Alumni news

Dr Rendel Williams, Emeritus Reader in Physical Geography, died on Sunday 12 December, 2021.

Rendel Williams was an undergraduate in the Department of Geography at Cambridge where he went on to complete a PhD under Bruce Sparks. His work concentrated on periglacial geomorphology, especially in the Breckland and he had contributed to several papers on this topic. He was appointed Demonstrator at Cambridge and so by the time he moved to Sussex in 1968 he was very familiar with the needs of undergraduates.

In 1970 Rendel was joined by David Robinson, and they formed a research partnership that lasted for over 30 years and established Sussex as an internationally renowned centre for experimental rock weathering, particularly by salts and frost, and for the study of sandstone weathering, initially in South East England, but later in France, Morocco, Germany and the Czech Republic. The group was strengthened by the appointments of Cherith Moses and Julian Murton in the mid-1990s, broadening the research agenda and developing foci on the potential impacts of climate change on rock weathering and rock coast evolution. Notably, this led to the ESPED (European Shore Platform Erosion Dynamics) project, 1998-2001, which involved collaboration with colleagues from Sweden, France, Portugal and Majorca.

For many years, BSc Geography students were members of the School of Biological Sciences. This particularly suited Rendel who, in addition to his research interests in weathering, had strong academic interests in biogeography, particularly tropical rainforests, and taught courses on these topics throughout his career.

During the 1970s and 80s Rendel taught statistics to undergraduate geographers but considered the available texts rather unsatisfactory, so he wrote two of his own: Introduction to Statistics for Geographers and Earth Scientists (1982) and Intermediate Statistics for Geographers and Earth Scientists (1984), were both published by Palgrave Macmillan. He played an important role in introducing the early computers to the Geography Subject Group and later became involved in introducing the study of Geographical Information Systems and Remote Sensing.

Rendel was a great supporter of the role of field work in the undergraduate curriculum and throughout his time at Sussex helped lead field many classes. He was one of the pioneers in the development of overseas field classes to what at the time were considered exotic locations and for which Sussex Geography has become famed. He took field classes initially to Morocco (he produced a guide to fieldwork centred on Marrakech and the High Atlas), then later to Kenya, Thailand and Vietnam. Those of us who accompanied Rendel on these trips witnessed a passionate, dedicated and deeply knowledgeable field teacher who was also great company in the evenings.

Rendel served two terms as Chair of the Geography Subject Group. His approach to administration, academic work, and indeed, all the projects he was involved in, was one of thoroughness and precision - the written word was treated with considerable respect as many of us know when attempting to write with him! He was meticulous in all that he did and took his administrative roles, such as leading the Subject Group and international research teams, extremely seriously.

Rendel loved the South Downs and was heavily involved in the work of the Sussex Wildlife Trust for whom he chaired their Scientific Committee for many years after his retirement from Sussex in 2004. He co-authored, with Robin Crane, The Natural History of the South Downs National Park in a series published by the Sussex Archaeological Society in 2013. He was also an avid postcard collector, focusing on historic postcards of the South Downs, Downland farming, and on the Sussex Coast and coastal change, some of which he made available to view on his sussexpostcards.info website.

Later in 2022 it is hoped that a memorial event will be held for Rendel.

David Robinson, Cherith Moses, Don Funnell and Simon Rycroft on behalf of the Department of Geography

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