Projects per year
Personal profile
Interests
Other
I work mainly in using Earth science techniques in forensics, both in the search for hidden objects (bodies, buried materials) and in trace evidence analysis. This work has been applied to @CreativeIreland funding; consultancy projects and two Knowledge Transfer Partnership grants, one on imaging vulnerable historic buildings and structures (essentially, a forensic search) and the other on sub-aqueous mapping of bridges, piers etc, essentially water-based searches. I am part of the SALINAS team, investigating saline aquifeer intrusion (lead: Gerry Hamill).
I bring 5-10 consultancy projects to Queens each year, from forensic analysis, through environmental crime to assessment of ground conditions. Three recent grant awards underpin much of my research - two associated with the TellusBorder SEUPB-funded project and FRAGSUS, an EU-funded project on fragile island communities with Caroline Malone here at Queen's (and colleagues). I currently supervise three PhD students - Neil Powell (scent detection in dogs, especially for early epilepsy warning); Niamh McCullough (homicides in Ireland) and Filippo Bertozzo (dinosaur palaeopathology).
Research Statement
Overview
- Five current research council grants, totalling over £500,000.
- Top score (4*) for my Geoforensics Impact Statement in UK Government Research Excellence Framework (2014).
- Total (including collaborative) grant earnings exceed £9 million over 30 years.
- Published over 125 peer-reviewed papers and one book.
- Completed over 130 major (over £1000) consultancy projects, mainly on Geoforensics.
- Collaborative projects in 10 countries worldwide, Training Officer for the IUGS-funded Initiative on Forensic Geology (£15,000 per year)
- Health & Safety Coordinator; formerly Director of Education, Postgraduate Coordinator, completed Queen’s Leadership course.
- Teaching includes geology, geomorphology, GIS, climate change, field classes throughout the UK, Ireland, Mediterranean, Geoforensics, Masters level geophysics.
Grants
1. @CreativeIreland outreach funding: search and archaeological excavation/recovery of a crashed and burieed WW2 P38 Lightning, Monaghan.
2. Remote sensing and geophysics for archaeology (€2.6 million European Research Council FRAGSUS grant: PI Professor Malone).
3. SALINAS - saline aquifer intrusion monitoring and modelling, PI Professor Gerry Hamill.
4.. TellusBorder peat depth monitoring for carbon stocks (£4.5 million INTERREG [EU] with £72,000 to Ruffell & colleagues).
5. TellusBorder remote sensing of illegally buried waste (£72,000 to Ruffell & colleagues).
6. Volcanology/glaciology (£47,000 EPSRC Ph.D studentship: CI Ruffell)
Interests
- Using non-destructive geological techniques in landscape and material analysis for forensic, archaeological, geological and geomorphological research.
- Forensic research. Multiproxy methods (remote sensing, geophysics, landscape interpretation) for the search of buried and sunk items. Trace evidence analysis methods for criminal investigations.
- Consultancy for engineering companies, the police and environment agencies and the Independent Commission for the Recovery of Victims Remains.
Teaching
GAP1007 Dynamic Earth
GAP2002 Landscapes & Geographic Information Systems
GAP 3049 Geoforensics
Fingerprint
- 2 Similar Profiles
Network
Projects
-
R1084BSC: Queens University Belfast and University of Aberdeen Doctoral Research and Training (QUADRAT)
Emmerson, M., Blaauw, M., Caplat, P., Helyar, S., McKinley, J., Roe, H. & Ruffell, A.
23/07/2019 → …
Project: Research
-
R1079NBE: Queens University Belfast & University of Aberdeen Doctoral Research and Training (QUADRAT)
McKinley, J., Blaauw, M., Caplat, P., Emmerson, M., Helyar, S., Roe, H. & Ruffell, A.
21/07/2019 → …
Project: Research
-
R6395ARL: Fragility and sustainability in restricted island environments: adaption, cultural change and collapse in prehistory
Malone, C., Blaauw, M., Hunt, C., McCormick, F., Reimer, P., Ruffell, A. & Whitehouse, N.
01/08/2012 → …
Project: Research
-
R3360ARL: Specialist Projects December 2011 to March 2012
Donnelly, C., Brown, D., Meneely, J. & Ruffell, A.
01/08/2011 → 17/12/2019
Project: Research
-
Research Output
-
First workshop on the Carnian Pluvial Episode (Late Triassic): a report
Dal Corso, J., Benton, M. J., Bernardi, M., Franz, M., Gianolla, P., Hohn, S., Kustatscher, E., Merico, A., Roghi, G., Ruffell, A., Ogg, J. G., Preto, N., Schmidt, A. R., Seyfullah, L. J., Simms, M. J., Shi, Z. & Zhang, Y., 26 Feb 2018, In : Albertiana. 44, p. 49-57Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile496 Downloads (Pure) -
Geophysics and the search of freshwater bodies: a review
Parker, R., Ruffell, A. & Hughes, D., Jun 2010, In : Science and Justice. 50, 3, p. 53-65 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
19 Citations (Scopus) -
Gamma-ray spectroscopy in structural correlations: an example from the Neoproterozoic succession of Donegal (NW Ireland)
Ruffell, A., Hadley, M. J. & Leslie, G., 2000, In : Geological Journal. 137, p. 137-152 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Description and etiology of paleopathological lesions in the type specimen of Parasaurolophus walkeri (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae), with proposed reconstructions of the nuchal ligament
Bertozzo, F., Manucci, F., Dempsey, M., Tanke, D. H., Evans, D. C., Ruffell, A. & Murphy, E., 01 Dec 2020, In : Journal of Anatomy.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Extinction and dawn of the modern world in the Carnian (Late Triassic)
Ruffell, A., dal Corso, J., Bernardi, M., Sun, Y., Seyfullah, L. J., Preto, N., Gianolla, P., Kustatscher, E., Roghi, G., Hohn, S., Schmidt, A. R., Newton, R., Wignall, P. & Benton, M., 16 Sep 2020, In : Science Advances. 6, p. 1-12 12 p., eaba0099.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Citations (Scopus)9 Downloads (Pure)
Prizes
-
Fellow of the Geological Society of London
Ruffell, Alastair (Recipient), 2001
Prize: Fellowship awarded competitively
-
William Smith Medal
Ruffell, Alastair (Recipient), 04 Jun 2020
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
-
Forensic Geology
Alastair Ruffell (Advisor) & Laurance Donnelly (Contributor)
21 Feb 2020Activity: Talk or presentation types › Public lecture/debate/seminar
-
Proceedings of the Geologists' Association (Journal)
Alastair Ruffell (Peer reviewer)
31 Aug 2020Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial activity
File -
Albertiana (Journal)
Alastair Ruffell (Peer reviewer)
01 Jan 2018Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Publication peer-review
-
Archaeology for All: Event 2 at The Giant's Ring
Laura Basell (Organiser), Michael O'Mahony (Organiser), Jonathan Small (Organiser), Kirsten Cottey (Organiser), Lauren Carberry O'Neill (Organiser), Adam Purvis (Organiser), Georgia Vince (Organiser), Dan Clarke (Host), James Perkins (Contributor), Alastair Ruffell (Contributor), Stine Carlsson (Contributor), Barrie Hartwell (Contributor) & Tomasz Ciesielski (Presenter)
19 May 2018Activity: Other activity types › Hosting a school group or open day
-
Albertiana (Journal)
Alastair Ruffell (Peer reviewer)
01 Jan 2018Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Publication peer-review