Michael Meadows is Professor in the School of Geography and Ocean Sciences at Nanjing University and is a Senior Research Scholar in the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science at the University of Cape Town, where he was Head of Department from 2001-2017.
He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Sussex and a PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK. Meadows has authored or co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed research articles and edited several special editions of international journals. More substantial works include the co-edited Southern African Geomorphology (Sun, 2012) and Geomorphology and Society (Springer, 2016) and he is currently co-editing volumes entitled Research Directions, Challenges and Achievements of Modern Geography (Springer) and Geography of the Anthropocene (Istanbul University Press).
His research interests lie broadly in the field of physical geography and more specifically concern Quaternary environmental change and the geomorphological and biogeographical impacts of geologically recent natural and anthropogenic changes. He has a particular passion for fieldwork and discovering new and interesting places. Meadows was Secretary-General and Treasurer of the International Geographical Union (IGU) from 2010-18 and was elected as IGU President for the period 2020 to 2024.