Staff profile

• 2020 - present: Associate Professor.
• 2018 - 2020: Assistant Professor.
• 2014 - 2018: Independent Research Fellow & Proleptic Lecturer.
• 2010 - 2014: Postdoctoral Research Associate. COastal Rates of Behaviour and Activity (COBRA) funded by Cleveland Potash Ltd. Durham University, UK.
• 2009 - 2010: Postdoctoral Research Associate. Boulby Geoscience Project funded by ONE NorthEast. Durham University, UK.
• 2006 - 2009. Environmental Consultant. Golder Associates (UK) Ltd., Maidenhead and Leeds, United Kingdom.
• 2002 - 2006: NERC-funded PhD: ‘Autocompaction of Mineralogenic Intertidal Sediments’. NERC Studentship Reference: NER/S/A/2002/10353. Department of Geography, Durham University, UK.
• 1998 - 2001: BA (Hons) & MA Geography. St. Anne’s College, University of Oxford, UK.

Research Interests

My research focuses on the geotechnical properties of soils and rocks and how understanding deformation processes in Earth materials. In particular, I am interested in developing understanding of deformation mechanisms, styles and rates through detailed laboratory testing, informed by field measurements of stress and environmental conditions.

I work with a range of Earth materials obtained from geomorphic settings that vary in lithology, from soft estuarine muds and peats to the strong, regionally metamorphosed rocks of active orogens. My research has applications in low- and high-energy coastal geomorphology, rock-slope stability, landslide risk assessment and Quaternary science.

• Hazards and Surface Change
• Sea Level, Ice and Climate

• Coastal Behaviour and Rates of Activity (COBRA)

• 2019: Cleveland Potash Ltd. COastal Behaviour and Rates of Activity (COBRA). 2019-2022. PI.
• 2015: Cleveland Potash Ltd., COastal Behaviour and Rates of Activity (COBRA). 2012-2014. Co-I.
• 2015: NERC/CONIYCT (Newton Fund). Seismically-induced landslides in Chile: New tools for hazard assessment and disaster prevention. £156,011. 2015-2018.
• 2014: Cleveland Potash Ltd., COastal Behaviour and Rates of Activity (COBRA). 2014 - 2019. Co-I.
• 2013: British Society for Geomorphology. What makes landslides fail catastrophically during earthquakes? An innovative laboratory simulation of dynamic loading of hillslopes. £3,640. 2013. PI.

