Ian is Emeritus Professor of Physical Geography at Manchester University. Ian believes that a river always reflects what is happening in the catchment area. The way that food is farmed and produced locally influences the river water-flow and water quality. Safeguarding the water quality is one important element in safeguarding the environment and future food production.

Ian is presently the Science Co-ordinator of the Environment Research Council's Lowland Permeable Catchment Thematic Research Programme (LOCAR), which includes a research project in the Tern Valley Catchment Area. This will make the Tern one of the most understood rivers in the country. Newly installed instruments now measuring rainfall, evaporation, infiltration, ground water levels and river flows so that all the components of the water cycle can be recorded automatically. There is an annual survey of the habitat conditions and land use changes. The outcome of the LOCAR projects will assist in the management of the ecologically important wetlands along rivers and help in understanding future risks of droughts and floods.

Born in Wembley, Ian recalls that when he was 8 years old his grandfather gave him an atlas with illustrations of different places around the world. He clutched it under his arm all the way to Paddington Station and across London on the Tube. He was much taken with the diversity of places and has been travelling ever since. He is now working with SCOPE (the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment part of the International Council for Science) that brings together world scientists. He also works with the Commonwealth Human Ecology Council, a small charity working with the UN to alleviate problems of slums in the poorest urban areas of the world. His interest in the dynamics of urban growth and its environmental impact lead him to take a wider perspective on the LOCAR Programme and to consider the impact the Tern has on Market Drayton and the impact of the town on the river.

He offers to the network an enthusiasm for holistic thinking about the relationship between people and their environment and experience in studying that in detail in different parts of the world. He is also a gateway to accessing the vast amount of data on the River Tern that is being collected.