Department of Earth and Environmental Science

Benjamin P Horton

Assistant Professor
Department of Earth and Environmental Science
University of Pennsylvania
240 S. 33rd Street
Hayden Hall
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6316

Tel. (215) 5735388
Fax: (215) 8985724
E-mail: bphorton@sas.upenn.edu

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Education

1989-1992: BA Honors in Geography, University of Liverpool, UK.
1994-1998: PhD in Geography, University of Durham, UK.

Professional Experience

July 2004: Assistant Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania, USA.
1999-2004: Lecturer in Geography, Environmental Research Centre, Department of Geography, University of Durham, UK.
1997-1999: Senior Research Associate, Environmental Research Centre, Department of Geography, University of Durham, UK.

Synergistic Activities

Chair of the Program Committee for the 2008 Biennial meeting of the American Quaternary Association (AMQUA) 'Quaternary Ice Sheet-Ocean Interactions and Landscape Responses'.
Member of the Review Panel for the Helmholtz Program “Geosystem: the changing Earth” for 2009-2013.
Geological Society of America’s 2007 The W. Storrs Cole Memorial Research Award for contributions to micropaleontology.
Honory Research Fellow, Department of Geography, University of Durham, UK (2004-present).
The Linnean Society Award (2004) for contributions to biology, and particularly biological diversity and evolution.
The Higher Education Funding Council for England Excellence in Teaching Award (2003) to reward excellent teaching practice that delivered substantial benefits to students, teachers and institutions.
Menzies Australian Bicentennial Award (2001) for promoting scholarship, intellectual links, and mutual awareness and understanding between the United Kingdom and Australia.
Harrison College Faculty Fellow (2004-2007) in residence full-time with 850 students and College Tutor, Hatfield College, University of Durham, UK with 300 students; serve as an academic mentor and advisor, facilitate learning and discussion in a non-traditional setting.
Regular contributor to journals dedicated to science, math and engineering at K-12 and undergraduate education levels.

Major Research Grants

Holocene sea level change from the Thames estuary: implication for geophysical modelling and ocean-climate interactions; BGS University Funding Initiative ($70,000); September 1 2009 – August 30 2011.

Hurricane erosion of east coast salt marshes during the past 2500 years: frequency, scale, recovery and geo-ecological impacts; The National Institute for Climatic Change Research ($78,186) April 1 2009; August 30 2010.

Wetland response to natural and anthropogenic forcing, Gwydir Wetlands, Australia; PI; Department of Environment and Conservation, New South Wales ($20,720) December 1 2007 - November 30 2009.

A Paleoseismic Record of Great Earthquakes on the Sunda Subduction
Megathrust, Northern Sumatra. NSF ($131,290) August 15 2008 - July 31 2011.

Sea-level changes along the Atlantic Coast of the United States: Implications for glacial isostatic adjustment models and current rates of sea-level change; NSF ($111,545) October 1 2007 - September 30 2009.

Examining the evidence for a recent acceleration in the rate of sea-level rise using combined instrumental and proxy data, Morbihan Golfe, Brittany France; NSF ($10,800) July 1 2007 - June 30 2008.

Is Sea Level Rising? Earthwatch Student Challenge Awards Program
($47,645); June 1 2007 - May 30 2010.

A Paleoseismic record of repeated great earthquakes on the Sunda subduction megathrust, Northern Sumatra. NSF ($38,858); March 1 2007 - February 28 2008.

Subduction-zone paleogeodesy at Cascadia; USGS ($27,880); April 1 2006 - October 30 2007.

Shore-Zone Dynamics in Response to Sea-level Rising North Carolina Estuaries; NOAA ($90,244); September 1 2005 - August 30 2008.

Late Quaternary relative sea-level changes, Outer Banks, North Carolina; PI; North Carolina Cooperative Research Program ($30,000); July 1 2005 - June 30 2008.

Indian Ocean Tsunami - Environmental and socio-economic impacts on the Malay-Thai Peninsula. NSF Human and Social Dynamics priority area, the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation Program in the Engineering Directorate, and from the Office of International Science and Engineering ($68,282); May 1 2005 - November 30 2006.

High Resolution records of relative sea-level change using a foraminiferal transfer function. University Research Foundation, University of Pennsylvania ($20,850); April 1 2005; - March 30 2006.