Geography

Professor James Scourse

Professor James Scourse

Professor of Earth Systems Science, Head of Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences

 J.Scourse@exeter.ac.uk

 01326 371883

 Daphne du Maurier 3064

 

Daphne du Maurier Building, University of Exeter,  Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK

Overview

After a degree at the University of Oxford and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education at the University of Bristol, I completed a PhD on the Quaternary stratigraphy and palaeoenvironments of the Celtic Sea, Isles of Scilly and West Cornwall at the University of Cambridge. This research was undertaken in the laboratories of the Sub-department of Quaternary Research including the Godwin Laboratory led by Professor Sir Nicholas Shackleton FRS. I was then elected to a Research Fellowship at Girton College, University of Cambridge, but after a year I was appointed to a Lectureship at Bangor University in the School of Ocean Sciences in 1985, being awarded a Personal Chair in 2005. I stayed in Bangor until I moved my research group to the Penryn Campus at the University of Exeter in February 2017.

I have co-ordinated and led two major EU research consortia (SHELF and HOLSMEER), was a senior member of the 40-partner EU MILLENNIUM project (European Climate of the Last Millennium), and have held eleven NERC research grants. Much of my research is based at sea and I have served as Chief Scientist on 12 research cruises, including the final cruise of the RRS James Clark Ross in Antarctica in 2020. I am currently the corresponding Principal Investigator of the ERC SEACHANGE Synergy Project (seachange-eu.erc) and a senior member of the Convex Blue Seascape Survey (convexseascapesurvey.com).

I was President of the Quaternary Research Association (2008-2011) and Chair of the NERC Radiocarbon Facility Steering Committee (2007-2011). I was Editor of the Journal of Quaternary Science (2000-2004) and was awarded a Royal Society-Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship in  2008-2009. I was elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales in 2014, was Director of the Climate Change Consortium of Wales between 2011 and 2016, and received the ScD degree from the University of Cambridge in 2023.

Broad research specialisms

Quaternary palaeoenvironments, especially the marine geology and
palaeoceanography of passive ocean margins.

Marine climate (mechanisms, impacts).

Sclerochronology and scleroclimatology: https://sclerogroupexeter.co.uk/

Sea-level change.

Ice-ocean interaction.

Qualifications

MA (Oxon), PGCE (Bristol), PhD (Cantab), ScD (Cantab), FGS, FRGS, FLSW

Research group links

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Research

Research interests

My research focuses on marine climate change. I have researched mechanisms and feedback responses in the Earth’s climate system, in particular linked to ice-ocean interaction and the impact of changes of sea level on the carbon cycle, sediment transport and ocean circulation. I lead a group reconstructing marine climate using very long-lived annually banded molluscs (sclerochronology/climatology). Notable research highlights of James’ group include:

  • The first annually-resolved marine climate series covering the last 1000 years (2017)
  • Discovery of the longest-lived animal known to science (2007, 2013)
  • The first crossmatched sclerochronological series from the fossil record (2006)
  • The first record of seasonal stratification dynamics for any shelf sea (1997, 2002)
  • The first palaeotidal model reconstructions for the NW European shelf seas integrated dynamic topography (2006)
  • Analysis of the contribution of major sea-level changes to the global carbon cycle (2008)
  • Establishing that the last major glaciation of the Isles of Scilly and Celtic Sea occurred during the Last Glacial Maximum (published 1991, 2017)
  • Providing the first integrated record of ice-rafted detritus flux from the British-Irish Ice Sheet (2009)
  • The first record of the neotectonic instability of southern Britain (1990)

Research projects

My current research activity involves building long, annually-resolved, records of North Atlantic climate - in which I collaborate with colleagues in Geography on the Streatham Campus - in reconstructing tides and tide-dependent processes through geological time, and in investigating recent climate change in the Antarctic Peninsula.

Grants/Funding

2012-2018: £183k from NERC for ‘BRITICE-CHRONO: Constraining rates and styles of marine-influenced ice sheet decay’ (NE/J007579/1 Consortium Grant led by C. Clark, Sheffield).

2013-2017: £2.7 million from EU Framework 7 for Marie Curie Initial Training Network (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-ITN 604802) (£579,375 to Scourse group): ‘Annually-resolved archives of marine climate change – development of molluscan sclerochronology for marine environmental monitoring and climatology’ (Scourse PI, with partners in Germany, Croatia, Norway, France and The Netherlands).

2015-2018: £53k from NERC for ‘Climate of the LAst Millennium (CLAM): An integrated data-model approach to reconstruct and interpret annual variability in North Atlantic Circulation’ (NE/N002733/1 with I.R. Hall, D. Reynolds, Cardiff, and P. Halloran, Exeter).

2017-2020: £354k from NERC for ‘Impacts of deglaciation on marine benthic ecosystems in Antarctica’ (NE/P003087/1 with S. Jenkins, C.A. Richardson [Bangor] and M. Meredith, D. Barnes [British Antarctic Survey] and A.J. Brante [Universidad Católica de la Santísima, Concepción, Chile]).

