Dr Frances Butcher
Department of Geography
Postdoctoral Research Assistant
f.butcher@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 7972
+44 114 222 7972
Room C5, Geography and Planning Building
Full contact details
Dr Frances Butcher
Department of Geography
Room C5
Geography and Planning Building
Winter Street
Sheffield
S3 7ND
Department of Geography
Room C5
Geography and Planning Building
Winter Street
Sheffield
S3 7ND
- Profile
-
I am a Planetary Scientist researching glaciation on Earth and Mars.
I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Assistant on the ERC-funded PALGLAC project (PI: Prof Chris Clark), using glacial landforms to reconstruct the flow dynamics of the former Scandinavian Ice Sheet.
I obtained a BA in Geography from the University of Cambridge in 2015 before moving to The Open University to undertake a PhD entitled 'Wet-Based Glaciation on Mars', which I completed in 2019.
My Mars research encompasses processes related to past and present ice (including glaciers) on Mars, and I was selected by NASA and the Canadian, Japanese and Italian space agencies to serve as a member of the 'Measurement Definition Team' for the International Mars Ice Mapper Mission. I also contributed to landing site selection for the ESA ExoMars ('Rosalind Franklin') rover mission to Mars.
I am an Associate Editor for the journal Earth Surface Dynamics (ESurf) and I am currently the Chair of the International Association of Geomorphologists Planetary Geomorphology Working Group, and curator of its 'Planetary Geomorphology Image of the Month' blog: https://planetarygeomorphology.wordpress.com/.
I also lead 'CryoMars', an informal network of UK researchers working on Mars' Cryosphere and Earth Analogues.
- Research interests
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My key research interests include:
- Landforms produced by glaciation and glacial meltwater on Mars, and their implications for environmental conditions in Mars' recent and ancient past.
- Current ice deposits on Mars, their implications for recent environmental change, and their potential for future sampling and in situ resource utilisation by human/robotic missions.
- Landforms produced by past ice sheets on Earth, and their implications for ice sheet dynamics.
- Using comparisons to Earth to better understand glaciation on Mars (and vice versa).
- Publications
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Journal articles
- Multiple sites of recent wet-based glaciation identified from eskers in western Tempe Terra, Mars. Icarus, 386.
- A billion or more years of possible periglacial/glacial cycling in Protonilus Mensae, Mars. Icarus, 115115.
- A comparative view of glacial and periglacial landforms on Earth and Mars. Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 53(4). View this article in WRRO
- Solar-system-wide significance of Mars polar science. Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 53(4).
- Sinuous ridges in Chukhung crater, Tempe Terra, Mars: Implications for fluvial, glacial, and glaciofluvial activity. Icarus, 357. View this article in WRRO
- Landforms indicative of regional warm based glaciation, Phlegra Montes, Mars. Icarus. View this article in WRRO
- Morphometry of a glacier-linked esker in NW Tempe Terra, Mars, and implications for sediment-discharge dynamics of subglacial drainage. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 542. View this article in WRRO
- Modeled subglacial water flow routing supports localized intrusive heating as a possible cause of basal melting of Mars' south polar ice cap. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. View this article in WRRO
- Molards as an indicator of permafrost degradation and landslide processes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 516, 136-147. View this article in WRRO
- The 2016 UK Space Agency Mars Utah Rover Field Investigation (MURFI). Planetary and Space Science, 165, 31-56. View this article in WRRO
- Time will tell: temporal evolution of Martian gullies and palaeoclimatic implications. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 467(1), 165-186.
