PhD: Pollen-based Reconstructions of UV Radiation History

We are seeking candidates for two fully funded PhD projects to develop pollen-based proxy reconstructions of relative changes in UV-B flux within the Holocene. Both projects will involve high resolution sampling of lake sediment records for pollen, followed by FT-IR analysis to determine abundance of UV-B absorbing compounds (UACs) in the extracted pollen samples. One project will focus on the record from a New Zealand site (Lake Ohau) and the other on the record from a site in Turkey (Nar Gölü).

The aim of both projects is to investigate nature and timing of variations in UACs in the context of changes in solar activity (e.g. grand maxima and minima) and other processes which may impact the levels of UV-B reaching the Earth’s surface. This research is part of a wider project entitled “Unlocking centuries’ worth of surface UV-B radiation hidden in pollen”, funded by the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi Marsden Fund.