Dr Felix Ng
Senior Lecturer / Glaciologist
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Room number: | E19 |
| Telephone (internal): | 27949 | |
| Telephone (UK): | 0114 222 7949 | |
| Telephone (International): | +44 114 222 7949 | |
| Email: | F.Ng@Sheffield.ac.uk |
Felix grew up in Hong Kong and moved to the UK during his middle-school years. After graduating in Engineering Science at Oxford in 1994, he switched into mathematics and wrote a doctoral thesis on theoretical glaciology. This was completed in 1998, and soon after that Felix gained a Junior Research Fellowship at St. John's College. He lived in Oxford until 2002 but spent 2001 visiting the University of Washington, Seattle, as Fulbright postdoctoral fellow.
Most recently (2003 to 2005) Felix had been a research fellow in geosciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was appointed as a Lecturer in Glaciology at The University of Sheffield in September 2005, and promoted to Senior Lecturer from January 2012.
Research Interests |
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Current research |
My research is centred around glaciology, and concentrates on three areas: Ice dynamics I had earlier investigated the surge behaviour of sub-polar glaciers with Tavi Murray (Leeds) and Andrew Fowler (Oxford) and recently turned my attention to the Antarctic ice streams, whose variable flow exerts strong control on ice-sheet mass balance. With Howard Conway (Seattle), I used the radar structures in Kamb Ice Stream to infer its flow speed before it stopped ~150 years ago. Ongoing work considers the general problem of deciphering the history of ice flow from englacial radar layers. More information on my ice dynamics research Glacier hydrology Catastrophic outburst floods from ice-dammed lakes, known as jökulhlaups, can deliver several cubic kilometres of water suddenly, causing severe environmental and economic impact. In order to identify factors that regulate their timing and magnitude, I am studying the mechanics of these floods worldwide and also locally, using examples from Iceland and from the Tian Shan. More information on my glacier hydrology research Glacial geomorphology Glaciation leaves behind a variety of bedforms on the Earth surface. Part of my research explores how they form, with an aim to reconstruct the conditions of past ice flow using them and to learn something about the processes that operate at the glacier bed. |
Teaching |
My teaching encompasses the theoretical, empirical and skill elements of physical geography. Breaking down complex things and explaining them simply is difficult, and this is what I try to do with our students. Thus I emphasise a structured approach in exploring knowledge. I am fortunate in my own education to have been taught by people who are truly inspirational; now I try to follow in their footsteps by launching students into the fun of thinking, problem-solving, and discovery. I do this by a range of methods, including getting our students to push ideas around in words and drawings with me, and doing experiments in the classroom. For my contributions I won one of the University's Senate Awards for Excellence in Learning and Teaching in 2010. I teach on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses including:
I am also the Director of the MSc programme in Polar and Alpine Change and an invited lecturer on the International Summer School on "Glaciers and Ice Sheets in the Climate System" in Karthaus, Italy. |
Key Publications |
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Other information |
Fieldwork and short visits with collaborators have taken me to Iceland, the Alps, West Antarctica, and Central Asia. In 1999 I accompanied Robert Hoyland in his archaeological expedition to Syria where we hunted for early-Islamic Safaitic inscriptions in the desert (no ice there!). Other interests: mountaineering and exploration, Central Asian culture and history, horse-riding. |