Dr Edward Clennett
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Overview
Overview
Biography
Edward Clennett is an Associate Lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London. He teaches the Global Tectonics class at undergraduate level.
Edward's expertise is in reconstructing plate tectonic history through deep time, and using these reconstructions to find new deposits of critical minerals. He uses plate reconstruction software, geodynamic force calculations and seismic tomography modelling to better understand plate tectonics. He then uses this history of plate tectonics to predict where critical minerals such as copper form, by identifying the tectonic controls of mineral formation with machine learning algorithms.
Edward holds a PhD in Geosciences from the University of Texas at Austin, having previously graduated from the University of Oxford with a Masters in Earth Sciences.
Qualifications
- PhD, The University of Texas at Austin, 2024
- MEarthSci, University of Oxford, 2019
Visiting posts
- Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Arizona, 01-2025 to 12-2025
Honours and awards
- UTIG Outstanding Graduate Student Award, University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, January 2024
- Fulbright Scholarship, US-UK Fulbright Commission, January 2020
- Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, Jackson School of Geosciences, UT Austin, January 2023
- UKOGL Prize, Geologists' Association, January 2020
- Halliburton Earth Model Award, Halliburton Landmark, January 2020
- BP Prize for best Master's project, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, January 2019
ORCID
0000-0002-5190-542X -
Research
Research
Research interests
- Reconstructing plate tectonic history
- Tectonic controls of critical minerals
- Seismic tomography models of Earth's interior
- Restoring crustal thickness changes during continental deformation
Research overview
My research focusses on the dynamics of plate tectonics through deep time (millions of years). Models of plate tectonic history, called “plate reconstructions”, are traditionally constrained with surface geological data, with little consideration of constraints from the Earth’s interior or the physics of plate motion. Because surface data can be lost as plates subduct into the mantle, reconstructions can have large uncertainties, limiting their predictive power. To overcome these challenges, I develop and apply novel methods from geodynamic, seismic, and plate kinematic modelling, leading to improved plate reconstruction models.
Plate reconstructions have many important uses, including for modelling how the Earth’s climate has changed through geological time, understanding how different species evolve, and predicting where different types of natural resources formed. I am focussing on this last application, using machine learning algorithms to understand the tectonic controls of critical mineral formation based on the data from my plate reconstruction models. The aim is better understand where and why minerals such as copper form, and thus help to meet the increasing demand for critical minerals during the energy transition.
Research clusters and groups
- Postdoctoral Researcher, Wu Lab, University of Arizona
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Supervision and teaching
Supervision and teaching
Teaching
Teaching modules
- Global Tectonics (SCES053H5)
- Publications