I am an interdisciplinary scientist interested in human impacts on the environment.  My research combines paleolimnology with the fields of archaeology, geochemistry and archaeometry.  Paleolimnology is the study of past environmental change using continuous records of biological, geochemical and sedimentological parameters preserved in lake sediment. 


Although long-term monitoring data are typically lacking (especially for remote environments like the South American Andes), lake sediments archive a wealth of environmental information in the form of various proxies.  These indirect measures of past environmental conditions can be used to inform us about our past, set mitigation targets for our future, and provide us with a broader context in which to consider recent anthropogenic change.  In the words of Confucious: “Study the past to divine the future”.

Research

My research revolves around reconstructing anthropogenic influences on the biogeochemical cycling of the elements.  Society is increasingly interested in environmental change, and the role that humans play in its modulation.  Insight into the inherit dynamics of nature, and the role past human activities have played in establishing the current condition, is essential.  I use a multi-proxy approach to investigate both natural and human-induced environmental change at over a wide range of timescales (decades to millennia).  This type of long-term perspective is especially important in regions with a long history of resource exploitation (such as the South American Andes), and in regions which are increasingly experiencing unprecedented rates of environmental change (such as the Arctic).