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Publications

Journal articles

Scourse J, Ward S, Wainwright A, Bradley S, Wilson JK, Guo J (2024). An interactive visualization and data portal tool (PALTIDE) for relative sea level and palaeotidal simulations of the northwest European shelf seas since the Last Glacial Maximum. Journal of Quaternary Science
Scourse JD (2024). The timing and magnitude of the British–Irish Ice Sheet between Marine Isotope Stages 5d and 2: implications for glacio‐isostatic adjustment, high relative sea levels and ‘giant erratic’ emplacement. Journal of Quaternary Science
Bevins R, Ixer R, Pearce N, Scourse J, Daw T (2023). Lithological description and provenancing of a collection of bluestones from excavations at Stonehenge by William Hawley in 1924 with implications for the human versus ice transport debate of the monument's bluestone megaliths. Geoarchaeology, 38(6), 771-785. Abstract.
Garza TN, Barnes DKA, Scourse JD, Whitaker JM, Janosik AM (2023). Quantifying microplastics in fjords along the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 193 Abstract.
Giglio C, Benetti S, Sacchetti F, Lockhart E, Hughes Clarke J, Plets R, Van Landeghem K, O Cofaigh C, Scourse J, Dunlop P, et al (2022). A Late Pleistocene channelized subglacial meltwater system on the Atlantic continental shelf south of Ireland. BOREAS, 51(1), 118-135.  Author URL.
Kilbourne KH, Wanamaker AD, Moffa-Sanchez P, Reynolds DJ, Amrhein DE, Butler PG, Gebbie G, Goes M, Jansen MF, Little CM, et al (2022). Atlantic circulation change still uncertain. Nature Geoscience, 15(3), 165-167.
Arellano-Nava B, Halloran PR, Boulton CA, Scourse J, Butler PG, Reynolds DJ, Lenton TM (2022). Destabilisation of the Subpolar North Atlantic prior to the Little Ice Age. Nature Communications, 13(1). Abstract.
Garbett GG, Scourse JD, Turner C (2022). Early Human Impact and Heathland Development on the Lizard Peninsula. Geoscience in South-West England, 15, 12-22. Abstract.
Clark CD, Ely JC, Hindmarsh RCA, Bradley S, Igneczi A, Fabel D, Cofaigh CO, Chiverrell RC, Scourse J, Benetti S, et al (2022). Growth and retreat of the last British-Irish Ice Sheet, 31 000 to 15 000 years ago: the BRITICE-CHRONO reconstruction. BOREAS, 51(4), 699-758.  Author URL.
Meredith MP, Inall ME, Brearley JA, Ehmen T, Sheen K, Munday D, Cook A, Retallick K, Van Landeghem K, Gerrish L, et al (2022). Internal tsunamigenesis and ocean mixing driven by glacier calving in Antarctica. Sci Adv, 8(47). Abstract.  Author URL.
Zwerschke N, Sands CJ, Roman-Gonzalez A, Barnes DKA, Guzzi A, Jenkins S, Munoz-Ramirez C, Scourse J (2022). Quantification of blue carbon pathways contributing to negative feedback on climate change following glacier retreat in West Antarctic fjords. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, 28(1), 8-20.  Author URL.
Wilton DJ, Bigg GR, Scourse JD, Ely JC, Clark CD (2021). Exploring the extent to which fluctuations in ice-rafted debris reflect mass changes in the source ice sheet: a model–observation comparison using the last British–Irish Ice Sheet. Journal of Quaternary Science, 36(5), 934-945. Abstract.
Munoz-Ramirez CP, Beltran-Concha M, Perez-Araneda K, Sands CJ, Barnes DKA, Roman-Gonzalez A, de Lecea AM, Retallick K, van Landeghem K, Sheen K, et al (2021). Genetic variation in the small bivalve Nuculana inaequisculpta along a retreating glacier fjord, King George Island, Antarctica. REVISTA DE BIOLOGIA MARINA Y OCEANOGRAFIA, 56(2), 151-156.  Author URL.
Alexandroff SJ, Butler PG, Hollyman PR, Schöne BR, Scourse JD (2021). Late Holocene seasonal temperature variability of the western Scottish shelf (St Kilda) recorded in fossil shells of the bivalve Glycymeris glycymeris. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 562 Abstract.
Scourse JD, Chiverrell RC, Smedley RK, Small D, Burke MJ, Saher M, Van Landeghem KJJ, Duller GAT, Cofaigh CO, Bateman MD, et al (2021). Maximum extent and readvance dynamics of the Irish Sea Ice Stream and Irish Sea Glacier since the Last Glacial Maximum. JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE, 36(5), 780-804.  Author URL.
Chiverrell RC, Thomas GSP, Burke M, Medialdea A, Smedley R, Bateman M, Clark C, Duller GAT, Fabel D, Jenkins G, et al (2021). The evolution of the terrestrial-terminating Irish Sea glacier during the last glaciation. Journal of Quaternary Science, 36(5), 752-779. Abstract.
Clark CD, Chiverrell RC, Fabel D, Hindmarsh RCA, Ó Cofaigh C, Scourse JD (2021). Timing, pace and controls on ice sheet retreat: an introduction to the BRITICE-CHRONO transect reconstructions of the British–Irish Ice Sheet. Journal of Quaternary Science, 36(5), 673-680. Abstract.
Barnes DKA, Sands CJ, Cook A, Howard F, Roman Gonzalez A, Muñoz-Ramirez C, Retallick K, Scourse J, Van Landeghem K, Zwerschke N, et al (2020). Blue carbon gains from glacial retreat along Antarctic fjords: What should we expect?. Glob Chang Biol, 26(5), 2750-2755. Abstract.  Author URL.
Trofimova T, Alexandroff SJ, Mette MJ, Tray E, Butler PG, Campana SE, Harper EM, Johnson ALA, Morrongiello JR, Peharda M, et al (2020). Fundamental questions and applications of sclerochronology: Community-defined research priorities. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 245, 106977-106977.
Munoz-Ramirez CP, Barnes DKA, Cardenas L, Meredith MP, Morley SA, Roman-Gonzalez A, Sands CJ, Scourse J, Brante A (2020). Gene flow in the Antarctic bivalve<i>Aequiyoldia eightsii</i>(Jay, 1839) suggests a role for the Antarctic Peninsula Coastal Current in larval dispersal. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE, 7(9).  Author URL.
Butler PG, Fraser NM, Scourse JD, Richardson CA, Bryant C, Heinemeier J (2020). Is there a reliable taphonomic clock in the temperate North Atlantic? an example from a North Sea population of the mollusc Arctica islandica. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 560, 109975-109975.
Halloran PR, Hall IR, Menary M, Reynolds DJ, Scourse JD, Screen JA, Bozzo A, Dunstone N, Phipps S, Schurer AP, et al (2020). Natural drivers of multidecadal Arctic sea ice variability over the last millennium. Scientific Reports, 10(1). Abstract.
Barnett RL, Charman DJ, Johns C, Ward SL, Bevan A, Bradley SL, Camidge K, Fyfe RM, Gehrels WR, Gehrels MJ, et al (2020). Nonlinear landscape and cultural response to sea-level rise. Science Advances, 6(45). Abstract.
Ward SL, Scourse JD, Yokoyama Y, Neill SP (2020). The challenges of constraining shelf sea tidal models using seabed sediment grain size as a proxy for tidal currents. Continental Shelf Research, 205 Abstract.
Estrella-Martinez J, Ascough P, Schone B, Scourse JD, Butler P (2019). 8.2 ka event North Sea hydrography determined by bivalve shell stable isotope geochemistry. Scientific Reports
Scourse J, Saher M, Van Landeghem KJJ, Lockhart E, Purcell C, Callard L, Roseby Z, Allinson B, Pieńkowski AJ, O'Cofaigh C, et al (2019). Advance and retreat of the marine-terminating Irish Sea Ice Stream into the Celtic Sea during the Last Glacial: Timing and maximum extent. Marine Geology, 412, 53-68. Abstract.
Butler PG, Estrella‐Martínez J, Scourse JD, Thurstan RH (2019). Reconstruction of Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) recruitment in the North Sea for the past 455 years based on the δ13C from annual shell increments of the ocean quahog (Arctica islandica). Fish and Fisheries
Scourse JD, Andersson C, Butler P, Carroll M, DeLong K, Reynolds D, Schoene B, van der Sleen P, Wanamaker A, Witbaard R, et al (2019). The revolution of crossdating in marine palaeoecology and palaeoclimatology. Biology Letters, 15
