Southern African Dunes

Frank Eckardt is a geographer and dryland geomorphologist in the Environmental and Geographical Science Department at the University of Cape Town, specializing in Southern African geomorphology including aeolian dust, and sand storms. He holds a BSc degree from King’s College London, MSc from Cranfield College, and a DPhil from the University of Oxford. He has worked extensively in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa with research focuses on earth surface processes, drylands and remote sensing applications. He has previously edited the Springer book on Landscapes and Landforms of Botswana.

David Thomas is Professor of Geography and former Head at the School of Geography and Environment, University of Oxford, and senior Research fellow ant Hertford College, Oxford. He has worked in the Kalahari, Namibia and surrounding areas since 1981 on geomorphology, notably dunes, long-term Quaternary environmental change and human-environment interactions. He has published over 250 research papers and 13 books, including The Kalahari Environment with Paul Shaw, Arid Zone Geomorphology (three editions) and in 2024 The World Atlas of Deserts and Drylands. He is Honorary Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand and has held a similar position at the University of Cape Town. He has supervised 50 doctoral students, many now in their own academic posts including full Professors. In 2011 he received the Farouk El Baz Award from the Geological Society of America for a body of work on desert environments, the Victoria Medal from the Royal Geographical Society in 2019 for world leading research into dryland environments and societies and the David Linton Award in 2025 from the British Society for Geomorphology for a leading contribution to the discipline over a sustained period.