Meadows has a wide range of research activities under the umbrella Physical Geography. He is currently working with a variety of international collaborators, particularly in the UK, France, Germany, and China. Key research interests focus on the reconstruction of Quaternary palaeoenvironments using a range of proxies and sediment types, especially wetlands and lakes. He has explored issues around environmental change and human activity in places as far afield as Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, South Africa and China. Through collaboration, Meadows has expanded his research interests to encompass remote sensing records of land use change and also in the field of sustainability education. Meadows has an active group of and PhD students working under his supervision.