Christopher D. Clark

The 2025 Ralph Alger Bagnold Medal is awarded to Christopher D. Clark for fundamentally advancing the understanding of glacial landscapes, landforms, and geomorphological processes.

Chris Clark has fundamentally advanced the understanding of glacial landscapes, landforms and geomorphological processes. His numerous scientific achievements include transforming the reconstruction of ice sheets from glacial geomorphology, advancing remote sensing of landforms, and revolutionising our understanding of subglacial landform genesis. Perhaps more significant is the manner in which Clark has conducted his research – inspiring and training the next generation of glacial geomorphologists through his enthusiasm for science and continuous mentoring of Early Career Scientists, helping train a generation of scientists in studying past ice sheets.

An early pioneer of remote sensing and GIS technology, Chris Clark’s work has led to a paradigm shift in glacial geomorphology. At a time when high-resolution datasets were unavailable, Chris Clark made numerous inferences that transformed the way we interpret the glacial landform record and led the way in reconstructing the extent and dynamics of palaeo-ice sheets. Additionally, as Principal Investigator of the BRITICE-CHRONO, he led the largest ever Quaternary dating program. Over the years, Clark has fostered many collaborations, enabling dialogues between observational scientists, modellers, and theoreticians.

Chris Clark has made the geomorphological record left behind by former ice sheets relevant to modern society, having made the data collected useful for improving numerical models of ice sheets behaviour in our warming world. Chris Clark is a world-leader in the use of GIS and remote sensing for interpreting glacial landforms and continues to adapt his approach to new technologies and data. Chris Clark is a worthy recipient of the 2025 Ralph Alger Bagnold Medal.