Chapter in book

• Hein, C.J., Pilarczyk, J.E., Brain, M.J., Green, A.N., Lau, A. & Ramos, N. (2023). From Cores to Code: Enhancing data-model integration to improve forecasts of coastal change - an introduction to IGCP Project 725. In Coastal Sediments 2023. Wang, P., Royer, E. & Rosati, J.D. 2340-2354.
• Brain, M.J. & Rosser, N.J. (2022). Mass Movements. In The History of the Study of Landforms or the Development of Geomorphology. Burt, T. P., Goudie, A.S. & Viles, H.A. Geological Society of London.
• Pradhan, S., Toll, D.J., Rosser, N.J. & Brain, M.J. (2020). Field monitoring of soil-moisture to understand the hydrological response of a road-cut slope. In 4th European Conference on Unsaturated Soils (E-UNSAT 2020). Cardoso, R., Jommi, C. & Romero, E. EDP Sciences. 195: 01029.
• Brain, M.J., Rosser, N.J., de Vilder, S.J. & Tunstall, N. (2017). The effects of stress path and strain rate on the confined compressive strength and failure mode of brittle rocks. In Progressive Rock Failure 2017 (Extended abstracts). Leith, K., Ziegler, M., Perras, M. & Loew, S. ETH Zuerich.
• Whadcoat, S.K., Rosser, N.J., Brain, M.J. & Hardy, R.J. (2017). Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Rockfalls in Hard Rock Coastal Cliffs. In Landslides: Putting Experience, Knowledge and Emerging Technologies into Practice. De Graff, J.V. & Shakoor, A. Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists (AEG). 633 - 644.
• Rosser, N.J., Williams, J., Brain, M.J. & Hardy, R.J. (2017). Insights into progressive rockfall failure from 4D scanning. In Progressive Rock Failure 2017 (Extended abstracts). Leith, K., Ziegler, M., Perras, M. & Loew, S. ETH Zuerich.
• de Vilder, S.J., Rosser, N.J., Brain, M.J. & Vann Jones, E.C. (2017). Forensic rockfall scar analysis: Development of a mechanically correct model of rockfall failure. In Landslides: Putting Experience, Knowledge and Emerging Technologies into Practice. De Graff, J.V. & Shakoor, A. Zanesville, Ohio: Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists (AEG). 829-839.
• Benjamin, J., Rosser, N.J. & Brain, M.J. (2016). Rockfall detection and volumetric characterisation using LiDAR. In Landslides and Engineered Slopes: Experience, Theory and Practice. Aversa, S., Cascini, L., Picarelli, L. & Scavia, C. CRC Press. 389 - 396.
• Brain, M.J. (2015). Compaction. In Handbook of Sea-Level Research. Shennan, I., Long, A.J. & Horton, B.P. Wiley. 452-469.
• Nawawitphisit, S., Petley, D.N., Rosser, N.J., Lim, M., Brain, M.J. & Waugh, S. (2012). Temporal characteristics and controls on landsliding in glacial tills. In Landslides and Engineered Slopes: Protecting Society through Improved Understanding. Eberhardt, E., Frose, C., Turner, J. & Leroueil, S. Taylor & Francis Group, London.
• Parker, R.N., Petley, D.N., Densmore, A.L., Rosser, N.J., Damby, D. & Brain, M.J. (2012). Progressive failure cycles and distributions of earthquake-triggered landslides. In Earthquake-Induced Landslides. Ugai, K., Yagi, H. & Wakai, A. Springer.
• Norman, E.C., Rosser, N.J., Petley, D.N., Lim, M., Barlow, J. & Brain, M.J. (2010). Exploring the relationship between tidal duration and energy delivery to a coastal cliff. In Geologically Active. Williams, A.L., Pinches, G.M., Chin, C.Y., McMorran, T.J. & Massey, C.I. CRC Press/Taylor and Francis Group, London.
• Brain, M.J., Rosser, N., Petley, D., Lim, M., Barlow, J. & Norman, E. (2010). Dynamic rock strength in coastal rock cliffs. In Geologically Active. Williams, A.L., Pinches, G.M., Chin, C.Y., McMorran, T.J. & Massey, C.I. CRC Press/Taylor and Francis Group, London.
• Lim, M., Rosser, N.J., Petley, D.N., Norman, E.C., Barlow, J. & Brain, M.J. (2010). Characterising coastal cliff erosional environments: microclimate-rock interactions. In Geologically Active. Williams, A.L., Pinches, G.M., Chin, C.Y., McMorran, T.J. & Massey, C.I. CRC Press/Taylor and Francis Group, London.

Doctoral Thesis

• Brain, M.J. (2006). Autocompaction of Mineralogenic Intertidal Sediments. Department of Geography. Durham University. PhD.