Lockhart EA, Scourse JD, Praeg D, Van Landeghem KJJ, Mellett C, Saher M, Callard L, Chiverrell RC, Benetti S, Cofaigh C, et al (2018). A stratigraphic investigation of the Celtic Sea megaridges based on seismic and core data from the Irish-UK sectors. Quaternary Science Reviews, 198, 156-170. Abstract.
Chiverrell RC, Smedley RK, Small D, Ballantyne CK, Burke MJ, Callard SL, Clark CD, Duller GAT, Evans DJA, Fabel D, et al (2018). Ice margin oscillations during deglaciation of the northern Irish Sea Basin. JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE, 33(7), 739-762.  Author URL.
Reynolds DJ, Hal IR, Slater SM, Mette MJ, Wanamaker AD, Scourse JD, Garry FK, Halloran PR (2018). Isolating and Reconstructing Key Components of North Atlantic ocean Variability from a Sclerochronological Spatial Network. PALEOCEANOGRAPHY AND PALEOCLIMATOLOGY, 33(10), 1086-1098.  Author URL.
Scourse JD, Ward S, Wainwright A, Uehara K, Bradley S (2018). The role of megatides and relative sea level in controlling the deglaciation of the British-Irish and Fennoscandian Ice Sheets. Journal of Quaternary Science
Scourse JD, Small D, Smedley R, O Cofaigh C, Duller G, McCarron S, Burke M, Evans D, Fabel D, Gheorghiu DM, et al (2018). Trough geometry was a greater influence than climate-ocean forcing in regulating retreat of the marine-based Irish Sea Ice Stream. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, 1-19.
Román-González A, Scourse JD, Richardson CA, Peck LS, Bentley MJ, Butler PG (2017). A sclerochronological archive for Antarctic coastal waters based on the marine bivalve Yoldia eightsi (Jay, 1839) from the South Orkney Islands. Holocene, 27(2), 271-281. Abstract.
Der Sarkissian C, Pichereau V, Dupont C, Ilsøe PC, Perrigault M, Butler P, Chauvaud L, Eiríksson J, Scourse J, Paillard C, et al (2017). Ancient DNA analysis identifies marine mollusc shells as new metagenomic archives of the past. Molecular Ecology Resources, 17(5), 835-853. Abstract.
Reynolds DJ, Hall IR, Scourse JD, Richardson CA, Wanamaker AD, Butler PG (2017). Biological and Climate Controls on North Atlantic Marine Carbon Dynamics over the Last Millennium: Insights from an Absolutely Dated Shell-Based Record from the North Icelandic Shelf. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 31(12), 1718-1735. Abstract.
Smedley RK, Chiverrell RC, Ballantyne CK, Burke MJ, Clark CD, Duller GAT, Fabel D, McCarroll D, Scourse JD, Small D, et al (2017). Internal dynamics condition centennial-scale oscillations in marinebased ice-stream retreat. Geology, 45(9), 787-790. Abstract.
Smedley RK, Scourse JD, Small D, Hiemstra JF, Duller GAT, Bateman MD, Burke MJ, Chiverrell RC, Clark CD, Davies SM, et al (2017). New age constraints for the limit of the British–Irish Ice Sheet on the Isles of Scilly. Journal of Quaternary Science, 32(1), 48-62. Abstract.
Reynolds DJ, Hall IR, Slater SM, Scourse JD, Halloran PR, Sayer MDJ (2017). Reconstructing Past Seasonal to Multicentennial‐Scale Variability in the NE Atlantic Ocean Using the Long‐Lived Marine Bivalve Mollusk <scp><i>Glycymeris glycymeris</i></scp>. Paleoceanography, 32(11), 1153-1173. Abstract.
Román-González A, Scourse JD, Butler PG, Reynolds DJ, Richardson CA, Peck LS, Brey T, Hall IR (2016). Analysis of ontogenetic growth trends in two marine Antarctic bivalves Yoldia eightsi and Laternula elliptica: Implications for sclerochronology. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 465, 300-306. Abstract.
Reynolds DJ, Scourse JD, Halloran PR, Nederbragt AJ, Wanamaker AD, Butler PG, Richardson CA, Heinemeier J, Eiríksson J, Knudsen KL, et al (2016). Annually resolved North Atlantic marine climate over the last millennium. Nat Commun, 7 Abstract.  Author URL.
Small D, Rinterknecht V, Austin WEN, Bates R, Benn DI, Scourse JD, Bourlès DL, Hibbert FD (2016). Implications of<sup>36</sup>Cl exposure ages from Skye, northwest Scotland for the timing of ice stream deglaciation and deglacial ice dynamics. Quaternary Science Reviews, 150, 130-145. Abstract.
Abbott PM, Bourne AJ, Purcell CS, Davies SM, Scourse JD, Pearce NJG (2016). Last glacial period cryptotephra deposits in an eastern North Atlantic marine sequence: Exploring linkages to the Greenland ice-cores. Quaternary Geochronology, 31, 62-76. Abstract.
Reynolds DJ, Richardson CA, Scourse JD, Butler PG, Hollyman P, Román-González A, Hall IR (2016). Reconstructing North Atlantic marine climate variability using an absolutely-dated sclerochronological network. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 465, 333-346. Abstract.
Ward SL, Neill SP, Scourse JD, Bradley SL, Uehara K (2016). Sensitivity of palaeotidal models of the northwest European shelf seas to glacial isostatic adjustment since the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews, 151, 198-211. Abstract.
Ward SL, Neill SP, Van Landeghem KJJ, Scourse JD (2015). Classifying seabed sediment type using simulated tidal-induced bed shear stress. Marine Geology, 367, 94-104. Abstract.
Charman DJ, Duller GAT, Long AJ, Schreve DC, Scourse JD (2015). Editorial: Quaternary revolutions. Journal of Quaternary Science, 30(2), 101-103.
Furze MFA, Scourse JD, Pieńkowski AJ, Marret F, Hobbs WO, Carter RA, Long BT (2014). Deglacial to postglacial palaeoenvironments of the Celtic Sea: Lacustrine conditions versus a continuous marine sequence. Boreas, 43(1), 149-174. Abstract.
Rosier SHR, Green JAM, Scourse JD, Winkelmann R (2014). Modeling Antarctic tides in response to ice shelf thinning and retreat. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 119(1), 87-97. Abstract.
Marret F, Kim SY, Scourse J (2013). A 30,000yr record of land-ocean interaction in the eastern Gulf of Guinea. Quaternary Research (United States), 80(1), 1-8. Abstract.
Reynolds DJ, Butler PG, Williams SM, Scourse JD, Richardson CA, Wanamaker AD, Austin WEN, Cage AG, Sayer MDJ (2013). A multiproxy reconstruction of Hebridean (NW Scotland) spring sea surface temperatures between AD 1805 and 2010. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 386, 275-285. Abstract.
Chiverrell RC, Thrasher IM, Thomas GSP, Lang A, Scourse JD, van Landeghem KJJ, McCarroll D, Clark CD, Cofaigh CO, Evans DJA, et al (2013). Bayesian modelling the retreat of the Irish Sea Ice Stream. Journal of Quaternary Science, 28(2), 200-209. Abstract.
Pieńkowski AJ, Marret F, Scourse JD, Thomas DN (2013). Organic-walled microfossils from the north-west Weddell Sea, Antarctica: Records from surface sediments after the collapse of the Larsen-A and Prince Gustav Channel ice shelves. Antarctic Science, 25(4), 565-574. Abstract.
Cunningham LK, Austin WE, Knudsen KL, Eiríksson J, Scourse JD, Wanamaker AD, Butler PG, Cage AG, Richter T, Husum K, et al (2013). Reconstructions of surface ocean conditions from the northeast Atlantic and Nordic seas during the last millennium. Holocene, 23(7), 921-935. Abstract.
Mortimer TAL, Scourse JD, Ward SL, Uehara K (2013). Simulated late-glacial and Holocene relative sea-level and palaeotidal changes on the isles of Scilly: a new approach for assessing changes in the areal extent of the inter-tidal zone. Geoscience in South-West England, 13(2), 152-158. Abstract.
Brocas WM, Reynolds DJ, Butler PG, Richardson CA, Scourse JD, Ridgway ID, Ramsay K (2013). The dog cockle, Glycymeris glycymeris (L.), a new annually-resolved sclerochronological archive for the Irish Sea. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 373, 133-140. Abstract.
