doi: 10.3390/drones4030055)

Boothroyd, R.J. , Williams, R.D. , Barrett, B. , Hoey, T.B., Tolentino, P.L.M., Perez, J.E., Guardian, E., David, C.P. and Yang, X. (2020) Detecting and Quantifying Morphological Change in Tropical Rivers Using Google Earth Engine and Image Analysis Techniques. In: River Flow 2020: 10th Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics, Delft, Netherlands, 07-10 Jul 2020, pp. 1013-1021. ISBN 9780367627737

Williams, R.D. , Bangen, S., Gillies, E., Kramer, N., Moir, H. and Wheaton, J. (2020) Let the river erode! Enabling lateral migration increases geomorphic unit diversity. Science of Total Environment, 715, 136817. (doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136817) (PMID:32040992)

Maniatis, G., Williams, R. D. , Hoey, T. B. , Hicks, J. and Carroll, W. (2020) A decision support tool for assessing risks to above-ground river pipeline crossings. Proceedings of the ICE: Water Management, 173(2), pp. 87-100. (doi: 10.1680/jwama.18.00054)

Williams, R. D. , Lamy, M.-L., Maniatis, G. and Stott, E. (2020) Three‐dimensional reconstruction of fluvial surface sedimentology and topography using personal mobile laser scanning. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 45(1), pp. 251-261. (doi: 10.1002/esp.4747)

2019

Williams, R.D. , Reid, H.E. and Brierley, G. (2019) Stuck at the bar: larger‐than‐average grain lag deposits and the spectrum of particle mobility. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 124(12), pp. 2751-2756. (doi: 10.1029/2019JF005137)

Fryirs, K. A., Wheaton, J. M., Bizzi, S., Williams, R. and Brierley, G. J. (2019) To plug-in or not to plug-in? Geomorphic analysis of rivers using the River Styles Framework in an era of big data acquisition and automation. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 6(5), e1372. (doi: 10.1002/wat2.1372)

Dingle, E. H., Paringit, E. C., Tolentino, P. L.M., Williams, R. D. , Hoey, T. B. , Barrett, B. , Long, H., Smiley, C. and Stott, E. (2019) Decadal-scale morphological adjustment of a lowland tropical river. Geomorphology, 333, pp. 30-42. (doi: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2019.01.022)

Kasprak, A., Brasington, J., Hafen, K., Williams, R. D. and Wheaton, J. M. (2019) Modelling braided river morphodynamics using a particle travel length framework. Earth Surface Dynamics Discussions, 7, pp. 247-274. (doi: 10.5194/esurf-2018-17)

Reid, H.E., Williams, R.D. , Brierley, G.J., Coleman, S.E., Lamb, R., Rennie, C.D. and Tancock, M.J. (2019) Geomorphological effectiveness of floods to rework gravel bars: insight from hyperscale topography and hydraulic modelling. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 44(2), pp. 595-613. (doi: 10.1002/esp.4521)

Hudson-Edwards, K. A., Byrne, P., Bird, G., Brewer, P. A., Burke, I. T., Jamieson, H. E., Macklin, M. G. and Williams, R. D. (2019) Origin and fate of Vanadium in the Hazeltine Creek Catchment following the 2014 Mount Polley mine tailings spill, British Columbia, Canada. Environmental Science and Technology, 53, pp. 4088-4098. (doi: 10.1021/acs.est.8b06391) (PMID:30829475)

2018

Byrne, P., Hudson-Edwards, K. A., Bird, G., Macklin, M. G., Brewer, P. A., Williams, R. D. and Jamieson, H. E. (2018) Water quality impacts and river system recovery following the 2014 Mount Polley mine tailings dam spill, British Columbia, Canada. Applied Geochemistry, 91, pp. 64-74. (doi: 10.1016/j.apgeochem.2018.01.012)

2017

Liu, D., Valyrakis, M. and Williams, R. (2017) Flow hydrodynamics across open channel flows with riparian zones: implications for riverbank stability. Water, 9(9), 720. (doi: 10.3390/w9090720)

