Overview

I am an environmental scientist working at the nexus of palaeo- and contemporary ecology. My primary research interests lie in the application of biological, geochemical and geochronological techniques to address key research questions around past, present and future environmental and climate change. I have a particular interest in the palaeoenvironments of the Southern Hemisphere, having worked across the Antarctic Peninsula, Peru, New Zealand and Patagonia on a range of records, from high-altitude and high-latitude wetlands through to coastal and shallow-marine systems.

Most recently, my research has focussed on the provision of longer-term (decadal to centennial) context for contemporary environmental and ecosystem changes, often driven by ongoing climatic change, which cannot be provided by instrumental or historical data alone. I also have a particular interest in the potential of cross-discipline research to provide novel, holistic approaches to future-facing Earth science research questions.

I am also an experienced field scientist having coordinated complex and remote field seasons in Peru, New Zealand, Patagonia and Alaska.

Currently funded research

'A novel transdisciplinary approach to investigating the recent responses of High Andean wetlands(bofedales) to increasing climate-related pressures' (funded by The Royal Society, until 2024)

The Convex Seascape Survey (funded by Convex Insurance, until 2025)

'The Wetter the Better? Understanding wet woodland carbon dynamics in the Anthropocene' (PhD Project: Emma Duley, funded by NERC ARIES DTP)

'Keeping above the waves? The response of coastal freshwater peatlands to sea-level rise' (PhD Project: Maddie Timmins, funded by NERC GW4+ DTP)

Career

Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography, University of Exeter (2023-present)

Lecturer in Physical Geography, University of Exeter (2019-2023)

Lecturer (Education & Scholarship), University of Exeter (2017-2019)

Research Fellow, University of Exeter (2014-2019)

Research Fellow, University of Southampton (2012-2014)

Qualifications

PhD in Geography, University of Exeter (2008-2012)

MSc in Quaternary Science, Royal Holloway and UCL, University of London (2006-2007)

BSc (Hons.) in Geography, University of Exeter (2003-2006)

Links

• Bogology - the science of peatlands and past climate
• Twitter - @ExeterGeography
• Twitter - @ThomasPRoland

Research group links

• Cryosphere, Coastal and River Dynamics

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Research

Research interests

• Peatland ecology and palaeoecology including the analysis of testate amoebae, plant macrofossils and pollen
• Statistical analysis of palaeoecological data
• Peatland carbon and nutrient dynamics
• Late-Quaternary palaeoclimatology
• Tephrostratigraphy and tephrochronology
• Age-depth modelling in peatlands (radiocarbon, short-lived radioisotopes and tephra) using a range of statistical techniques
• Environmental archaeology

Research projects

'Holocene evolution of the Southern Annular Mode using novel peat isotope proxies'

With Dan Charman and Matt Amesbury at the University of Exeter. Funded by the Leverhulme Trust.

This project aims to reconstruct long-term variability in the Southern Annular Mode, a key component of the Southern Hemisphere's climate system. Using peatland records from across New Zealand, we'll employ a range of palaeoenvironmental techniques, including a novel stable isotopic approach recently developed here at Exeter, to look for links between changes in climate in the Southern Hemisphere and the tropics, as well as inter-hemispheric teleconnections. 

‘Terrestrial Holocene climate variability on the Antarctic Peninsula’

With Dan Charman and Matt Amesbury at the University of Exeter. Funded by the NERC Antarctic Funding Initiative.

Together with colleagues from the British Antarctic Survey and the University of Cambridge, we aim to provide a longer term context for the rapid environmental changes recently witnessed on the Antarctic Peninsula. This involves the analysis of moss bank records using a multi-proxy palaeoecological and geochemical approach (testate amoebae, stable isotopes), supported by radiocarbon, lead-210 and tephra derived chronologies. Visit the project website here.

‘Palaeoclimate reconstructions from Tierra del Fuego to detect land-ocean-atmosphere interactions’

With Paul Hughes at University of Southampton. Funded by NERC.

Working with colleagues from the Universities of Aberdeen, Swansea and Plymouth, the PATAGON project aims to develop a new regional network of proxy archives and create quantitative climate reconstructions for southern South America spanning the last ~2000 years, based on the multi-proxy palaeoecological (plant macrofossils, testate amoebae) and geochemical analysis of the Sphagnum-dominated peat deposits of southern Patagonia. Visit the project website here.

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Publications

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Teaching

Office Hours

My Term 1 office hours will be held on:

• Mondays at 11:00-12:00
• Thursdays at 11:00-12:00

Bookings can be made by following this link, and meetings can take place in my office or on Teams as required.

Modules

2023/24

• GEO1211 - Earth System Science: The History of Our Planet
• GEO2234 - The 'Anthropocene'
• GEO3155 - Iceland Field Course

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Supervision / Group

Postgraduate researchers

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Office Hours:

My Term 1 office hours will be held on:

• Mondays at 11:00-12:00
• Thursdays at 11:00-12:00

Bookings can be made by following this link, and meetings can take place in my office or on Teams as required.

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