Reynolds DJ, Richardson CA, Scourse JD, Butler PG, Wanamaker AD, Ridgway I, Sayer MD, Gulliver P (2013). The potential of the marine bivalve mollusc Glossus humanus (L.) as a sclerochronological archive. Holocene, 23(12), 1711-1720. Abstract.
Butler PG, Wanamaker AD, Scourse JD, Richardson CA, Reynolds DJ (2013). Variability of marine climate on the North Icelandic Shelf in a 1357-year proxy archive based on growth increments in the bivalve Arctica islandica. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 373, 141-151. Abstract.
Karney GB, Butler PG, Speller S, Scourse JD, Richardson CA, Schrder M, Hughes GM, Czernuszka JT, Grovenor CRM (2012). Characterizing the microstructure of Arctica islandica shells using NanoSIMS and EBSD. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 13(4). Abstract.
Scourse J (2012). Megatides in the glacial North Atlantic and their role in rapid deglaciation. Quaternary International, 279
Eynaud F, Malaizé B, Zaragosi S, De Vernal A, Scourse J, Pujol C, Cortijo E, Grousset FE, Penaud A, Toucanne S, et al (2012). New constraints on European glacial freshwater releases to the North Atlantic Ocean. Geophysical Research Letters, 39(15). Abstract.
Trouet V, Scourse JD, Raible CC (2012). North Atlantic storminess and Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation during the last Millennium: Reconciling contradictory proxy records of NAO variability. Global and Planetary Change, 84-85, 48-55. Abstract.
Wanamaker AD, Butler PG, Scourse JD, Heinemeier J, Eiríksson J, Knudsen KL, Richardson CA (2012). Surface changes in the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the last millennium. Nature Communications, 3 Abstract.
Scourse JD, Wanamaker AD, Weidman C, Heinemeier J, Reimer PJ, Butler PG, Witbaard R, Richardson CA (2012). The Marine Radiocarbon Bomb Pulse Across the Temperate North Atlantic: a Compilation of Δ<span class="sup">14</span>C Time Histories from <span class="italic">Arctica Islandica</span> Growth Increments. Radiocarbon, 54(2), 165-186.
Pieńkowski AJ, England JH, Furze MFA, Marret F, Eynaud F, Vilks G, MacLean B, Blasco S, Scourse JD (2012). The deglacial to postglacial marine environments of SE Barrow Strait, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Boreas, 41(2), 141-179. Abstract.
Scourse JD, Wanamaker AD, Weidman C, Heinemeier J, Reimer PJ, Butler PG, Witbaard R, Richardson CA (2012). The marine radiocarbon bomb pulse across the temperate North Atlantic: a compilation of Δ<sup>14</sup>C time histories from Arctica islandica growth increments. Radiocarbon, 54(2), 165-186. Abstract.
Ridgway ID, Richardson CA, Scourse JD, Butler PG, Reynolds DJ (2012). The population structure and biology of the ocean quahog, Arctica islandica, in Belfast Lough, Northern Ireland. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 92(3), 539-546. Abstract.
Roberts MJ, Scourse JD, Bennell JD, Huws DG, Jago CF, Long BT (2011). Corrigendum: Late Devensian and Holocene relative sea-level change in North Wales, UK. Journal of Quaternary Science, 26(7).
Karney GB, Butler PG, Scourse JD, Richardson CA, Lau KH, Czernuszka JT, Grovenor CRM (2011). Identification of growth increments in the shell of the bivalve mollusc Arctica islandica using backscattered electron imaging. Journal of Microscopy, 241(1), 29-36. Abstract.
Roberts MJ, Scourse JD, Bennell JD, Huws DG, Jago CF, Long BT (2011). Late Devensian and Holocene relative sea-level change in North Wales, UK. Journal of Quaternary Science, 26(2), 141-155. Abstract.
Butler PG, Wanamaker AD, Scourse JD, Richardson CA, Reynolds DJ (2011). Long-term stability of δ13C with respect to biological age in the aragonite shell of mature specimens of the bivalve mollusk Arctica islandica. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 302(1), 21-30. Abstract.
Kim SY, Scourse J, Marret F, Lim DI (2010). A 26,000-year integrated record of marine and terrestrial environmental change off Gabon, west equatorial Africa. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 297(2), 428-438. Abstract.
Scourse J (2010). Comment: a Last Glacial Maximum pollen record from Bodmin Moor showing a possible cryptic northern refugium in southwest England. (Kelly et al. 2010). Journal of Quaternary Science, 25(5), 826-827.
Neill SP, Scourse JD, Uehara K (2010). Evolution of bed shear stress distribution over the northwest European shelf seas during the last 12,000 years. Ocean Dynamics, 60(5), 1139-1156. Abstract.
McCarroll D, Stone JO, Ballantyne CK, Scourse JD, Fifield LK, Evans DJA, Hiemstra JF (2010). Exposure-age constraints on the extent, timing and rate of retreat of the last Irish Sea ice stream. Quaternary Science Reviews, 29(15-16), 1844-1852. Abstract.
Butler PG, Richardson CA, Scourse JD, Wanamaker AD, Shammon TM, Bennell JD (2010). Marine climate in the Irish Sea: analysis of a 489-year marine master chronology derived from growth increments in the shell of the clam Arctica islandica. Quaternary Science Reviews, 29(13-14), 1614-1632. Abstract.
Haapaniemi AI, Scourse JD, Peck VL, Kennedy H, Kennedy P, Hemming SR, Furze MFA, Pienkowski AJ, Austin WEN, Walden J, et al (2010). Source, timing, frequency and flux of ice-rafted detritus to the Northeast Atlantic margin, 30-12 ka: Testing the Heinrich precursor hypothesis. Boreas, 39(3), 576-591. Abstract.
Wanamaker AD, Baker A, Butler PG, Richardson CA, Scourse JD, Ridgway I, Reynolds DJ (2009). A novel method for imaging internal growth patterns in marine mollusks: a fluorescence case study on the aragonitic shell of the marine bivalve Arctica islandica (Linnaeus). Limnology and Oceanography: Methods, 7(SEPT), 673-681. Abstract.
Butler PG, Richardson CA, Scourse JD, Witbaard R, Schöne BR, Fraser NM, Wanamaker AD, Bryant CL, Harris I, Robertson I, et al (2009). Accurate increment identification and the spatial extent of the common signal in five Arctica islándica chronologies from the Fladen Ground, northern North Sea. Paleoceanography, 24(2). Abstract.
Scourse J, Uehara K, Wainwright A (2009). Celtic Sea linear tidal sand ridges, the Irish Sea Ice Stream and the Fleuve Manche: Palaeotidal modelling of a transitional passive margin depositional system. Marine Geology, 259(1-4), 102-111. Abstract.
Neill SP, Scourse JD, Bigg GR, Uehara K (2009). Changes in wave climate over the northwest European shelf seas during the last 12,000 years. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 114(6). Abstract.
Butler PG, Scourse JD, Richardson CA, Wanamaker AD, Bryant CL, Bennell JD (2009). Continuous marine radiocarbon reservoir calibration and the <sup>13</sup>C Suess effect in the Irish Sea: Results from the first multi-centennial shell-based marine master chronology. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 279(3-4), 230-241. Abstract.
Pieńkowski AJ, Marret F, Thomas DN, Scourse JD, Dieckmann GS (2009). Dinoflagellates in a fast-ice covered inlet of the Riiser-Larsen Ice Shelf (Weddell Sea). Polar Biology, 32(9), 1331-1343. Abstract.
Scourse JD, Preece RC (2009). Discussion on 'An analysis of Cotswold topography: Insights into the landscape response to denudational isostasy'. Journal of the Geological Society, 166(3).
Scourse JD, Haapaniemi AI, Colmenero-Hidalgo E, Peck VL, Hall IR, Austin WEN, Knutz PC, Zahn R (2009). Growth, dynamics and deglaciation of the last British-Irish ice sheet: the deep-sea ice-rafted detritus record. Quaternary Science Reviews, 28(27-28), 3066-3084. Abstract.
Scourse JD, Coope GR, Allen JRM, Lister AM, Housley RA, Hedges REM, Jones ASG, Watkins R (2009). Late-glacial remains of woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) from Shropshire, UK: Stratigraphy, sedimentology and geochronology of the Condover site. Geological Journal, 44(4), 392-413. Abstract.