Rennie, C. D., Vericat, D., Williams, R. D. , Brasington, J. and Hicks, M. (2017) Calibration of acoustic doppler current profiler apparent bedload velocity to bedload transport rate. In: Tsutsumi, D. and Laronne, J. B. (eds.) Gravel-Bed Rivers: Process and Disasters. John Wiley & Sons: Chichester, pp. 209-233. ISBN 9781118971406 (doi: 10.1002/9781118971437.ch8)

Williams, R. D. , Tooth, S. and Gibson, M. (2017) The sky is the limit: reconstructing physical geography from an aerial perspective. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 41(1), pp. 134-146. (doi: 10.1080/03098265.2016.1241986)

2016

Williams, R.D. , Measures, R., Hicks, M. and Brasington, J. (2016) Assessment of a numerical model to reproduce event-scale erosion and deposition distributions in a braided river. Water Resources Research, 52(8), pp. 6621-6642. (doi: 10.1002/2015WR018491)

Williams, R. D. , Brasington, J. and Hicks, D. M. (2016) Numerical modelling of braided river morphodynamics: review and future challenges. Geography Compass, 10(3), pp. 102-127. (doi: 10.1111/gec3.12260)

Mineault-Guitard, A., Rennie, C. and Williams, R.D. (2016) Validation of Observed Bedload Transport Pathways Using Morphodynamic Modeling. In: River Flow 2016: Eighth International Conference of Fluvial Hydraulics, Iowa City, IA, USA, 11-14 July 2016, (Unpublished)

2015

Williams, R.D. , Rennie, C.D., Brasington, J., Hicks, D.M. and Vericat, D. (2015) Linking the spatial distribution of bed load transport to morphological change during high-flow events in a shallow braided river. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 120(3), pp. 604-622. (doi: 10.1002/2014JF003346)

2014

Williams, R. , Brasington, J., Vericat, D. and Hicks, M. (2014) Hyperscale terrain modelling of braided rivers: fusing mobile terrestrial laser scanning and optical bathymetric mapping. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 39(2), pp. 167-183. (doi: 10.1002/esp.3437)

2013

Williams, R.D. , Brasington, J., Hicks, M., Measures, R., Rennie, C.D. and Vericat, D. (2013) Hydraulic validation of two-dimensional simulations of braided river flow with spatially continuous aDcp data. Water Resources Research, 49(9), pp. 5183-5205. (doi: 10.1002/wrcr.20391)

2012

Reenie, C.D., Williams, R. , Brasington, J., Vericat, D. and Hicks, M. (2012) Within-Event Spatially Distributed Bedload: Linking Fluvial Sediment Transport to Morphological Change. In: Hydraulic Measurements and Experimental Methods, Snowbird, UT, USA, 12-15 Aug 2012,

Williams, R. (2012) DEMs of difference. Geomorphological Techniques, 2(3.2),

2011

Williams, R. , Brasington, J., Vericat, D., Hicks, M., Labrosse, F. and Neal, M. (2011) Chapter twenty - monitoring braided River change using terrestrial laser scanning and optical bathymetric mapping. Developments in Earth Surface Processes, 15, pp. 507-532. (doi: 10.1016/B978-0-444-53446-0.00020-3)

This list was generated on Fri Apr 19 10:15:40 2024 BST.
Jump to: Articles | Book Sections | Research Reports or Papers | Conference Proceedings
Number of items: 46.

Articles

Panici, D., Bennett, G., Boothroyd, R. J. , Abancó, C., Williams, R. D. , Tan, F. and Matera, M. (2024) Observations and computational multi-phase modelling in tropical river settings show complex channel changes downstream from rainfall-triggered landslides. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, (doi: 10.1002/esp.5841) (Early Online Publication)

Prasojo, O. A., Van Yperen, A. E., Hoey, T. B., Owen, A. and Williams, R. (2024) Using delta channel width to estimate paleodischarge in the rock record: geometric scaling and practical sampling criteria. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 94(1), pp. 62-75. (doi: 10.2110/jsr.2022.057)

Masafu, C. and Williams, R. (2024) Satellite video remote sensing for flood model validation. Water Resources Research, 60(1), (doi: 10.1029/2023WR034545)

