Research
I have wide ranging research interests in paleoclimate, oceanography, and geochemistry. These include CO2 and climate change during the ice ages, the long-term chemical evolution of Earth's oceans and atmosphere, geochemical proxy development, and ocean acidification, past and present.
Please get in touch if you're interested in working together and check the opportunities page for more info.
You can also see what I've been up to in my CV, in the project pages and publication list below or on Google Scholar.
Codes, data, and figure examples associated with my 2021 Annual Reviews paper on Cenozoic CO2 reconstruction are available at our group Github.
Codes, data, and figure examples associated with my 2018 review on boron isotopes in foraminifera are available here, though note that some of these are now superseded by the codes from the 2021 Annual Reviews paper above.
Facilities
I am a PI in the St Andrews Isotope Geochemistry (STAiG) laboratry, which houses a world-class array of analytical geochemical equipment. We measure the abundance and isotopic composition of elements across the periodic table, in trace levels and at high precision. Facilities include MC-ICPMS and QQQ-ICPMS with solution, laser ablation, and GC introduction, supported by a suite of clean chemistry labs; the department also houses a suite of IRMS and XRF instruments. Particular specialties in my group include boron isotope, sulphur isotope, and trace element analyses, with the other lab PIs adding further expertise across the periodic table. We are open to academic and commercial collaborations - please get in touch by email with any questions.
For insights into speedy lab set-up click here. You can also check out the talks given at our opening party.
Current Projects
Reconstructing the long-term history of the CO2 system funded by the ERC. This project takes some exciting new approaches to reconstruct seawater chemistry with the major aim of improving CO2 records. Find out more here...
Can the North Pacific form deep water? What would this do to biological productivity and CO2? This NERC-funded project tests the hypotheses in our 2014 paper with new boron and 14C data and modelling. Find out more here...
The Southern Ocean is thought to play a key role in glacial CO2 change, but few records from this critical region exist. This NERC-funded work addresses this using high resolution archives, including deep sea corals. Find out more here...
Geochemistry of Methane-derived authigenic carbonates
Working with partners at the Norwegian Geological Survey we are using new geochemical methods to better understand deep sea methane seep environments
The North Atlantic's overturning circulation drove rapid climate change events during the last ice age. This NERC-funded project uses radiocarbon and other tracers to better understand the climate and chronology of this powerhouse of climate variability. Find out more here...
and many more...
Including mass extinctions, coral bleaching, glacial cycles, MC-ICPMS methods, carbonate dissolution, ACC precipitates, boron-constraints on biomineralisation, coupling between the carbon and sulphur cycles, Plio-Pleistocene CO2, improved proxy calibrations, LA-MC-ICPMS, global foraminiferal assemblages, microanalysis in corals, GC-MC-ICPMS, the history of explosive volcanism...