Allen JRM, Scourse JD, Hall AR, Coope GR (2009). Palaeoenvironmental context of the Late-glacial woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) discoveries at Condover, Shropshire, UK. Geological Journal, 44(4), 414-446. Abstract.
Trouet V, Esper J, Graham NE, Baker A, Scourse JD, Frank DC (2009). Persistent positive north atlantic oscillation mode dominated the medieval climate anomaly. Science, 324(5923), 78-80. Abstract.
Van Landeghem KJJ, Uehara K, Wheeler AJ, Mitchell NC, Scourse JD (2009). Post-glacial sediment dynamics in the Irish Sea and sediment wave morphology: Data-model comparisons. Continental Shelf Research, 29(14), 1723-1736. Abstract.
Neill SP, Scourse JD (2009). The formation of headland/island sandbanks. Continental Shelf Research, 29(18), 2167-2177. Abstract.
Mattias Green JA, Green CL, Bigg GR, Rippeth TP, Scourse JD, Uehara K (2009). Tidal mixing and the meridional overturning circulation from the Last Glacial Maximum. Geophysical Research Letters, 36(15). Abstract.
Rippeth TP, Scourse JD, Uehara K, McKeown S (2008). Impact of sea-level rise over the last deglacial transition on the strength of the continental shelf CO<inf>2</inf> pump. Geophysical Research Letters, 35(24). Abstract.
Marret F, Scourse J, Kennedy H, Ufkes E, Jansen JHF (2008). Marine production in the Congo-influenced SE Atlantic over the past 30,000 years: a novel dinoflagellate-cyst based transfer function approach. Marine Micropaleontology, 68(1-2), 198-222. Abstract.
Wanamaker AD, Heinemeier J, Scourse JD, Richardson CA, Butler PG, Eiríksson J, Knudsen KL (2008). Very long lived mollusks confirm 17th century AD tephra based radiocarbon reservoir ages for north Icelandic shelf waters. Radiocarbon, 50(3), 399-412. Abstract.
Walden J, Wadsworth E, Austin WEN, Peters C, Scourse JD, Hall IR (2007). Compositional variability of ice-rafted debris in Heinrich layers 1 and 2 on the northwest European continental slope identified by environmental magnetic analyses. Journal of Quaternary Science, 22(2), 163-172. Abstract.
Eynaud F, Zaragosi S, Scourse JD, Mojtahid M, Bourillet JF, Hall IR, Penaud A, Locascio M, Reijonen A (2007). Deglacial laminated facies on the NW European continental margin: the hydrographic significance of British-Irish Ice Sheet deglaciation and Fleuve Manche paleoriver discharges. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 8(6). Abstract.
Peck VL, Hall IR, Zahn R, Scourse JD (2007). Progressive reduction in NE Atlantic intermediate water ventilation prior to Heinrich events: Response to NW European ice sheet instabilities?. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 8(1). Abstract.
Turney CSM, Scourse J, Rodbell D, Caseldine C (2007). Quaternary climatic, environmental and archaeological change in Australasia. JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE, 22(5), 421-422.  Author URL.
Watkins R, Scourse JD, Allen JRM (2007). The Holocene vegetation history of the Arfon Platform, North Wales, UK. BOREAS, 36(2), 170-181.  Author URL.
Watkins R, Scourse JD, Allen JRM (2007). The Holocene vegetation history of the Arfon Platform, North Wales,UK. Boreas, 36(2), 170-181. Abstract.
Peck VL, Hall IR, Zahn R, Grousset F, Hemming SR, Scourse JD (2007). The relationship of Heinrich events and their European precursors over the past 60 ka BP: a multi-proxy ice-rafted debris provenance study in the North East Atlantic. Quaternary Science Reviews, 26(7-8), 862-875. Abstract.
Marret F, Maley J, Scourse J (2006). Climatic instability in west equatorial Africa during the Mid- and Late Holocene. Quaternary International, 150(1), 71-81. Abstract.
Scourse J (2006). Comment on: Numerical <sup>230</sup>Th/U dating and a palynological review of the Holsteinian/Hoxnian Interglacial by Geyh and Müller. Quaternary Science Reviews, 25(21-22), 3070-3071.
Scourse J, Sejrup HP, Jones PD (2006). Editorial: Late Holocene oceanographic and climate change from the western European margin: the results of the HOLSMEER project. Holocene, 16(7), 931-935. Abstract.
Scourse J, Richardson C, Forsythe G, Harris I, Heinemeier J, Fraser N, Briffa K, Jones P (2006). First cross-matched floating chronology from the marine fossil record: data from growth lines of the long-lived bivalve mollusc <i>Arctica islandica</i>. HOLOCENE, 16(7), 967-974.  Author URL.
Peck VL, Hall IR, Zahn R, Elderfield H, Grousset F, Hemming SR, Scourse JD (2006). High resolution evidence for linkages between NW European ice sheet instability and Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 243(3-4), 476-488. Abstract.
Austin WEN, Cage AG, Scourse JD (2006). Mid-latitude shelf seas: a NW European perspective on the seasonal dynamics of temperature, salinity and oxygen isotopes. Holocene, 16(7), 937-947. Abstract.
Scourse JD (2006). Past landscapes of Jersey: Environmental changes during the last ten thousand years. Robert Jones, David Keen, Jacqueline Birnie and Paul Waton. Publisher Société Jersaise 1990 (144 pp) £17.95 ISBN 0 901897 18 3. Journal of Quaternary Science, 6(2), 175-175.
Scourse JD (2006). Pleistocene environments in the British Isles. R. L. Jones and D. H. Keen. Publisher Chapman & Hall, London 1993 (346 pp) £24.99 ISBN 0 412 44190 X. Journal of Quaternary Science, 10(2), 185-185.
Scourse JD (2006). The Quaternary of Wales. Geological Conservation Review. S. CAMPBELL, D. Q. BOWEN, Publisher Nature Conservancy Council, Peterborough 1989 (237 pp) £27.00 ISBN 0 86139 570 0. Journal of Quaternary Science, 5(3), 255-256.
Uehara K, Scourse JD, Horsburgh KJ, Lambeck K, Purcell AP (2006). Tidal evolution of the northwest European shelf seas from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 111(9). Abstract.
Scourse JD, Clarke L, Marret F (2005). Editorial. Journal of Quaternary Science, 20(5).
Scourse J, Marret F, Versteegh GJM, Jansen JHF, Schefuß E, van der Plicht J (2005). High-resolution last deglaciation record from the Congo fan reveals significance of mangrove pollen and biomarkers as indicators of shelf transgression. Quaternary Research, 64(1), 57-69. Abstract.
Mojtahid M, Eynaud F, Zaragosi S, Scourse J, Bourillet JF, Garlan T (2005). Palaeoclimatology and palaeohydrography of the glacial stages on Celtic and Armorican margins over the last 360 000 yrs. Marine Geology, 224(1-4), 57-82. Abstract.
Marret F, Scourse J, Austin W (2004). Holocene shelf-sea seasonal stratification dynamics: a dinoflagellate cyst record from the Celtic Sea, NW European shelf. Holocene, 14(5), 689-696. Abstract.
Scourse JD, Kennedy H, Scott GA, Austin WEN (2004). Stable isotopic analyses of modern benthic foraminifera from seasonally stratified shelf seas: Disequilibria and the 'seasonal effect'. Holocene, 14(5), 747-758. Abstract.
Scourse J (2004). Untitled. JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE, 19(1), 1-1.  Author URL.
Marret F, Scourse J (2003). Control of modern dinoflagellate cyst distribution in the Irish and Celtic seas by seasonal stratification dynamics. Marine Micropaleontology, 47(1-2), 101-116. Abstract.
Scott GA, Scourse JD, Austin WEN (2003). The distribution of benthic foraminifera in the Celtic Sea: the significance of seasonal stratification. Journal of Foraminiferal Research, 33(1), 32-61. Abstract.
Scourse J (2003). Untitled. JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE, 18(1), 1-1.  Author URL.
Scourse JD, Austin WEN, Long BT, Assinder DJ, Huws D (2002). Holocene evolution of seasonal stratification in the Celtic Sea: Refined age model, mixing depths and foraminiferal stratigraphy. Marine Geology, 191(3-4), 119-145. Abstract.
