Stephen Mott

The lecture focuses on Svalbard, an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean/Barents Sea which includes the main island of Spitsbergen. Other than the university and international town of Longyearbyen, the islands are largely uninhabited and is governed by Norway under an international agreement. The lecture is based on wide-based, generalist fieldwork undertaken in two expeditions during the summers of 2022 and 2023. The solid geology is complex and diverse which includes rocks from the Pre-Cambrian to the Quaternary the older of which have been subjected to tectonic folding and deformation. Due to the lack of cover, there are plenty of exposures which have allowed much research and fieldwork in often hostile environments and conditions. The talk will cover some of the more interesting aspects of the geological history and also examine some of the glacial landforms and the influence of changing climate in the Arctic.

STEPHEN MOTT has worked in education for most of his life. His first degree is in Geology from the University of Durham where he won the Main prize for Fieldwork.

Stephen Mott has taught geology, chemistry and physical geography at secondary schools and has taught in the field with adults. Latterly, he worked in school standards and improvement and informally with university students to encourage their development of study skills. He has been interested in birds and wildlife since he was a child and this continues with his involvement in Carlisle Natural History Society and the BTO.

Since retirement, he provides his own programme of field studies, writing and research. He enthusiastically promotes fieldwork in all aspects of natural history. He contributed a chapter to a book of fieldwork published by Cambridge University Press in 2020, and has provided descriptions of local geological sites in Cumbria in the recent GA guide to the county.