Professor Julian Leyland | Inaugural Lecture Series | University of Southampton скачать в хорошем качестве

Professor Julian Leyland | Inaugural Lecture Series | University of Southampton

This was the second event in the Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences 2025–26 Inaugural Lecture series, which celebrates the careers of our new Professors. On 3rd December 2025, Professor Julian Leyland from the School of Geography and Environmental Science presented a lecture to highlight their research, real-world impact and future research directions. The Life of a Particle: Sediment Journeys Across Scales and Societies Every landscape tells a story, and sometimes that story begins with something as small as a single grain of sediment. In this inaugural lecture, Professor Julian Leyland traces the extraordinary journey of a sediment particle as it moves through water and across scales: from its microscopic structure on a riverbed, through the shifting channels of great rivers and its role in shaping Earths great deltas. Drawing on two decades of research in physical geography, the lecture explores how sediment, often considered a passive product of erosion, is instead a dynamic agent linking geomorphic processes, ecosystems, and human societies. Professor Leyland demonstrates how innovative technologies, from X-ray computed tomography and UAV laser scanning to satellite monitoring and machine learning, are transforming our understanding of sediment movement across scales from millimeters to continents. Case studies include work on gravel-bed river dynamics, the impacts of sand mining on the Mekong River and Delta, and new global assessments of suspended sediment transport that connect local processes to global change. Interwoven with this scientific narrative is a personal story of a geographer’s own journey, from early field experiences and academic mentorship to leadership of research projects, and a reflection on the people, family, friends and colleagues who, like the currents that carry sediment, have shaped that path.