Scourse JD, Austin WEN (2002). Quaternary shelf sea palaeoceanography: Recent developments in Europe. Marine Geology, 191(3-4), 87-94. Abstract.
Scourse J (2002). Untitled. JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE, 17(1), 1-1.  Author URL.
Scourse JD, Furze MFA (2001). A critical review of the glaciomarine model for Irish sea deglaciation: Evidence from southern Britain, the Celtic shelf and adjacent continental slope. Journal of Quaternary Science, 16(5), 419-434. Abstract.
Marret F, Scourse JD, Versteegh G, Fred Jansen JH, Schneider R (2001). Integrated marine and terrestrial evidence for abrupt Congo River palaeodischarge fluctuations during the last deglaciation. Journal of Quaternary Science, 16(8), 761-766. Abstract.
Dowdeswell JA, Cofaigh CO, Andrews JT, Scourse JD (2001). Workshop explores debris transported by icebergs and paleoenvironmental implications. Eos, 82(35), 382-386.
Scourse J (2000). Geology of the United States’ seafloor: the view from GLORIA. Journal of Quaternary Science, 15(2), 199-200.
Scourse JD, Hall IR, McCave IN, Young JR, Sugdon C (2000). The origin of Heinrich layers: Evidence from H2 for European precursor events. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 182(2), 187-195. Abstract.
Scourse J (2000). Untitled. JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE, 15(1), 1-1.  Author URL.
Marret F, Scourse J, Jansen JHF, Schneider R (1999). Climate and palaeoceanographic changes in west Central Africa during the last deglaciation: Palynological investigation. Comptes Rendus de l'Academie de Sciences - Serie IIa: Sciences de la Terre et des Planetes, 329(10), 721-726. Abstract.
Scourse JD, Austin WEN, Sejrup HP, Ansari MH (1999). Foraminiferal isoleucine epimerization determinations from the Nar Valley Clay, Norfolk, UK: Implications for Quaternary correlations in the southern North Sea basin. Geological Magazine, 136(5), 543-560. Abstract.
Scourse JD, Ansari MH, Wingfield RTR, Harland R, Balson PS (1998). A middle pleistocene shallow marine interglacial sequence, inner silver pit, Southern North Sea: Pollen and dinoflagellate cyst stratigraphy and sea-level history. Quaternary Science Reviews, 17(9-10), 871-900. Abstract.
Scott G, Thompson L, Hitchin R, Scourse J (1998). Observations on selected salt-marsh and shallow-marine species of agglutinating foraminifera: Grain size and mineralogical selectivity. Journal of Foraminiferal Research, 28(4), 261-267. Abstract.
Scourse JD, Sejrup HP (1998). Quaternary Science Reviews: Preface. Quaternary Science Reviews, 17(9-10), 799-800.
Austin WEN, Scourse JD (1997). Evolution of seasonal stratification in the Celtic Sea during the Holocene. Journal of the Geological Society, 154(2), 249-256. Abstract.
Plag HP, Austin WEN, Belknap DF, Devoy RJN, England J, Josenhans H, Peacock JD, Petersen KS, Rokoengen K, Scourse JD, et al (1996). Late quaternary relative sea-level changes and the role of glaciation upon continental shelves. Terra Nova, 8(3), 213-222. Abstract.
Scourse J (1996). Trace fossils of talitrid sandhoppers in interglacial littoral calcareous sandstones, Cornwall, U.K. Quaternary Science Reviews, 15(5-6), 607-615. Abstract.
Campbell S, Wood M, Addison K, Scourse JD, Jones RE (1995). Notice of raised beach deposits at Llanddona, Anglesey, North Wales. Quaternary Newsletter, 77, 1-5. Abstract.
Scourse JD, Austin RM (1995). Palaeotidal modelling of continental shelves: Marine implications of a land-bridge in the Strait of Dover during the Holocene and Middle Pleistocene. Geological Society Special Publication, 96, 75-88. Abstract.
Scourse JD, Austin RM (1995). Palaeotidal modelling of continental shelves: marine implications of a land-bridge in the Strait of Dover during the Holocene and Middle Pleistocene. Island Britain: a Quaternary perspective, 75-88. Abstract.
Scourse JD, Austin WEN (1994). A Devensian late-glacial and Holocene sea-level and water depth record from the central Celtic Sea. Quaternary Newsletter, 74, 22-29. Abstract.
Scourse JD (1994). T.D.J.CameronA.CrosbyP.S.BalsonD.H.JeffreyG.K.LottJ.BulatD.J.HarrisonThe Geology of the Southern North SeaBritish Geological Survey United Kingdom Offshore Regional Report Series1992HMSO for the British Geological SurveyLondon0-11-884492-X152pp (SB), £15R.J.O.HamblinA.CrosbyP.S.BalsonS.M.JonesR.A.ChadwickI.E.PennM.J.ArthurThe Geology of the English ChannelBritish Geological Survey United Kingdom Offshore Regional Report Series1992HMSO for the British Geological SurveyLondon0-11-884490-3106pp (SB), £14. Proceedings of the Geologists Association, 105(3), 238-239.
Ekman SR, Scourse JD (1993). Early and middle pleistocene pollen stratigraphy from British geological survey borehole 81/26, Fladen Ground, central North Sea. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 79(3-4), 285-295. Abstract.
Scourse J (1991). Annual field meeting report: central East Anglia and the Fen Basin 9- 12 April 1991. Quaternary Newsletter, 64, 6-10. Abstract.
Scourse J (1991). Glacial deposits of the Isles of Scilly. Glacial deposits in Great Britain and Ireland, 291-300. Abstract.
Scourse J, Robinson E, Evans C (1991). Glaciation of the central and southwestern Celtic Sea. Glacial deposits in Great Britain and Ireland, 301-310. Abstract.
Scourse JD (1991). Late Pleistocene stratigraphy and palaeobotany of the Isles of Scilly. Philosophical Transactions - Royal Society of London, B, 334(1271), 405-448. Abstract.
Dowdeswell JA, Scourse JD (1990). Glacimarine environments: processes and sediments. Glacimarine environments: processes and sediments Abstract.
Dowdeswell JA, Scourse JD (1990). Glacimarine environments: processes and sediments. Glacimarine environments: processes and sediments Abstract.
Dowdeswell JA, Scourse JD (1990). On the description and modelling of glacimarine sediments and sedimentation. Glacimarine environments: processes and sediments, 1-13. Abstract.
Dowdeswell JA, Scourse JD (1990). On the description and modelling of glacimarine sediments and sedimentation. Geological Society Special Publication, 53, 1-13. Abstract.
Scourse JD, Austin WEN, Bateman RM, Catt JA, Evans CDR, Robinson JE, Young JR (1990). Sedimentology and micropalaeontology of glacimarine sediments from the Central and Southwestern Celtic Sea. Geological Society Special Publication, 53, 329-347. Abstract.
Scourse JD (1990). Sedimentology and micropalaeontology of glacimarine sediments from the central and southwestern Celtic Sea. Glacimarine environments: processes and sediments, 329-347. Abstract.
Preece RC, Scourse JD, Houghton SD, Knudsen KL, Penney DN (1990). The Pleistocene sea-level and neotectonic history of the eastern Solent, southern England. Philosophical Transactions - Royal Society of London, B,, 328(1249), 425-477. Abstract.
Scourse JD (1987). Periglacial sediments and landforms in the Isles of Scilly and West Cornwall. Periglacial processes and landforms in Britain and Ireland, 225-236. Abstract.
Preece RC, Scourse JD (1987). Pleistocene sea-level history in the Bembridge area of the Isle of Wight. Wessex and the Isle of Wight. Field guide, 136-149. Abstract.
Scourse JD (1986). A review of fine gravel analysis. Technical Guide - Quaternary Research Association, 3 Abstract.
Scourse JD (1986). The Isles of Scilly - field guide. Abstract.
Scourse JD (1986). The Isles of Scilly - field guide. Abstract.
Scourse JD (1985). The Trewornan ' lake flat': a reinterpretation. Quaternary Newsletter, 46, 11-18. Abstract.

