Current Research:

Uncovering the long-term sensitivity of Southern Ocean phytoplankton to Antarctic climate change using novel geochemical and ancient DNA proxies.

I am a PhD (Geology) student funded by the NERC GW4+ Doctoral Training Partnership based at both the aDNA group at Natural History Museum and Camborne School of Mines.

My primary research focus is using aDNA, micropalaeontological and geochemical proxies to interpret phytoplankton changes through the late Holocene to recent, using marine sediment cores from the Southern Ocean, located at the Antarctic Peninsula.

My project will develop an appropriate method for aDNA sampling and extraction from marine sediment cores. Once established, I will then compare the aDNA phytoplankton species and abundances with diatom and dinoflagellate micropalaeontological assemblages to interpret phytoplankton changes at a high-resolution scale between different core site locations. This information will then be used to interpret palaeoenvironmental variation through time with a focus on the pre- and post- industrial change.

Supervisors:

Primary Supervisor: Dr Sev Kender (University of Exeter)

Co-Supervisor: Prof Ian Barnes (Natural History Museum)

Co-Supervisor: Prof James Scourse (University of Exeter)

Co-Supervisor: Dr Claire Allen (British Antarctic Survey)

Co-Supervisor: Prof Melanie Leng (British Geological Survey)

Education:

2021-Present: University of Exeter: PhD

2016-2019: University of Birmingham: MSc Micropalaeontology with Distinction

• Masters thesis with Dr Kirsty Edgar investigating benthic foraminifera assemblages from the North Atlantic which span the early Eocene climate optimum and subsequent cooling to reconstruct the response of benthic communities and site specific palaeoenvironmental changes.

2016-2019: University of Plymouth: BSc Geology First Class (Hons)

• Third year module in Advanced Palaeontology and Stratigraphy and a Professional Case Study focused on the use of geochemical proxies in reconstructing patterns of ocean circulation.
• Undergraduate mapping project on sedimentary rocks ranging from Triassic to Neogene with interpreted changing environments.