NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory

Appointments

Congratulations to Melanie Leng who has become an Associate Editor for G-cubed for 2 years (2012–14). She will be co-handling papers for the theme "Development of Isotopic Proxies for Paleoenvironmental Interpretation: A Carbon Perspective (DIPPI-C)".

• More information about G-cubed
• More information on DIPPI-C

The programme aims to promote interest and discussions across the broad field of Mineral Sciences (including all aspects of petrology and geochemistry at the Earth's surface and at depth). The Mineralogical Society has appointed Prof Parrish as one of this season's distinguished lecturers, on the basis of being a good communicator and an expert in his field, to give lectures at universities and related institutions. The lectures will be intended to appeal to undergraduates and research students, as well as to more advanced scientists. The two lectures on offer are: "100 years of geochronology: Arthur Holmes and his legacy to U-Pb dating and Earth history" and "Addressing political agendas, depleted uranium, and nuclear proliferation with mass spectrometry and environmental science".

• More information

Jonathan joins NIGL on a one year isotope apprenticeship following completion of his doctoral thesis from Loughborough University (2006–2010) titled 'Holocene environmental change in coastal Denmark: interactions between land, sea and society.' The project involved using a range of palaeoenvironmental techniques (particularly diatoms, sedimentary pigments and isotopes from foraminiferal tests) for reconstruction of salinity, productivity and nutrient status over the last ~9,000 years in three shallow coastal systems in Denmark. At NIGL, Jonathan will be trained as an isotope geoscientist and will work in a technical role on a range of projects, preparing and running isotope samples.

Andrew joins NIGL as a PDRA after recently completing his doctoral thesis at the University of Cambridge where he studied the time and length scales of processes responsible for metamorphism in the Eastern Alps. During his time at NIGL, Andrew will be involved in a range of research projects including the development of an in-situ U-series technique.

Congratulations to Dr Tim Heaton and Dr Jane Evans who have been nominated to sit on the NERC Peer Review College from September 2011 to September 2014.

Andrea Snelling continues at NIGL with PDRA positions working on NERC grants: "Bering Sea diatom isotope records during the onset of Northern Hemisphere Glaciation" with Nottingham University and "Seasonal climate, silicon cycling and diagenesis at Rostherne Mere, Cheshire: generation of δ¹⁸O_diatom and δ³⁰Si_diatom signals, with implications for palaeoclimatology and biogeochemistry" with Loughborough University.

Wendy has recently joined NIGL as a research assistant working on U-Pb carbonate analysis in the plasma ionisation mass spectrometry laboratory (PIMS). She is currently also finalising her PhD which assesses tsunami hazard from the collapse of ocean island volcanoes in the Canary Islands, through the investigation and development of techniques to identify reworked tsunami deposits.

Congratulations to Jane Evans who has been appointed Special Associate Professor in the School of Humanities at the University of Nottingham. The appointment is on the basis of Jane being a distinguished practitioner in the field of isotopes in archaeological science and is aimed at strengthening links between BGS and the university.

Nick Roberts has joined NIGL as a research support scientist, working primarily in the plasma ionisation mass spectrometry (PIMS) facility. Nick will be involved in improving current techniques in U-Th-Pb geochronology and Lu-Hf isotope analysis, and will also be involved in developing methodologies on the single-collector mass-spectrometer, including Uranium-series dating of carbonates. Nick has recently finished a PhD at the University of Leicester, of which a significant component involved LA-ICP-MS and TIMS analyses at NIGL.

Adam Martin has recently joined NIGL as a Post-Doctoral researcher. The post is part of an international multi-disciplinary project, FAR-DEEP (Fennoscandia Arctic Russia - Drilling Early Earth Project). FAR-DEEP is an internationally supported (ICDP, NGU and various national research councils) project with one overarching goal: to develop a comprehensive, self-consistent model explaining the transformation of Earth from an anoxic to oxic planet and the subsequent transition to an aerobic Earth System. NIGL will be responsible for the integration of high-precision geochronology into the models developed from the FAR-DEEP research, and will work closely with other UK researchers from the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre and University of St-Andrews, using mainly high precision TIMS and LA-ICP-MS techniques. His research background is in the petrology and chemistry of the Antarctic lithosphere; U-Pb, Ar-Ar, and K-Ar chronology; and low-sulphidation epithermal gold deposits.

Laura Bracciali has recently joined NIGL as a Post Doctoral Research Associate investigating the evolving composition of the Brahmaputra River sediments through Neogene time by means of a multi-technique provenance study, with the aim of testing competing hypotheses of drainage evolution and erosion-tectonic coupling. Her research background deals with aspects of igneous and sedimentary petrology, including field work, petrography, trace element/isotope geochemistry, as applied to understanding problems of orogenic evolution and palaeotectonic reconstructions.

Her appointment is associated with a three year NERC standard grant awarded to Randy Parrish.

Congratulations to Randy Parrish who has been nominated to sit on the NERC Peer Review College from July 2009 to July 2012.

Congratulations to Melanie Leng on her appointment to the Editorial Advisory Board of Silicon. The appointment is to run for two years. Silicon is an international, interdisciplinary journal solely devoted to the most important element of the 21st Century. Silicon’s coverage is unique in presenting all areas of silicon research and development across all disciplines. Silicon is a quarterly journal publishing the very latest cutting edge research in materials chemistry, materials physics, materials biology, materials engineering and environmental science.

• Silicon

Sarah Metcalfe (School of Geography, Nottingham University) has been awarded a VRA at NIGL/BGS. Sarah will be spending her time at NIGL working with Melanie Leng on improved understanding of controls on isotopic composition of Mexican lake systems to develop their use to reconstruct changes in the Mexican monsoon. This will also be tied in with their mutual interest in comparing the tropical Americas with the near East and the balance between mid-latitude and tropical climate systems over time.

• School of Geography, University of Nottingham

Randy Parrish has accepted the position of European Editor of Precambrian Research from September 2007:
More information

Congratulations to Jane Evans who has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship at the Department of Archaeology, Nottingham University.