Chapters

Catt JA, Gibbard PL, Lowe JJ, McCarroll D, Scourse JD, Walker MJC (2014). Quaternary: ice sheets and their legacy. In  (Ed) The Geology of England and Wales, Geological Society of London, 429-467.
Scourse J (2013). QUATERNARY SEA-LEVEL AND PALAEOTIDAL CHANGES: a REVIEW OF IMPACTS ON, AND RESPONSES OF, THE MARINE BIOSPHERE. In  (Ed) OCEANOGRAPHY AND MARINE BIOLOGY: AN ANNUAL REVIEW, VOL 51, 1-69.  Author URL.

Conferences

Wilkin J, Kender S, DeJardin R, Allen C, Peck V, Swann G, McClymont E, Scourse J, Littler K, Leng M, et al (2023). South Georgia palaeo-productivity and glacial evolution over the past 15 ka. International Symposium on Foraminifera - FORAMS 2023. 26th - 30th Jun 2023.
Jones R, Annett A, Lohan M, Scourse J, Lough A, Sales de Freitas F, Kunde K (2021). Behaviour of iron during sediment resuspension at the glacier edge, West Antarctic Peninsula. Goldschmidt2021 abstracts.
Annett A, Cai P, Williams J, Buragohain D, Jones R, Flanagan O, Vora M, Zwerschke N, Sands C, Barnes D, et al (2021). Impacts of glacial retreat on benthic iron supply using a radium/thorium disequilibrium approach. Goldschmidt2021 abstracts.
Wainwright A, Varsamidis T, Scourse J (2007). A 3D visualisation environment modelling the evolution of north-west Europe since the Last Glacial Maximum. Abstract.
Hiemstra JF, Evans DJA, Scourse JD, McCarroll D, Furze MFA, Rhodes E (2006). New evidence for a grounded Irish Sea glaciation of the Isles of Scilly, UK. Abstract.
Marret F, Eiríksson J, Knudsen KL, Turon JL, Scourse JD (2004). Distribution of dinoflagellate cyst assemblages in surface sediments from the northern and western shelf of Iceland. Abstract.
Barker PA, Talbot MR, Street-Perrott FA, Marret F, Scourse J, Odada EO (2004). Late quaternary climatic variability in intertropical Africa.  Author URL.

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External Engagement and Impact

Committee/panel activities

Royal Society University Research Fellowships Panel (extended Ai), 2016-

A3 Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy and Earth Sciences Scrutiny Committee of the Learned Society of Wales, 2014-.