Masafu, C., Williams, R. and Hurst, M. D. (2023) Satellite video remote sensing for estimation of river discharge. Geophysical Research Letters, 50(24), e2023GL105. (doi: 10.1029/2023GL105839)

MacDonell, C. J. , Williams, R. D. , Maniatis, G., Roberts, K. and Naylor, M. (2023) Consumer-grade UAV solid-state LiDAR accurately quantifies topography in a vegetated fluvial environment. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 48(11), pp. 2211-2229. (doi: 10.1002/esp.5608)

Mitchell, D., Laurie, E. W. , Williams, R. D. , Fryirs, K. A., Brierley, G. J. and Tolentino, P. L.M. (2023) Developing an equitable agenda for international capacity strengthening courses: environmental pedagogies and knowledge co-production in the Philippines. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, (doi: 10.1080/03098265.2023.2235668) (Early Online Publication)

Liu, N., Zhao, Q. , Williams, R. and Barrett, B. (2023) Enhanced crop classification through integrated optical and SAR data: a deep learning approach for multi-source image fusion. International Journal of Remote Sensing, (doi: 10.1080/01431161.2023.2232552) (Early Online Publication)

Boothroyd, R. J. et al. (2023) National-scale geodatabase of catchment characteristics in the Philippines for river management applications. PLoS ONE, 18(3), e0281933. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281933) (PMID:36888610) (PMCID:PMC9994713)

Prasojo, O. A., Hoey, T. B. , Owen, A. and Williams, R. D. (2023) Down-delta hydraulic geometry and its application to the rock record. Sedimentology, 70(2), pp. 362-380. (doi: 10.1111/sed.13062)

Li, Q. , Barrett, B. , Williams, R. , Hoey, T. and Boothroyd, R. (2022) Enhancing performance of multi-temporal tropical river landform classification through downscaling approaches. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 43(17), pp. 6445-6462. (doi: 10.1080/01431161.2022.2139164)

Masafu, C., Williams, R. , Shi, X. , Yuan, Q. and Trigg, M. (2022) Unpiloted Aerial Vehicle (UAV) image velocimetry for validation of two-dimensional hydraulic model simulations. Journal of Hydrology, 612(Part C), 128217. (doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.128217)

Tolentino, P. L. M., Perez, J. E. G., Guardian, E. L., Boothroyd, R. J. , Hoey, T. B. , Williams, R. D. , Fryirs, K. A., Brierley, G. J. and David, C. P. C. (2022) River Styles and stream power analysis reveal the diversity of fluvial morphology in a Philippine tropical catchment. Geoscience Letters, 9, 6. (doi: 10.1186/s40562-022-00211-4)

Williams, R.D. , Griffiths, H.M., Carr, J.R., Hepburn, A. J., Gibson, M., Williams, J.J. and Irvine-Fynn, T.D.L. (2022) Integrating historical, geomorphological and sedimentological insights to reconstruct past floods: Insights from Kea Point, Mt. Cook Village, Aotearoa New Zealand. Geomorphology, 398, 108028. (doi: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2021.108028)

Prasojo, O. A., Hoey, T. B. , Owen, A. and Williams, R. D. (2022) Slope break and avulsion locations scale consistently in global deltas. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(2), e2021GL093656. (doi: 10.1029/2021GL093656)

Bird, G., Hudson-Edwards, K. A., Byrne, P., Macklin, M. G., Brewer, P. A. and Williams, R. D. (2021) River sediment geochemistry and provenance following the Mount Polley mine tailings spill, Canada: the role of hydraulic sorting and sediment dilution processes in contaminant dispersal and remediation. Applied Geochemistry, 134, 105086. (doi: 10.1016/j.apgeochem.2021.105086)

Brierley, G., Fryirs, K., Reid, H. and Williams, R. (2021) The dark art of interpretation in geomorphology. Geomorphology, 390, 107870. (doi: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2021.107870)

Boothroyd, R. J. , Williams, R. D. , Hoey, T. B. , Tolentino, P. L.M. and Yang, X. (2021) National-scale assessment of decadal river migration at critical bridge infrastructure in the Philippines. Science of the Total Environment, 768, 144460. (doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144460) (PMID:33450685)