Journal Article

• Garrett, E., Brain, M.J., Hayward, B.W., Newnham, R., Morey, C.J. & Gehrels, W.R. (2023). Resolving uncertainties in foraminifera-based relative sea-level reconstruction: a case study from southern New Zealand. Journal of Foraminiferal Research
• Stearns, RB, Engelhart, SE, Kemp, AC, Hill, TD, Brain, MJ & Corbett, DR (2023). Within-region replication of late Holocene relative sea-level change: an example from southern New England, United States. Quaternary Science Reviews 300: 107868.
• Pilarczyk, J.E., Hawkes, A.D., Brain, M.J., Green, A.N., Hein, C.J., Lau, A. & Ramos, N. (2023). Foreword: Remembering Professor David Scott's Contribution to the IGCP Community. Journal of Foraminiferal Research 53(1): 1-2.
• Walker, J.S., Li, T., Shaw, T.A., Cahill, N., Barber, D.C., Brain, M.J., Kopp, R.E., Switzer, A.D. & Horton, B.P. (2023). A 5000-year record of relative sea-level change in New Jersey, USA. The Holocene 33(2): 167–180.
• Khan, N.S., Ashe, E., Moyer, R.P., Kemp, A.C., Engelhart, S.E., Brain, M.J., Toth, L.T., Chappell, A., Christie, M., Kopp, R.E. & Horton, B.P. (2022). Relative sea-level change in South Florida during the past ~5 ka. Global and Planetary Change 216: 103902.
• Pradhan, S., Toll, D.G., Rosser, N.J. & Brain, M.J. (2022). An investigation of the combined effect of rainfall and road cut on landsliding. Engineering Geology 307: 106787.
• Brain, M.J., Moya, S., Kincey, M.E., Tunstall, N., Petley, D.N. & Sepúlveda, S.A. (2021). Controls on post-seismic landslide behaviour in brittle rocks. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface 126(9): e2021JF006242.
• Walker, J., Kopp, R., Shaw, T., Cahill, N., Khan, N., Barber, D., Ashe, E., Brain, M.J., Clear, J., Corbett, D.R. & Horton, B.P. (2021). Common Era sea-level budgets along the U.S. Atlantic coast. Nature Communications 12: 1841.
• Swirad, Z.M., Rosser, N.J., Brain, M.J., Rood, D.H., Hurst, M.D., Wilcken, K.M. & Barlow, J. (2020). Cosmogenic exposure dating reveals limited long-term variability in erosion of a rocky coastline. Nature Communications 11: 3804.
• Benjamin, J., Rosser, N.J. & Brain, M.J. (2020). Emergent characteristics of rockfall inventories captured at a regional scale. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 45(12): 2773-2787.
• Vane, C.H., Kim, A.W., Moss-Hayes, V., Turner, G., Mills, K., Chenery, S.R., Barlow, T.S., Kemp, A.C., Engelhart, S.E., Hill, T.D., Horton, B.P & Brain, M.J. (2020). Organic Pollutants, Heavy Metals and Toxicity in Oil Spill impacted Salt Marsh Sediment Cores, Staten Island, New York City, USA. Marine Pollution Bulletin 151: 110721.
• Williams, J.G., Rosser, N.J., Hardy, R.J. & Brain, M.J. (2020). The Importance of Monitoring Interval for Rockfall Magnitude-Frequency Estimation. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface 124(12): 2841-2853.
• Swirad, Z.M., Rosser, N.J. & Brain, M.J. (2019). Identifying mechanisms of shore platform erosion using Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 44(8): 1542-1558.
• de Vilder, S.J., Brain, M.J. & Rosser, N.J. (2019). Controls on the geotechnical response of sedimentary rocks to weathering. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 44(10): 1910-1929.
• Barnett, R.L., Bernatchez, P., Garneau, M., Brain, M.J., Charman, D.J., Stephenson, D.B., Haley, S. & Sanderson, N. (2019). Late Holocene sea-level changes in eastern Québec and potential drivers. Quaternary Science Reviews 203: 151-169.
• Kemp, A.C., Wright, A.J., Edwards, R.J., Barnett, R.L., Brain, M.J., Kopp, R.E., Cahill, N., Horton, B.P., Charman, D.J., Hawkes, A.D., Hill, T.D. & van de Plassche, O. (2018). Relative sea-level change in Newfoundland, Canada during the past ∼3000 years. Quaternary Science Reviews 201: 89-110.
• Vann Jones, E.C., Rosser, N.J. & Brain, M.J. (2018). Alongshore variability in wave energy transfer to coastal cliffs. Geomorphology 322: 1-14.