Editorial responsibilities

On the editorial boards of the Journal of Quaternary Science and Boreas


Invited lectures

2016: Presented invited seminar entitled ‘Megatides and deglaciation in the glacial North Atlantic’ at the UMR CNRS 5805 EPOC Environnements et Paléoenvironnements Océaniques et Continentaux, Université de Bordeaux, France.

2015: Invited lecture entitled ‘Megatides and ice sheet collapse’ at A Celebration of Research in Honour of Colin Ballantyne, University of St Andrews.

2014: Invited seminar at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bergen, Norway ‘Annually-resolved records of marine climate change from the longest-lived animals on Earth’.

2013: Keynote address entitled ‘The last five years: evidence for a climate transition’ at the 2013 Tyndall Centre PhD Conference on Climate Transitions, Cardiff University.

The 2013 Scott Simpson Lecture entitled “Ice and tides: the evolution of the Celtic shelf and Celtic Sea from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present” at the Ussher Society Conference, St Ives, Cornwall.

2011: Invited FramKlim Seminar entitled “The Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age – testing the NAO hypothesis” at the Norsk Polarinstitut, Fram Senteret, Tromsø, Norway.

2009: Invited Plenary Lecture entitled ‘The impact of sea-level change on the hydro- and sediment dynamics of the NW European shelf seas since the Last Glacial Maximum: modelling insights’ at the British Sedimentological Research Group Annual Meeting, Bangor.

2009: Invited keynote lecture entitled ‘Untangling the Medieval Climate Anomaly – Little Ice Age transition: the role of palaeoceanography’ at European Science Foundation Exploratory Workshop on Synoptic-scale climate dynamics over the last millennium at Kippel (Lötschental), Switzerland.

The 2008 South West Quaternary Lecture entitled ‘Celtic Sea linear tidal sand ridges, the Irish Sea Ice Stream and the Fleuve Manche’ at the University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus (Penryn).

2007:  Invited lecture entitled ‘The shelf seas: glacial-interglacial cycles, tidal dynamics and the carbon cycle’ at the IX International Conference on Paleoceanography, Shanghai, China.

The 2004 London Quaternary Lecture entitled ‘Heinrich events: ice-ocean-climate interaction in the NE Atlantic, or do “precursor events” exist’ at Royal Holloway, University of London.

The 1999 Scotland Quaternary Lecture entitled ‘Synchronous behaviour of the British and Laurentide ice sheets during H2 (LGM); the role of sea-level in triggering surge events and iceberg discharge’ at the University of Glasgow.


Media Coverage

To coincide with the publication of the first 1000-year annually-resolved record of marine climate in Nature Communications (Reynolds et al. 2016) contributed article to The Conversation (December 2016): http://theconversation.com/what-500-year-old-clams-can-tell-us-about-climate-change-69926. This story was then covered in USA Today (front page) (http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/?tfp_id=USAT), Science Recorder (https://www.sciencerecorder.com/news/2016/12/06/500-year-old-clams-give-insight-oceans-past/), Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/5gsu5t/the_growth_rings_of_500yearold_quahog_clams_the/), El Mundo, International Business Times (http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/longest-living-animal-sea-sheds-light-thousand-years-ocean-history-1595128), ResearchGate (https://www.researchgate.net/blog/post/500-year-old-clams-recorded-changes-in-ocean-climate), EurekAlert (https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-12/isu-iss120616.php), iNews (https://inews.co.uk/essentials/news/environment/chowder-clam-gives-insight-global-warming/), Phy Org (http://phys.org/news/2016-12-analysis-quahog-clam-reveals-oceans.html), Inside Science (https://www.insidescience.org/news/brief-methuselah-clam-reveals-how-we-upended-climate), UPI.com (http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2016/12/06/Quahog-clam-offers-1000-year-history-of-oceanic-climate-change/3831481036225/), The Exception (https://exceptionmag.com/55591/clam-shells-are-like-tree-rings-for-the-ocean/), Science World Report (http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/53943/20161207/clam-study-explains-oceanic-climate-change-history.htm), The Independent (http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/53943/20161207/clam-study-explains-oceanic-climate-change-history.htm), BBC5 live (broadcast Sunday 11 December).

Contributed article on The Anthropocene to The Conversation (January 2016): https://theconversation.com/profiles/james-scourse-173162/articles: 4513 reads and 10 comments during January 2016.

April 2014: Lead speaker in Climate Change Debate: A conversation on Climate Change - part of the National Conversation on The Wales We Want with David Davies MP organised by Cynnal Cymru, the Climate Change Commission of Wales and C3W at St Mary’s Priory, Abergavenny. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR2sgwaVSVI

Launch of IPCC AR5 in 2013 led to extensive BBC TV and radio interviews that appeared on Radio 4 Today programme, BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24271594).

C3W Climate Change Question Time Debate broadcast on Radio Wales Science Café (2011).

Coverage of The Royal Society 350th Anniversary Summer Science Festival (49,000 visitors) included interview on “Material World” (BBC Radio 4, with Quentin Cooper), coverage in The Times, BBC Wales website, Daily Post and the Bangor and Anglesey Mail.

Coverage of the discovery of a 405-year old Arctica islandica from Iceland in October 2007 reached TV (BBC Wales live, ITV Wales, S4C), Radio (BBC World Service, BBC Wales, National Public Radio [USA], Five Live [Australia], New Zealand Radio, CBC Canada, French Radio), Press (Sunday Times, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, Daily Post, Science Daily [USA], Nature News, National Geographic News [USA], ABC News [Australia], Yahoo News [India], The Times of India, Spanish News) and many blogs. The story was covered in more than 100 articles and broadcasts around the world, has been officially recognised as a Guinness World Record for the oldest non-colonial animal known, and reached #7 in the CNN-Time Magazine Top Ten Scientific Discoveries of 2007. Follow-up coverage within New Scientist article (November 2010). Nature Communications paper (2012) on Arctica stimulated media coverage in Norway: http://videnskab.dk/miljo-naturvidenskab/verdens-aeldste-dyr-fortaeller-om-klimaforandringer

Renewed coverage in 2013 consequent on the re-ageing of this specimen went viral, with coverage in the Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, BBC World Service, RTE Radio, Yahoo, National Geographic, Time Magazine, Los Angeles Times, BBC1 TV “Have I Got News For You”  and multiple other outlets worldwide, including the Chinese media and Lufthansa in flight magazine (01.xii.14).

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Supervision / Group

Postdoctoral researchers

  • Paul Butler
  • Alejandro Roman Gonzalez

Postgraduate researchers

  • Stella Alexandroff (moving to Penryn)
  • Juan Estrella Martinez (moving to Penryn)
  • Edward Lockhart (in Bangor)
  • Catriona Purcell (in Bangor)

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Office Hours:

For undergraduate and postgraduate students: 

My office hours are Monday 09.00-10.00 and Wednesday 13.00-14.00.  If I’m in my office outside these times please do knock anyway and I’ll either see you then or arrange another time. Alternatively please email me to set up a remote Teams appointment. Please note that these meetings can be used to discuss any points arising from the lectures or feedback on assessed work.

My office phone number is 01326 371883.

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