Dr Amy Thomas - Sparkes
Postdoctoral Research Associate
- sparkesav@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2087 4325
- Room 1.74A, Main Building, Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3AT
Overview
I am a paleoceanographer and geochemist. My research focuses on reconstructing Earth's climate history; specifically changes in ice volume, temperature and ocean circulation that have occurred across critical intervals in the geologic past. My work relies on discovering the chemistry of microfossils, such as foraminifera and fish teeth, found in deep ocean sediments deposited on the seafloor millions of years ago.
Research interests include:
- Cenozoic paleoclimate and paleoceanography, with specific interest in the Eocene-Oligocene Transition and the Mid-Pliocene
- Geochemical proxies, with experience in the use of benthic foraminiferal stable isotope and trace element geochemistry (including Mg/Ca paleothermometry) and neodymium isotopes
Biography
Career Overview
2020 - present Postdoctoral Research Associate on NERC-NSFGEO funded PLIOAMP project, Cardiff University
2018 Technician in Isotope Analysis, Cardiff University
2017 Research Technician, Cardiff University
Education and Qualifications
2020 PhD (Earth Sciences), Cardiff University
Thesis: 'The North Atlantic Ocean: A Force for Change at Earth's Greenhouse-Icehouse Transition' supervised by Professor Caroline Lear
2013 MRes (Applied Marine Science), Plymouth University
Thesis: 'Sea level changes during Marine Isotope Stage 9: Evidence from the Nar Valley, North Norfolk, UK' supervised by Professor Roland Gehrels
2012 BSc (Geography), Plymouth University
Honours and awards
2019 The Oceanography Society Travel Award, US$1500
2016 International Conference on Paleoceanography (ICP) Poster Prize
2015 European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD) Scholarship, €900
2014 Antarctic Science Bursary, £4400
2012 Dean's List of Academic Excellence, Plymouth University
Committees and reviewing
2016 - Present Secretary, The Paleoclimate Society
Teaching
2020 Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Authority (HEA)
2018 Nuffield Student Project Supervisor
2014 - 2019 Postgraduate Demonstrator, Cardiff University
Current Project: PLIOAMP
Currently, I'm working as a Postdoctoral Research Associate on PLIOAMP; a NERC-NSFGEO jointly funded project in collaboration with researchers at the University of Bristol, UK and the University of Massachusetts, USA. The overall aim of our work is to reduce the uncertainty associated with projections of future sea level change by reducing the uncertainty associated with the paleoclimate sea level estimates used to provide constraints in ice sheet models. The PLIOAMP project will produce a new sea level record covering the best available analogue to warming likely to occur over coming decades – the mid-Pliocene. This new record will be used to provide a new set of sea level projections associated with changes in the Antarctic ice sheet set to occur over coming centuries. Based in the CELTIC laboratory at Cardiff University, I will be generating estimates of the amplitude of glacial-interglacial ice volume changes across three key Pliocene intervals using paired benthic foraminiferal stable isotopes and Mg/Ca from three deep ocean sites.
PhD Research
I completed my PhD at Cardiff University under the supervision of Professor Caroline Lear. I completed this research in early 2020 and am currently preparing manuscripts for submission based on this work. My PhD research focused on the changes in temperature, ice volume and ocean circulation that occurred at the Eocene-Oligocene Transition (EOT) using a combination of benthic foraminiferal stable isotopes and trace elements, and neodymium isotopes from fossil fish teeth. My research generated insights on the globally heterogeneous response in temperature and productivity associated with the initiation of widespread Antarctic glaciation and a significant reorganization of the thermohaline circulation at the EOT.