Michael Meadows

Professor Michael Meadows is Senior Research Scholar in the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science at the University of Cape Town, where he was Head of Department from 2001-2017, and is a Professor in the School of Geography and Ocean Sciences, Nanjing University, China.  He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Sussex and a PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK.  Meadows has authored or co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed research articles and edited several special editions of international journals. Major works include the co-edited Southern African Geomorphology (Sun, 2012) and Geomorphology and Society (Springer, 2016).  His research interests lie in the field of physical geography and more specifically concern Quaternary environmental change and the geomorphological and biogeographical impacts of natural and anthropogenic changes. He has a particular passion for fieldwork and discovering new and interesting places.  Meadows was Secretary-General and Treasurer of the International Geographical Union (IGU) from 2010-18 and was elected as IGU President for the period 2020 to 2024. He is a Fellow of the Society of South African Geographers (2000), of the Royal Geographical Society (2016), of the Royal Society of South Africa (2016), of the African Academy of Sciences (2019) and of Academia Europaea (the European Academy).  He is a devoted running enthusiast, especially with the family’s two beloved labrador retrievers, as well as enjoying regular road-cycling and mountain hiking.