- Glacial and gully erosion on Mars : a terrestrial perspective. Geomorphology, 318, 26-57. View this article in WRRO
- Surface-based 3D measurements of small aeolian bedforms on Mars and implications for estimating ExoMars rover traversability hazards. Planetary and Space Science, 153, 39-53. View this article in WRRO
- Recent basal melting of a mid-latitude glacier on Mars. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 122(12), 2445-2468. View this article in WRRO
- Are the Dorsa Argentea on Mars eskers?. Icarus, 275, 65-84. View this article in WRRO
Chapters
- Water Ice at Mid-Latitudes on Mars, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Planetary Science
- The Hydrology of Mars Including a Potential Cryosphere, Volatiles in the Martian Crust (pp. 185-246). Elsevier
Conference proceedings papers
- Ice sheet scale subglacial meltwater conduit dimensions and processes: insights from 3D morphometry of a large sample of eskers. EGU General Assembly. online, 19 April 2021 - 30 April 2021.
- Sinuous Ridges and the History of Fluvial and Glaciofluvial Activity
in Chukhung Crater, Tempe Terra, Mars.. EGU General Assembly. online, 19 April 2021 - 30 April 2021.
- Molards as an analogue for ejecta-ice interactions on Mars. EGU General Assembly. online, 19 April 2021 - 30 April 2021.
- View this article in WRRO
- Possible Transport of Basal Debris to the Surface of a Mid-Latitude Glacier on Mars. View this article in WRRO
- Modelling Esker Formation on Mars View this article in WRRO
Theses / Dissertations
Datasets
Other
- Multiple sites of recent wet-based glaciation identified from eskers in western Tempe Terra, Mars. Icarus, 386.
- Grants
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- 2019: International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) Conference Grant (€1320)
- 2019: Lunar and Planetary Institute Career Development Award ($1500)
- 2019: GeoPlanet Research Mobility Grant (€1200): Awarded by Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique, University of Nantes
- 2018: Royal Astronomical Society Travel Grant (£900).
- 2018: British Society for Geomorphology Postgraduate Conference Attendance Grant (£300).
- 2017: Pierazzo International Student Travel Award ($2000): Awarded to one non-US graduate student globally per year by the Planetary Science Institute.
- 2016: Europlanet Grant: Full funding to attend Europlanet RPIF 3D training workshop, Mullard Space Science Laboratory.
- 2016: 6th International Mars Polar Conference European Student Travel Grant (€666): Awarded by the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences.
- 2015: Ogden Trust Trustees' Award (£900).
- 2015: British Society for Geomorphology Postgraduate Conference Attendance Grant (£850).
- 2015: ProViDE Summer School EU Student Travel Grant (£500).
- Teaching interests
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I teach on the following modules in Sheffield:
- Polar and Alpine Change MSc(Res) Research Project
- The Planets
- Our Frozen Planet
- Critical Digital Geographies in Practice (MSc Applied GIS )
Past teaching activities include:- Guest lectures for 'Digital Terrain Analysis' module, University of Manchester MSc Geographical Information Science (2019 and 2020)
- Invited Workshop Coordinator: 'Planetary Geomorphology in Mars Landing Site Selection', South East Physics Network GRADnet Planetary Science Workshop, National Physical Laboratory, London, (2016).
- Demonstrator: Natural Environment Research Council CENTA Doctoral Training Program ArcGIS Training Course, The Open University (2016)
- Professional activities
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- 2nd prize for '3 minute thesis' competition (2018), Open University STEM faculty.
- Nature Astronomy Prize for Best Student Presentation (2017) at the 1st British Planetary Science Congress, Glasgow, UK, 4-5 Dec. 2017 (Poster).
- Paper subsequently reported in a Nature Astronomy Research Highlight
- John Glen Prize (2017) for the best student talk at the International Glaciological Society's British Branch Meeting, Lancaster University, UK, 5-7 Sept. 2017.
- Prize for best student talk (2017) at the Astrobiology Society of Britain: Habitability Beyond Earth conference. Open University, UK, 13-14 Sept. 2017.
- William Vaughan Lewis Prize (2015), University of Cambridge prize for undergraduate geography dissertation.
- Corpus Christi College Prize (2015), Corpus Christi College (University of Cambridge) prize for undergraduate dissertation.
- Hewitt Exhibition (2015), Corpus Christi College (University of Cambridge) prize for contributions to outreach and admissions initiatives between 2012 and 2015.