Department of Earth and Environmental Science

Benjamin P Horton

Associate 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.

Employment History

2010 –                Associate Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania, USA.
2010 – 2011        Visiting Associate Professor, Earth Observatory of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
2004 – 2010:       Assistant Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania, USA.
2000 – 2004:       Lecturer in Geography, Environmental Research Centre, Department of Geography, University of Durham, UK.
1998 – 1999:       Lecturer (PT) in Geography, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, UK.
1998 – 2000:       Postdoctoral Research Associate, Environmental Research Centre, Department of Geography, University of Durham, UK.

Honors and Awards

1. Contributing Author (CA) to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report (5AR) (2011-2013).
2. Committee member of the National Research Council, USA for Sea Level Rise in California, Oregon, and Washington (2011).
3. Member of the PALSEA (PALeo-constraints on SEA-level rise) steering committee (2010-2013).
4. Medal for Research Excellence by the Commanding General of the North Atlantic Division of the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) (2010).
5. Project leader of International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) 588 ‘Preparing for coastal change: A detailed process-response framework for coastal change at different timescales’ (2010-2014).
6. Scientific advisor to The Future Ocean research of the German Research Foundation (2010-2014).
7. Guest Editor of a Quaternary Science Reviews Special Publication: Land Ocean Interactions (2009).
8. Associate Editor of Journal of Foraminiferal Research (2008-present).
9. Joint Chair of American Quaternary Association (AMQUA) Biennial Meeting ‘Quaternary Ice Sheet-Ocean Interactions and Landscape Responses’ (2008).
10. Member of the Review Panel for the Helmholtz Program Geosystem: the changing Earth (2009-2013).
11. Geological Society of America’s The W. Storrs Cole Memorial Research Award for contributions to micropaleontology (2007).
12. Invited convener of the Geological Society of America’s Pardee Keynote Symposia Holocene Sea-level Change in North America: A Post-Katrina Assessment (2006).
13. Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Geography, University of Durham, UK (2004-present).
14. The Linnean Society (UK) Award for contributions to biological diversity and evolution (2004).
15. The Higher Education Funding Council for England Excellence in Teaching Award (2003).
16. Menzies Australian Bicentennial Award for promoting scholarship, intellectual links, and mutual awareness and understanding between the United Kingdom and Australia (2001).

Scholarly or Professional Societies

American Geophysical Union, Geological Society of America, Cushman Foundation, Royal Geographical Society, Quaternary Research Association, Linnean Society, British Ecological Society and Micropaleontological Society.

Main Achievements

1. Published over 100 articles in peer reviewed journals, including Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Geology.
2. Presented over 100 invited lectures and seminars to institutions, international conferences and workshops.
3. Supervisor to 15 students to the degree of PhD and 2 postdoctoral scientists, of which 9 occupy academic positions or managerial research posts in industry.
4. Uninterrupted external support of research program from 2004 to 2011, which totals in excess of $3.3 million, including ten National Science Foundation awards.
5. Developed a new quantitative approach to reconstruct former sea-level changes.
6. Established the Holocene sea-level database for the Atlantic coast of the United States.

Department and University Service

• Convener of the Department of Earth and Environmental Science’s Seminar Series.
• Member of the Department of Earth and Environmental Science’s Graduate Committee.
• Member of the Faculty Selection Committee for three successful Assistant Professor searches to the Department of Earth and Environmental Science.
• Mentor to Dr Irina Marinov, Lecturer, Department of Earth and Environmental Science.
• Presentations for the Penn Science Café and the School of Arts and Science 60-Second Lectures.