• Williams, J. G., Rosser, N. J., Hardy, R. J., Brain, M. J. & Afana, A. A. (2018). Optimising 4-D surface change detection: an approach for capturing rockfall magnitude–frequency. Earth Surface Dynamics 6(1): 101-119.
• de Vilder, S.J., Rosser, N.J. & Brain, M.J. (2017). Forensic analysis of rockfall scars. Geomorphology 295: 202-214.
• Brain, M.J., Kemp, A.C., Hawkes, A.D., Engelhart, S.E., Vane, C.H., Cahill, N., Hill, T.D., Donnelly, J.P. & Horton, B.P. (2017). Exploring mechanisms of compaction in salt-marsh sediments using Common Era relative sea-level reconstructions. Quaternary Science Reviews 167: 96-111.
• Brain, M.J., Rosser, N.J. & Tunstall, N. (2017). The control of earthquake sequences on hillslope stability. Geophysical Research Letters 44(2): 865-872.
• Brain, M.J. (2016). Past, present and future perspectives of sediment compaction as a driver of relative sea-level and coastal change. Current Climate Change Reports 2(3): 75-85.
• Swirad, Z.M., Rosser, N.J., Brain, M.J. & Vann Jones, E.C. (2016). What controls the geometry of rocky coasts at the local scale? Journal of Coastal Research 75(sp1): 612-616.
• Sepúlveda, S.A., Petley, D.N., Brain, M.J. & Tunstall, N. (2016). The Effect of Dynamic Loading on the Shear Strength of Pyroclastic Ash Deposits and Implications for Landslide Hazard: The Case of Pudahuel Ignimbrite, Chile. Engineering Geology 205: 54-61.
• Brain, M.J., Rosser, N.J., Sutton, J., Snelling, K., Tunstall, N. & Petley, D.N. (2015). The effects of normal and shear stress wave phasing on coseismic landslide displacement. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface 120(6): 1009-1022.
• Brain, M.J., Kemp, A.C., Horton, B.P., Culver, S.J., Parnell, A.C. & Cahill, N. (2015). Quantifying the contribution of sediment compaction to late Holocene salt-marsh sea-level reconstructions, North Carolina, USA. Quaternary Research 83(1): 41-51.
• Vann Jones (née Norman), E. C., Rosser, N. J., Brain, M. J. & Petley, D. N. (2015). Quantifying the environmental controls on erosion of a hard rock cliff. Marine Geology 363: 230-242.
• Brain, M.J., Rosser, N.J., Norman, E.C. & Petley, D.N. (2014). Are microseismic ground displacements a significant geomorphic agent? Geomorphology 207: 161-173.
• Long, A.J., Barlow, N.L.M., Gehrels, W.R., Saher, M.H., Woodworth, P.L., Scaife, R.G., Brain, M.J. & Cahill, N. (2014). Contrasting records of sea-level change in the eastern and western North Atlantic during the last 300 years. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 388: 110-122.
• Rosser, N.J., Brain, M.J., Petley, D.N., Lim, M. & Norman, E.C. (2013). Coastline retreat via progressive failure of rocky coastal cliffs. Geology 41(8): 939-942.
• Norman, E.C., Rosser, N.J., Brain, M.J., Petley, D.N. & Lim, M. (2013). Coastal cliff-top ground motions as proxies for environmental processes. Journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans 118(12): 6807 - 6823.
• Barlow, J., Lim, M., Rosser, N.J., Petley, D.N., Brain, M.J., Norman, E.C. & Geer, M. (2012). Modeling cliff erosion using negative power law scaling of rockfalls. Geomorphology 139-140: 416–424.
• Brain, M.J., Long, A.J, Woodroffe, S.A., Petley, D.N., Milledge, D.G. & Parnell, A.C. (2012). Modelling the effects of sediment compaction on salt marsh reconstructions of recent sea-level rise. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 345-348: 180-193.
• Brain, M.J., Long, A.J., Petley, D.N., Horton, B.P. & Allison, R.J. (2011). Compression behaviour of minerogenic low energy intertidal sediments. Sedimentary Geology 233(1 - 4): 28 - 41.

Newspaper/Magazine Article

• Brain, M.J., Eppes, M.C., Leith, K. & Rinehart, A. (2023). Penrose Conference Report - Progressive Failure of Brittle Rocks (PRF2022). GSA Today 33(2): 14-16.
• Brain, M.J. (2022). History Matters When Gauging Hillslope Susceptibility to Failure. Eos, https://eos.org/editor-highlights/history-matters-when-gauging-hillslope-susceptibility-to-failure
• Brain, M.J., Eppes, M.C., Leith, K. & Rinehart, A. (2021). PRF2022 — Progressive Failure of Brittle Rocks. GSA Today 31(9): 38-40.