People

Who We Are

We are an ERC and RCUK funded research team based at UCL and Birkbeck looking at how Earth’s biogeochemical cycles respond to past and present climate change

Full Directory
Project of the Week

 

 

 

Dr Mel Murphy

 

This summer, Emily and I spent nearly three months sampling glacier- and snow-fed rivers draining continuous permafrost in the high Arctic Zackenberg River catchment, NE Greenland. Rivers play an important role in the long-term carbon cycle, transporting dissolved and particulate material from the chemical and physical breakdown of rocks on the continents to the oceans. These ‘weathering’ processes can both release and remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, and we don’t know which of these processes dominates overall in Arctic river systems. This has huge implications for understanding whether Arctic rivers are acting as a source or sink for atmospheric CO2, and therefore, how weathering in the Arctic impacts the long-term carbon cycle and climate.

 

Investigative Team

All members, including PhD and Masters Researchers, can be contacted either via this website or their institutional contact addresses 

Dr Philip Pogge von Strandmann

Dr Philip Pogge von Strandmann

Principal Investigator

I am interested in how the Earth’s biogeochemical cycles respond to changes in climate. In particular, how chemical weathering (the main natural removal process of atmospheric CO2) responds to climatic warming and cooling. This is important both for determining how the future climate will evolve due to anthropogenic warming, but also if we can enhance these natural processes to artificially remove CO2 on faster timescales.

 CV 

Publication list 2021

Dr Alex Krause

Dr Alex Krause

Postdoctoral Researcher

I am a biogeochemical modeller with an interest in the evolution of the Earth system over time. At UCL, my research is focused on investigating the links between weathering, CO2 and temperature for incidents such as glaciations (e.g. the Hirnantian), the PETM etc. To do this I combine geochemical data with the development of mathematical representations of Earth processes, for instance: biological developments and changes in global tectonism, to understand the descent into, and escape from these climatic episodes.

 

Xiaoqing He

Xiaoqing He

Postdoc

Weathering experiments to determine the impact of non-equilibrium conditions

PhD Researchers

Xianyi Liu

PhD Researcher

Project Title

Use lithium isotopes to investigate the role of vegetation in mediating
present and past silicate weathering

Luheng Bai

PhD Researcher

Sedimentary changes across the Permian

Chunyao Liu

PhD Researcher

Project Title

PhD project title: Examining the role of estuarine particles in silicate weathering

 

A Word

 

From Our Principal

 

” For the first time in human history, we are capable of predicting the future climate. The problem is that our own activities will cause us to live in interesting times. 

 

– Philip Pogge von Strandmann

Past Members

Tianchen He

PhD Researcher

Dr Mel Murphy

Postdoctoral Researcher

Fieke Mulder

PhD Researcher

Project Title

Elucidating mineral dissolution and precipitation mechanisms.

 

Lisa Friberg

MSCI

Examining lithium isotopes as a tracer of silicate weathering through a river time-series

Lara Cosford

MSCi

Examining lithium isotopes as a tracer of silicate weathering rates. 

Chloe Tooley

Masters

 “Enhanced weathering CO2 sequestration experiments at 4°C”

Fuencisla Canadas

PhD Researcher

Project Title

Paleoceanographic context of organic matter deposition on the Yangtze Craton, South China during the Ediacaran Period

Joe Sumesar-Rai

PhD Researcher

Project Title

Using boron isotopes as a tracer of habitat and diet.

Dr David Wilson

Postdoctoral Researcher

As a geologist and earth scientist, my research uses isotopic and geochemical measurements to investigate past changes in ocean chemistry.

Dr Ying Shields-Zhou

Postdoctoral Researcher

Ze Tao

PhD Researcher

Project Title

Using foraminifera to study paleoclimate and climate change

Opportunities

If you are interested in research in these areas, please contact me..

I welcome enquiries from people wishing to undertake research in:

  1. past variations in biogeochemical cycles, largely related to inorganic and organic responses and controls of the carbon cycle. 
  2. Understanding modern weathering processes, using natural analogues of past processes.
  3. Laboratory experiments to constrain and quantify isotopic responses to chemical weathering of different materials.
  4. Artificial enhancement of natural processes to rapidly sequester atmospheric or oceanic carbon.

If you wish to undertake a PhD, and are a UK/EU student, then funding is best sought via the University of London’s NERC Doctoral Training Programme (DTP) 

If you are a non-EU student, then the most likely funding course is via UCL’s overseas research scholarships. If you are a Chinese national, then funding can be obtained via the Chinese Scholarship Council. 

Postdoctoral positions are advertised on the jobs page when available. 

If you wish to apply for a research fellowship (e.g. NERC ) then please contact me.