Dr Philip Collins
Deputy Dean (Academic Affairs)/Reader

Research area(s)

My research interests cross the boundaries between engineering, geology and geography. As well as more experimental work, I have conducted field research in a number of locations including the UK, Canary Islands, Greece, Turkey, Italy, Norway and Canada. 

Research Interests

Properties of natural and artificial materials: I am interested in how natural and artificial materials such as soil, rock and pavement materials, respond to change.  This includes the behaviour of soluble rocks and soil during dissolution, change in permeability due to temperature and solute chemistry change, and the impact of freezing and thawing.  The environmental contexts for this primarily laboratory-based research include large dam structures, highways and karstic areas.

Soil deformation diagnostics: I am currently working on improving the forensic interpretation of deformation structures found in soils and sediments.  Work has included sites in the UK, Turkey and Italy, and includes active faults, possible faults and periglacial sites.

Quaternary geotechnics:  Building on a strong background of reconstructing the palaeoenvironments of Quaternary-age sites, I am exploring the application of geotechnical parameters in both enhancing understanding of environmental change, and providing better understanding of site properties for management and design. I am particularly interested the diagnostic characteristics of soil and sediment deformation structures.  Work is focusing on riverine, coastal sites and periglacial sites, and has included research on active faults, palaeoseismic sites, and ground ice.

Geodynamics, tectonics and seismicity: building on my work on active faults and palaeoseismicity, I have worked with colleagues in the UK and Greece on assessments of seismic risk, and developing a better understanding of earthquake patterns.

Resilience in river and coastal settings: I am particularly interested in the role of education in increasing engineering and community resilience to events such as floods and coastal change.

Grants

Project details

United Kingdom

• Quaternary geology of the Thames Basin
• Ground deformation diagnostics in Quaternary soils and sediments
• Investigating evidence for environmental shifts in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene
• Relative sea level change and saltmarsh dynamics
• Holocene history of Pinus

Turkey

• Assessing past seismicity using palaeoenvironmental techniques in western Turkey (with INGV-Roma , linked to RELIEF ) and eastern Turkey (with Salih Bayraktutan and Derek Rust)
• Geomorphological and sedimentological investigation of features produced by tectonics and climate change
• Evaluating Holocene environmental shifts recorded in floodplain and valley floor sediments

Italy

• Assessing the soil and sedimentary signature of Holocene earthquakes (with INGV-Roma )
• Coastal marsh sensitivity to relative sea level change and extreme events (with Simon Turner and Andy Cundy)

Crete, Greece

• Assessing water resource quality using geophysical techniques (with Despina Kalisperi, Steve Kershaw and Filippos Valianatos, TEI-Crete)
• Geophysical investigations for geo-hazard assessment (with Margarita Moisidi, Steve Kershaw and Filippos Valianatos, TEI-Crete)
• Geodynamic and Seismological Investigation of the South Hellenic Arc Structure (with Giorgios Chazopoulos and Filippos Valianatos)

Norway

• Palaeoenvironmental diagnostics of a late Holocene montane soils and sediments, Okstindan (with Steve Gurney, Reading University , Andy Cundy, Brighton University and Ian Croudace, Southampton University )

Experimental

• Assessment of the mechanical behaviour of problematic substrates, based on the context of dams in Iraq (with Nihad Salih, Sulaimaniyah University, Iraq)
• Evaluation of freeze thaw dynamics using a novel experimental apparatus (with Assel Sarsembayeva, Eurasian National University, Khazakstan)

Modelling

• Effects of Seismic Soil-Structure Interaction on The Analysis, Design and Behaviour of Structures During Their Entire Life Cycle (with Alaa Al-Isawi)