Martin, B., Owen, A. , Nichols, G. J., Hartley, A. J. and Williams, R. D. (2021) Quantifying downstream, vertical and lateral variation in fluvial deposits: implications from the Huesca Distributive Fluvial System. Frontiers in Earth Science, 8, 733. (doi: 10.3389/feart.2020.564017)

Boothroyd, R. J. , Williams, R. D. , Hoey, T. B. , Barrett, B. and Prasojo, O. A. (2021) Applications of Google Earth Engine in fluvial geomorphology for detecting river channel change. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 8(1), e21496. (doi: 10.1002/wat2.1496)

Stott, E., Williams, R. D. and Hoey, T. B. (2020) Ground control point distribution for accurate kilometre-scale topographic mapping using an RTK-GNSS Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and SfM photogrammetry. Drones, 4(3), 55. (doi: 10.3390/drones4030055)

Williams, R.D. , Bangen, S., Gillies, E., Kramer, N., Moir, H. and Wheaton, J. (2020) Let the river erode! Enabling lateral migration increases geomorphic unit diversity. Science of Total Environment, 715, 136817. (doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136817) (PMID:32040992)

Maniatis, G., Williams, R. D. , Hoey, T. B. , Hicks, J. and Carroll, W. (2020) A decision support tool for assessing risks to above-ground river pipeline crossings. Proceedings of the ICE: Water Management, 173(2), pp. 87-100. (doi: 10.1680/jwama.18.00054)

Williams, R. D. , Lamy, M.-L., Maniatis, G. and Stott, E. (2020) Three‐dimensional reconstruction of fluvial surface sedimentology and topography using personal mobile laser scanning. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 45(1), pp. 251-261. (doi: 10.1002/esp.4747)

Williams, R.D. , Reid, H.E. and Brierley, G. (2019) Stuck at the bar: larger‐than‐average grain lag deposits and the spectrum of particle mobility. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 124(12), pp. 2751-2756. (doi: 10.1029/2019JF005137)

Fryirs, K. A., Wheaton, J. M., Bizzi, S., Williams, R. and Brierley, G. J. (2019) To plug-in or not to plug-in? Geomorphic analysis of rivers using the River Styles Framework in an era of big data acquisition and automation. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 6(5), e1372. (doi: 10.1002/wat2.1372)

Dingle, E. H., Paringit, E. C., Tolentino, P. L.M., Williams, R. D. , Hoey, T. B. , Barrett, B. , Long, H., Smiley, C. and Stott, E. (2019) Decadal-scale morphological adjustment of a lowland tropical river. Geomorphology, 333, pp. 30-42. (doi: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2019.01.022)

Kasprak, A., Brasington, J., Hafen, K., Williams, R. D. and Wheaton, J. M. (2019) Modelling braided river morphodynamics using a particle travel length framework. Earth Surface Dynamics Discussions, 7, pp. 247-274. (doi: 10.5194/esurf-2018-17)

Reid, H.E., Williams, R.D. , Brierley, G.J., Coleman, S.E., Lamb, R., Rennie, C.D. and Tancock, M.J. (2019) Geomorphological effectiveness of floods to rework gravel bars: insight from hyperscale topography and hydraulic modelling. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 44(2), pp. 595-613. (doi: 10.1002/esp.4521)

Hudson-Edwards, K. A., Byrne, P., Bird, G., Brewer, P. A., Burke, I. T., Jamieson, H. E., Macklin, M. G. and Williams, R. D. (2019) Origin and fate of Vanadium in the Hazeltine Creek Catchment following the 2014 Mount Polley mine tailings spill, British Columbia, Canada. Environmental Science and Technology, 53, pp. 4088-4098. (doi: 10.1021/acs.est.8b06391) (PMID:30829475)

Byrne, P., Hudson-Edwards, K. A., Bird, G., Macklin, M. G., Brewer, P. A., Williams, R. D. and Jamieson, H. E. (2018) Water quality impacts and river system recovery following the 2014 Mount Polley mine tailings dam spill, British Columbia, Canada. Applied Geochemistry, 91, pp. 64-74. (doi: 10.1016/j.apgeochem.2018.01.012)

