Anna Joy Drury during the Sunrise shift onboard the R/V JOIDES Resolution in the Pacific Ocean, during International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 363 (credit: A.J. Drury)
Dr Anna Joy Drury is the recipient of the Wollaston Fund for 2022, which is awarded by the Geological Society of London to an early career researcher “on the basis of noteworthy published research in either or both 'pure' and 'applied' aspects of geoscience". The award is named in honour of William Hyde Wollaston (1766-1828) and has been bestowed annually since 1873.
Anna Joy’s research aims to understand Earth’s past climate and how it responded to changes in the energy received from the Sun. These rhythmic energy changes, or astronomical forcing, interact with Earth System processes to drive short-term climate variability. Most recently, Anna Joy focussed on how these orbital cycles affected Earth’s climate during the Cenozoic (the last 66 million years).
Marine sediments recovered by the International Ocean Discovery Program capture the imprint of these past cycles exceptionally well. Anna Joy used the stable isotope composition of tiny fossils, called foraminifera, in these sediments to obtain snapshots of Earth’s cryosphere and carbon cycle in the past. Using these isotope records, Anna Joy had a lead role in generating CENOGRID, which is the most accurate record of Cenozoic climate, to decipher the finer detail of Earth’s response to astronomical forcing. CENOGRID showed that Earth experienced four climatic states since the dinosaurs went extinct, each with a characteristic climate variability fingerprint. Anna Joy’s work has shown that Earth’s response to astronomical forcing undergoes complex changes over time, constraining the range of natural climate variability and providing context for future environmental change.
The award will be presented by during the Geological Society’s President’s Day on the 8th of June, 2022.
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