Biography
Education
- BA (Hons): University College London, 1965-1968
- D. Phil: The New University of Ulster, 1968-1971
- D.Sc: The University of London, 1997
Employment
- Royal Society European Research Fellow Institute of Quaternary Geology Uppsala University, Sweden, 1971-1973
- Research Fellow in Environmental Science School of Biol. and Environ. Studies The New University of Ulster, 1973-1976
- Lecturer in Geography, UCL, 1976-1986 Reader in Geography, UCL, 1986-1991
- Professor of Environmental Change and Director of the Environmental Change Research Centre, UCL, 1991 – 2007
- Emeritus Professor of Environmental Change, UCL, 2007-Present
Visiting Research Appointments
- Visiting Docent, Karelian Research Institute, Joensuu, Finland, 1978
- Visiting Research Associate, Limnological Research Center, University of Minnesota, USA, 1981-1982
Awards and Medals
- Royal Geographical Society Back Award for acid rain research, 1989
- Elected Foreign Member, Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, 1991
- Rector's Guest and Research Medal of the University of Helsinki, 1994
- Medal of Moscow State University, 1995
- Honorary Professor, Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 2002
- Recognised as a “Pioneer of the Nation” by Queen Elizabeth II, 2003
- Elected Fellow of the Royal Society, 2006
- Honorary DSc, University of Ulster, 2007
- Ruth Patrick Award, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, 2009
- Victoria Medal of the Royal Geographical Society, 2010
- Honorary Fellow, University College London, 2011
- Einstein Professor, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2012
- James Croll Medal, Quaternary Research Association, 2013
- Lifetime Achievement Award, International Paleolimnology Association, 2015
- Honorary DSc, Queens University at Kingston, Canada, 2015
- Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2018
Committees and Administration
- Associate Editor, Journal of Paleolimnology
- Editorial Board, Fennia
- Member, Advisory Board, Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences
- IGBP-PAGES Project leader for LIMPACS
- Chairman, ESF Programme " HOLIVAR "
- Member IGBP-PAGES Scientific Steering Committee
- Member IGBP-PAGES Executive Committee
- Member UK IGBP Committee
- Chairman, International Paleolimnology Association 2006-2012
- Member, Royal Society Climate Change Advisory Group 2006-2009
- Member, UK Government, Defra, RoTAP 2008
- Member, Royal Society Global Environment Research Committee 2010-2015
- Member, FBA Council (Royal Society Representative) 2011-2017
- Editor-in-Chief, Biology Letters, 2014 -2018
PhD Supervision
Gina Clarke (UCL): 1999-2002 (with Viv Jones)
Plantonic diatoms and climate change
Giri Kattel (ORS): 2000-2003 (with Anson Mackay)
Cladocera and climate change in mountain lakes
Andy Henderson (UCL): 2000-2003 (with Jonathan Holmes)
Holocene climate variability in Qinghai-Hu, north-west Tibet
Tom Davidson (NERC): 2001-2004 (with Carl Sayer and Helen Bennion)
Zooplankton in shallow lakes
Jonathan Tyler (NERC): 2003-2006 (with Viv Jones)
Benthic diatoms and biogenic silica isotopes at Lochnagar
Hong Yang (Dorothy Hodgkin): 2005-2008 (with Roger Flower and Julian Thompson)
Dong Xuhui (DfeS/CSC): 2006-2009 (with Carl Sayer and Helen Bennion)
Grants and Funding
Global change impacts on European freshwater ecosystems – Euro-limpacs
- Funding Source: EU FP6
- Duration: 1.2.04 – 31.1.09
Palaeolimnology and shallow lake ecosystem restoration
- Funding Source: Royal Society/Chinese Academy of Sciences Joint Project
- Duration: 1.4.04 – 31.3.07
Bloomsbury Environmental Isotope Facility
- Funding Source: SRIF-UCL
- Dates May 2001 - 2003
Climate variability and surface water acidification in North-west Scotland
- Funding source: NERC
- Duration: 1.4.01-31.03.03
Holocene climate variability (HOLIVAR)
- Funding source: ESF
- Duration: 1.1.01-31.12.05
Biogenic silica oxygen isotope fractionation in Lochnagar
- Funding source: NERC (NIGL)
- Duration: 1.7.00-31.3.02
Academic Links with China Scheme (ALCS)
- Funding Source: British Council
- Dates: 1.6.99-31.5.02
EMERGE: European mountain lake ecosystems: regionalisation diagnostics & socio-economic evaluation
- Funding source: EU FPV
- Dates: 1.2.00-31.1.03
A comparison of biogenic silica oxygen isotope, pollen and diatom records for an Eemian crater-lake sediment sequence
- Funding source: NERC
- Duration 1.7.99-30.6.00