Liu, D., Valyrakis, M. and Williams, R. (2017) Flow hydrodynamics across open channel flows with riparian zones: implications for riverbank stability. Water, 9(9), 720. (doi: 10.3390/w9090720)

Williams, R. D. , Tooth, S. and Gibson, M. (2017) The sky is the limit: reconstructing physical geography from an aerial perspective. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 41(1), pp. 134-146. (doi: 10.1080/03098265.2016.1241986)

Williams, R.D. , Measures, R., Hicks, M. and Brasington, J. (2016) Assessment of a numerical model to reproduce event-scale erosion and deposition distributions in a braided river. Water Resources Research, 52(8), pp. 6621-6642. (doi: 10.1002/2015WR018491)

Williams, R. D. , Brasington, J. and Hicks, D. M. (2016) Numerical modelling of braided river morphodynamics: review and future challenges. Geography Compass, 10(3), pp. 102-127. (doi: 10.1111/gec3.12260)

Williams, R.D. , Rennie, C.D., Brasington, J., Hicks, D.M. and Vericat, D. (2015) Linking the spatial distribution of bed load transport to morphological change during high-flow events in a shallow braided river. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 120(3), pp. 604-622. (doi: 10.1002/2014JF003346)

Williams, R. , Brasington, J., Vericat, D. and Hicks, M. (2014) Hyperscale terrain modelling of braided rivers: fusing mobile terrestrial laser scanning and optical bathymetric mapping. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 39(2), pp. 167-183. (doi: 10.1002/esp.3437)

Williams, R.D. , Brasington, J., Hicks, M., Measures, R., Rennie, C.D. and Vericat, D. (2013) Hydraulic validation of two-dimensional simulations of braided river flow with spatially continuous aDcp data. Water Resources Research, 49(9), pp. 5183-5205. (doi: 10.1002/wrcr.20391)

Williams, R. (2012) DEMs of difference. Geomorphological Techniques, 2(3.2),

Williams, R. , Brasington, J., Vericat, D., Hicks, M., Labrosse, F. and Neal, M. (2011) Chapter twenty - monitoring braided River change using terrestrial laser scanning and optical bathymetric mapping. Developments in Earth Surface Processes, 15, pp. 507-532. (doi: 10.1016/B978-0-444-53446-0.00020-3)

Book Sections

Rennie, C. D., Vericat, D., Williams, R. D. , Brasington, J. and Hicks, M. (2017) Calibration of acoustic doppler current profiler apparent bedload velocity to bedload transport rate. In: Tsutsumi, D. and Laronne, J. B. (eds.) Gravel-Bed Rivers: Process and Disasters. John Wiley & Sons: Chichester, pp. 209-233. ISBN 9781118971406 (doi: 10.1002/9781118971437.ch8)

Research Reports or Papers

Tolentino, P. L., Boothroyd, R. , Williams, R. , Brierley, G. and Quick, L. (2023) Policy Brief: Making Space for Philippine Rivers. Documentation. University of Glasgow, Glasgow.

Williams, R. , Downs, P., Moir, H. and Lavarini, C. (2022) Sediment Continuity Through Run-of-River Hydropower Schemes. Project Report. Centre of Expertise for Waters (CREW).

Conference Proceedings

Boothroyd, R. J., Williams, R. D. and Hoey, T. B. (2023) ‘InfraRivChange’: A Web Application to Monitor River Migration at Sites of Critical Bridge Infrastructure in the Philippines. In: DRI Technical Conference 2022, New Delhi, India, 12-13 Oct 2022, pp. 45-51. (doi: 10.1080/23789689.2023.2181552)

Boothroyd, R.J. , Williams, R.D. , Barrett, B. , Hoey, T.B., Tolentino, P.L.M., Perez, J.E., Guardian, E., David, C.P. and Yang, X. (2020) Detecting and Quantifying Morphological Change in Tropical Rivers Using Google Earth Engine and Image Analysis Techniques. In: River Flow 2020: 10th Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics, Delft, Netherlands, 07-10 Jul 2020, pp. 1013-1021. ISBN 9780367627737

