Heritage Science Staff
Programme Director:
Dr Keith Lilley (k.lilley@qub.ac.uk)
Delivery Team
Module Coordinators:
Dr Paul Ell click here
Dr Keith D. Lilley, B.A., Ph.D., F.R.H.S.
Keith Lilley is Reader in Historical Geography and specialises in the study of historic landscapes through the use of maps and mapping techniques. He studies both urban and rural landscapes, and the cultural and historical processes that shaped them. Recent funded research projects on medieval urban landscapes (eg. see http://www.medievalchester.ac.uk and http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/specColl/atlas_ahrb_2005/) exemplify his innovative approach combining spatial technologies such as GIS and GPS to explore the character and content of historic landscapes, and the use of such technologies to broaden access across heritage sectors to academic research. He sits on the Board of the Historic Towns Trust and is formerly Treasurer of the International Seminar on Urban Form (ISUF). He has international links with scholars across Europe and North America working within a wide range of disciplines, including historians and archaeologists, and is a contributor to a pan-European heritage project, PLACE (People, Localities, Archives, and Cultures in Europe), coordinated by the University of York and currently being considered for FP7 funding.
Dr Jennifer McKinley, BSc., PGCE, PhD, FGS, CGeol. [Sabbatical AY2012-13]
Dr McKinley is a senior lecturer in GIS in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology and a member of the Geomaterials group in the Environmental Change Research cluster. Dr McKinley is a Chartered Fellow of the Geological Society of London. Her primary research interests relate to spatial analysis, comprising Geographical Information Science (GIS) and geostatistics, of earth processes, weathering studies and environmental forensics. Collaboration with external agencies is an important aspect of Dr McKinley’s work within Northern Ireland and internationally. Significant grant-funded projects include use of geostatistics in weathering studies; spatial analysis approaches to modelling water quality; trace element abundance and human epidemiology in collaboration with the Cancer Registry NI; and collaborative work with the University of Alberta on peat depth modelling and the application to carbon stocks. Other teaching responsibilities include undergraduate (Earth science and GIS) and field teaching.
Dr Alastair Ruffell, B.Sc, Ph.D, FGS
Alastair Ruffell researches the innovative use of new technologies in materials analysis. These include quantitative x-ray diffraction in mineral analysis; spectral gamma-ray in rock analysis; ground-penetrating radar, unsteady-state probe permeametry in stone weathering. Applications range from the assessment of bridges, studying the mineralogical effects of climate change, forensic casework on trace evidence and in assisting searches. Two current Knowledge Transfer Projects reflect the use of these methods in studying built structures, one on vulnerable stone buildings, the other on underwater imaging.
Dr Patricia Warke, BSc., Ph.D
Patricia Warke is a geomorphologist by training, and her research interests have grown to include study of general decay dynamics of stone in built structures, both archaeological and historical, which in turn has stimulated a focus on development of condition classification systems for buildings and ancient monuments based on the Staging System approach used in medicine. As a member of the Weathering Research Group she has been involved in a wide variety of pure and applied research projects investigating stone properties, and the factors controlling the breakdown of stone in buildings and has recently been appointed to the Historic Buildings Council which advises the Department of the Environment on issues affecting the built heritage of Northern Ireland.
Module Technical and Teaching Support:
The following staff provide significant support for the teaching programme through the provision of field and laboratory teaching and specialised student guidance for research projects.
