Staff profile

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

Journal Article

• Arctic chironomids of the northwest North Atlantic reflect environmental and biogeographic gradients
  
  Medeiros, A. S., Milošević, Đurađ, Francis, D. R., Maddison, E., Woodroffe, S., Long, A., Walker, I. R., Hamerlík, L., Quinlan, R., Langdon, P., Brodersen, K. P., & Axford, Y. (2021). Arctic chironomids of the northwest North Atlantic reflect environmental and biogeographic gradients. Journal of Biogeography, 48(3), 511-525. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14015