Mineault-Guitard, A., Rennie, C. and Williams, R.D. (2016) Validation of Observed Bedload Transport Pathways Using Morphodynamic Modeling. In: River Flow 2016: Eighth International Conference of Fluvial Hydraulics, Iowa City, IA, USA, 11-14 July 2016, (Unpublished)

Reenie, C.D., Williams, R. , Brasington, J., Vericat, D. and Hicks, M. (2012) Within-Event Spatially Distributed Bedload: Linking Fluvial Sediment Transport to Morphological Change. In: Hydraulic Measurements and Experimental Methods, Snowbird, UT, USA, 12-15 Aug 2012,

This list was generated on Fri Apr 19 10:15:40 2024 BST.

Grants

PI = Principal Investigator; Co-I = Co-Investigator

Research grants

NERC and DOST (Department of Science and Technology, Philippines). £2.15M. 2021-25. PAMANA: Philippine mining at the national to catchment scale. PI.

EPSRC/GCRF. £113k. 2022-23. Reconfiguring Philippine river management. PI.

NERC. £10M. 2022-27. GALLANT: Glasgow as a Living Lab Accelerating Novel Transformation - Delivering a Climate Resilient City through City-University Partnership), NERC Strategic Programme Grant. Co-I.

CREW. £102k. 2021. Sediment continuity through run-of-river hydro schemes. PI. 

NERC and DOST. £50k. 2021. Philippine Mining at the National to Catchment Scale: from Legacy Impacts to Sustainable Futures. PI.

NERC. £216k. 2019-22. Sounding out the river: a new system for monitoring bedload mobilisation and transport. Co-I.

NERC. £40k. 2019-21. Sediment cascades: integrating hazards & mitigation strategies. Philippines hydrometeorological hazards integration project. PI.

British Council. £75k. 2020-24. Nature-based river and flood risk management in the Philippines. PhD supervisor of project.

SFC GCRF. £37k. 2019-20. Training in nature based river management solutions: learning, practicing and evaluatings. PI.

NERC and DOST. £639k. 2018-21. Catchment susceptibility to hydrometeorological events: sediment flux & geomorphic change as drivers of flood risk in the Philippines. PI.

Carnegie Trust. £10k. 2018-20. Braided river geomorphic unit assemblage: synthesising global datasets.  PI.

NERC CASE Studentship. £94k. 2018-22. Assessing the geomorphological effectiveness of river restoration using multi-stage channels (with partner SEPA). PI.

SFC GCRF. £33k. 2017-18. River channel change in the Philippines. PI.

SFC GCRF. £47k. 2017-8. Visualising Violence in Malawi. Co-I.

NERC ODA Fund. £28k. 2017. River instability and infrastructure in Indonesia and the Philippines. PI.

CREW. £214k. 2017-2019. National Coastal Change Assessment 2: Enhancing the evidence base and our ability to adapt. Co-I.

SAGES+. £3k. 2017. Postdoctor and Early Career Researcher Exchange – Development of a Geomorphic Unit Toolbox, vist to Utah State University. PI.

University of Glasgow. £20k. 2017-8.  MSc(Res) studentship: Braided river morphodynamics. 2017-8. PI.

NERC Geophysical Equipment Facility. £3k (commercial equivalent). 2017. Verification of wearable laser scanning systems for fluvial topographic surveys. PI.

NERC. £90k. 2017. Decision support framework to incorporate river bank stability in pipeline crossing risk assessment. PI.

NERC Geophysical Equipment Facility. £3k (commercial equivalent). 2017. Multi-scale landslide susceptibility assessment. PI.

Royal Academy of Engineering Industrial Secondment. £27k. 2016-17. Engineering river freedom for resilience, with CBEC. PI.

University of Glasgow, Energy Fund. £7k. 2016-19. Assessing the impact of small high head ‘run-of-river’ hydropower on river geomorphology and habitat. PI.

NERC. £52k. 2014-15. Quantifying the Delivery & Dispersal of Landslide-Derived Sediment to the Dart River, New Zealand. Co-I.

