Tephrochronologist studying Quaternary environmental change and explosive volcanism.
Research Area
My research aims to understand the pace, spatial complexity and environmental responses to Quaternary climate variability, as well as the timing and impacts of explosive volcanic eruptions. My primary expertise is in tephrochronology – the detection, and geochemical characterisation and correlation of far-travelled volcanic ash (tephra) isochrons, which can precisely align volcanic, palaeoenvironmental and archaeological sequences. In the Cambridge Tephra Laboratory we have a specialist facility for studying microscopic ash deposits, termed “cryptotephra”.
I’m interested in the role of environmental changes on hominin evolution and dispersal during the Middle and Late Pleistocene. Using tephra layers to date and directly connect archaeological archives to the palaeoenvironmental record, precise correlations between climatic changes and human histories can be made. I have also worked extensively using cryptotephra layers to date and synchronise archives of abrupt climate change from the Lateglacial and MIS 3.
Recent research collaborations are contributing to Late Pleistocene and Holocene tephrostratigraphies for East African Rift volcanoes. Through correlation of visible and non-visible (crypto-)tephra layers in lake sediment archives, stratified tephra records are contributing both to dating and correlation of important tropical palaeoclimate archives and to a better understanding of past explosive volcanism and hazard in an understudied region.
Project Interests
I would be interested in co-creating projects that apply tephrochronology (+/- cryptotephra methods) to Quaternary environmental, archaeological or volcanological questions, particularly in the areas indicated above. I am keen to “fill in the gaps” in regional tephrostratigraphies in understudied areas/timeframes, using cryptotephra records. Examples could include the Holocene or Last Interglacial time periods in Europe, or active volcanic systems along the East Africa Rift (or elsewhere!) with poorly known eruption records. I also have a growing interest in UK Fenland landscapes, where cryptotephra could support the correlation of Holocene peatland archives to evaluate regional environmental change and contextualise Neolithic archaeology.
