Dr Edward Clennett

Overview

Biography

Edward Clennett is an Associate Lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London. He teaches the Global Tectonics class at undergraduate level. 

Edward's expertise is in reconstructing plate tectonic history through deep time. He uses plate reconstruction software, geodynamic force calculations and seismic tomography modelling to better understand plate tectonics.

Edward holds a PhD in Geosciences from the University of Texas at Austin, having previously graduated from the University of Oxford with a Masters in Earth Sciences.

Qualifications

• PhD, The University of Texas at Austin, 2024
• MEarthSci, Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, 2019

Honours and awards

• UTIG Outstanding Graduate Student Award, University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, January 2024
• Fulbright Scholarship, US-UK Fulbright Commission, January 2020
• Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, Jackson School of Geosciences, UT Austin, January 2023
• UKOGL Prize, Geologists' Association, January 2020
• Halliburton Earth Model Award, Halliburton Landmark, January 2020
• BP Prize for best Master's project, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, January 2019

ORCID

0000-0002-5190-542X

Research

Research interests

• Reconstructing plate tectonic history
• Plate driving forces
• Seismic tomography models of Earth's interior
• Restoring crustal thickness changes during continental deformation

Research overview

My research focusses on the dynamics of plate tectonics through deep time (millions of years). Plate tectonics is an integral part of the Earth system, with implications for how the Earth’s climate has changed through geological time, how different species evolve, and where different types of natural resources formed. Models of plate tectonic history, called “plate reconstructions”, are traditionally constrained with surface geological data, with little consideration of constraints from the Earth’s interior or the physics of plate motion. Because surface data can be lost as plates subduct into the mantle, reconstructions can have large uncertainties, limiting their predictive power. To overcome these challenges, I develop and apply novel methods from geodynamic, seismic, and plate kinematic modelling.

Supervision and teaching

Teaching

Teaching modules

• Global Tectonics (SCES053H5)

Publications

External Repositories