My secondary research focus is on advanced dating methods for studying Earth's past.  Our planet's global climate and local environments have been of almost singular importance in the physical and social development of humans throughout our history (as well as all life on Earth).  Earth's climate and environment can be studied either in the present or by looking into the past through natural repositories of information such as rock-, mud-, and sediment layers, tree rings, the fossil record, ice cores, and other archives.  Such natural archives can tell us about Earth's history going back millions of years, so they give us a much greater perspective of the Earth as a whole and how it behaves.  When looking at an ancient archive, one is faced with two basic questions: What happened? and When did it happen?  Only by answering these can more complex questions like Why and how did it happen? be posed.

There is an ongoing quest to refine the answers to both What? and When? - my work has focused on the when.  With precise and accurate dating methods, the stories and lessons of the past can be thrown into focus. 

With collaborators from the University of Oxford's Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art (RLAHA) and elsewhere, I have been investigating how a technique called luminescence dating can be refined and advanced to be used in glacial environments.  Such an advance could potentially open up vast new resources in the study of Earth's ancient climate and environments.  Not only is such research of fundamental importance for understanding our planet, but I also enjoy it for the opportunities it gives to experience the incredible range of natural environments found on earth first-hand.

This field is incredibly collaborative by nature.  If you're interested in learning more, please don't hesitate to contact me by email.