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Staff profile

Overview

Dr Eleanor Ross

Senior Manager (Technical Services & Facilities)

Affiliations
AffiliationTelephone
Senior Manager (Technical Services & Facilities) in the Department of Geography+44 (0) 191 33 41963

Biography

I am the Senior Manager (Technical Services & Facilities) in the Department of Geography. I have come to this role from a research background in reconstructing palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic change. My expertise lies in micropalaeontology, geochemistry and sedimentology.

 2019 - Present: Senior Manager (Technical Services & Facilities), Department of Geography, Durham University

 2014 – 2019: Deputy Laboratory Manager, Department of Geography, Durham University

 2010 – 2014: Leverhulme Research Associate, Department of Geography, Durham University

 2010: University Teacher, Department of Geography, The University of Sheffield

 2006-2009: NERC Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The Open University

 2002 – 2006: PhD, “High-resolution analysis of Antarctic Quaternary diatom-rich laminated sediments”, School of Earth, Ocean and Planetary Sciences, Cardiff University

Experience
  • Geochemistry (biomarkers, stable isotopes, water analysis)
  • Microfossils (diatoms, foraminifera and chironomids)
  • Microscopy (optical (stereo and compound) and scanning electron microscopes)
  • Sedimentology (high-resolution logging, coring, in situ measurements)
  • Fieldwork (UK, Arctic, Antarctic, USA)
Previous research projects:

Rapid Neoglacial transitions in the North Atlantic

Department of Geography, Durham University

The cause of mid-Holocene rapid cooling, about 4-6 ka, has puzzled researchers for some time. In order to ascertain the nature and origins of this event I used biomarkers and the remains of chironomids (non-biting midges) preserved in lake sediments to construct temperature records of this period of cooling.

 

Causes and consequences of global cooling in the mid-Miocene

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Open University

An investigation of mid-Miocene cooling was made by conducting high-resolution logging and geochemical analysis of organic-rich marine sediments (Monterey Formation, California).

 

High-resolution analysis of Antarctic Quaternary diatom-rich laminated sediments

School of Earth, Ocean and Planetary Sciences, Cardiff University

An investigation into the seasonality of Late Quaternary Antarctic climate and sea ice conditions by examining laminated diatom-rich sediments from the Antarctic Peninsula (Palmer Deep) and East Antarctica (Mertz Ninnis Trough and Dumont D’Urville Trough). To do this a quantitative and qualitative high-resolution approach was employed to analyse diatom assemblages. 

Research Interests
  • Quaternary palaeoenvironments
  • Palaeoclimate reconstruction
  • Micropalaeontology
  • Geochemistry
  • Sedimentology