Strategic Insight Programme (SIP): £2,500. 2014-15. Placement with Prof Rob Lamb (JBA Trust): Two-dimensional flow modelling to analyse river bar reworking. PI.

British Society for Geomorphology Early Career Researcher Grant. £4k. 2014-15. Quantifying sedimentological, geomorphic and habitat adjustment following river restoration. PI.

Discretionary Research Fund, Department for Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University: £1,200. Alluvial Fans Conference, Christchurch. 2015. PI

Aberystwyth University MPhil Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarship. £20k. 2014-15. Development of low-cost approaches to monitor river restoration schemes. PI.

Aberystwyth University MSc Access to Masters Scholarship. £10k. 2014-15. Flood monitoring using low-cost unmanned aerial vehicles. PI.

Royal Geographical Society 30th International Geographical Congress Award: £750. Funding to attend Gravel Bed River Conference, Japan. September 2015. PI.

British Society for Geomorphology, Full Member Research Project: £940. Reconstructing the Kea Point glacier lake outburst flood, Southern Alps, New Zealand. 2014. Co-I.

Discretionary Research Fund, Department for Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University: £425. 2013. British Society for Geomorphology Annual Conference. PI.

Discretionary Research Fund, Department for Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University: £250. 2013. 8th International Association of Geomorphologists Conference on Geomorphology. PI.

Teaching grants

Learning and Teaching Development Fund, University of Glasgow: £2k. 2017. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in fieldwork teaching and learning. PI.

Climate Change Consortium for Wales. £18k. 2014. “Little River”: simulating climate change impacts on flooding, sediment transport and river channel change. PI.

Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund, Aberystwyth University. £2k. 2014-15. Is the sky the limit?: Increasing student engagement and learning through novel aerial monitoring of natural riverine landscapes. PI. 

Supervision

 

  • Daniels, Lucy
    Implications of river restoration for geomorphic diversity and flood risk
  • Danjuma, Kwetishe Joro
    Automated Quantified Analysis of Distributive Fluvial Systems (DFSs)
  • Kerr, Heather
    Spatial variability in meander characteristics
  • Liu, Niantang
    Advanced Crop Mapping Using Deep Learning Approaches in Satellite Remote Sensing
  • Suprayogi, Andri
    Temporal monitoring and modeling of tropical flood dynamics using SAR and deep learning
  • Tolentino, Pamela
    Influence of catchment characteristics on hydrologic regimes

Previous research associates

NameCurrent position
Dr Richard Boothroyd University of Liverpool
Dr Octria Prasajo University of Glasgow
Dr Douglas Mitchell Sustrans
Dr George Maniatis University of Brighton
Dr Lizzie Dingle University of Durham

Graduated research students

NameDate graduatedDegreeThesis title
Qing Li 2023 PhD River landform dynamics detection and responses to morphology change in the rivers of North Luzon, the Philippines.
Rachel Williams 2023 MSc(Res) Quantifying variability within the medial zone of modern distributive fluvial systems: implications for reservoir characterisation. 
Mirijami Lantto 2023  PhD  Wit(h)nessing riverscapes; luminous encounters in the riverine archive.  
Breanna Van 2023 MSc(Res) By land, water, and air: an evaluation of the impact of embankment setbacks and two-stage channel design on flood characteristics of the upper River Nith.
Octria Prasojo  2023  PhD  Scaling relationships of global river deltas.  
Ben Martin  2020  MSc(Res)  Predictive fluvial facies models: Huesca distributive fluvial system, Spain.
Charlie Gilles  2019  PhD  Evaluating a multi-method approach for landslide susceptibility in Scotland.  
Eilidh Stott  2019  MSc(Res)  Rainfall-to-reach, modelling of braided morphodynamics.  
Da Liu 2018 PhD Assessing the role of riverbank vegetation on stream hydrodynamics with implications for the transfer of solids.
John Hart  2016 MPhil  Evaluating the use of SfM (Structure from Motion) as a tool for monitoring post-restoration fluvial dynamics. 

Teaching

I developed and formerly directed our MSc in Sustainable Water Environments. 

