Simon is an interdisciplinary lecturer in geography with broad interests in the feedbacks between human activities and landscape processes, often using the theoretical lens of “The Anthropocene” to frame research. My research group are looking at: the landscapes of The Anthropocene, the processes which reshape them, and how humans both influence these landscapes and processes, but are in turn influenced by the hybrid physical landscape of the Anthropocene in how they live their lives.

Examples include how waste plastic is being incorporated into sediments and fluvial transport processes, and the effects of geomorphological processes in cities producing hybrid human/natural landforms.

Simon is part of the Birmingham Plastics Network, an interdisciplinary team of more than 40 academics working together to shape the fate and sustainable future of plastics.  This unique team brings together chemists, environmental scientists, philosophers, linguists, economists, and experts in many other fields, to holistically address the global plastics problem.

Simon had a career in financial services working at offices in the UK and India, before undertaking a MSc in River Environmental Management as a mature student at University of Birmingham and then a PhD in Fluvial Geomorphology at University of Southampton. He worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow on Large river morphodynamics and Peatland hydrology, before taking up a position as lecturer at University of Birmingham in 2018.

He was awarded the Royal Geographical Society's Area Prize in 2018 for "Ozymandias in the Anthropocene: the city as an emerging landform" a paper introducing the concept of hybrid urban landforms.

He is founder and co-chair of the Neurodiversity Staff Network at University of Birmingham, and founder of the UK Universities Neurodiversity Network. He has ADHD, Autism, four cats and has completed the Pokemon National Pokedex