Courses that I have convened / taught / co-taught

GEOG4057 Managing River Catchments

GEOG4111 GIS A: Applied spatial analysis

GEOG4112 GIS B: Theory & pracitce

GEOG5117 Modelling Water Environments

GEOG5025 Topographic mapping and landscape monitoring

GEOG5021 Research and professional issues in geomatics

GEOG5051 Sustainable water environments MSc Project

GEOG5114 Monitoring water environments

GEOG3010 Geography research skills: geomatics practicals

GEOG4052P Geography dissertation: supervision

GEOG5040P Geomatics MSc Project: supervision

Environmental Management

Natural hazards

Hydrological monitoring and modelling

Professional activities & recognition

Grant committees & research advisory boards

  • 2019: NERC, Peer Review College

Professional & learned societies

  • 2020 - 2023: Secretary, British Society for Geomorphology
  • 2017 - 2020: Secretary, Research Committee, British Society for Geomorphology
  • 2021: Accreditation Board Member, Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management

Research datasets

Jump to: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019
Number of items: 14.

2024

Prasojo, O. A., Williams, R. D. , Naylor, L. , Toney, J. L. and Hurst, M. D. (2024) 2D model result for Slowing down the tidal flood wave is key to estuarine flood risk reduction. [Data Collection]

Prasojo, O. A., Williams, R. D. , Naylor, L. , Toney, J. L. and Hurst, M. D. (2024) Code for Slowing down the tidal flood wave is key to estuarine flood risk reduction. [Data Collection]

2023

Masafu, C. K. and Williams, R. (2023) Satellite video remote sensing for flood model validation. [Data Collection]

Masafu, C. K. , Williams, R. and Hurst, M. (2023) Satellite video remote sensing for estimation of river discharge. [Data Collection]

MacDonell, C. , Williams, R. , Maniatis, G., Roberts, K. and Naylor, M. (2023) Consumer-grade UAV solid-state LiDAR accurately quantifies topography in a vegetated fluvial environment. [Data Collection]

Boothroyd, R. , Williams, R. , Hoey, T., MacDonell, C. , Tolentino, P. L. and Quick, L. (2023) National-scale geodatabase of catchment characteristics in the Philippines for river management applications. [Data Collection]

2022

Li, Q., Williams, R. , Hoey, T., Barrett, B. and Boothroyd, R. (2022) Landform classification through downscaling approaches for the Bislak, Laoag and Abra Rivers, the Philippines. [Data Collection]

Shi, J. X. , Williams, R. and Masafu, C. (2022) Unpiloted Aerial Vehicle (UAV) image velocimetry for validation of twodimensional hydraulic model simulations. [Data Collection]

Williams, R. , Reid, E. and Roberts, K. (2022) Topographic point cloud of a bedrock reach of the River Garry, Scotland. [Data Collection]

2021

Boothroyd, R. , Williams, R. , Hoey, T., Tolentino, P. L., Guardian, E., Reyes, M., Sabillo, C., Quick, L., Perez, J. and Carlos, D. (2021) Catchment Project: Philippines Catchment and Stream Network GIS database. [Data Collection]

Williams, R. , Griffiths, H., Carr, J., Hepburn, A., Gibson, M., Williams, T. and Irvine-Fynn, T. (2021) Kea Point, New Zealand, 1913 outburst floods: sediment, orthoimage and digital surface model. [Data Collection]

2020

Boothroyd, R. , Williams, R. , Hoey, T. B., Tolentino, P. L. and Yang, X. (2020) River channel migration and characteristics from 1988 to 2019 at 74 bridges in the Philippines. [Data Collection]

Williams, R. , Bangen, S., Gillies, E., Kramer, N., Moir, H. and Wheaton, J. (2020) Allt Lorgy River Restoration Scheme: Geomorphic Change Detection and Geomorphic Unit Mapping. [Data Collection]

2019

Williams, R. , Reid, H. E. and Brierley, G. (2019) Stuck at the bar: the imprint of large grain lag deposits upon contemporary river morphodynamics. [Data Collection]

This list was generated on Fri Apr 19 04:33:23 2024 BST.