Research themes
Research within the School is grouped into three main themes:
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Our aim is to understand how planetary systems operate from the formation & evolution of terrestrial planets in the early Solar System to the linkages between geological and biological evolution and the origin of planetary habitability on Earth, and beyond.
Staff primarily undertaking research into Evolution of Planets and Life include:
- Claire Cousins, planetary exploration; geothermal systems and microbial life; Mars; planetary analogues
- Richard White, metamorphism; melt formation; geodynamics; thermodynamic modelling
- Eva Stüeken, geobiology, astrobiology, isotope geochemistry
- Sami Mikhail, igneous petrology, stable isotopes, light elements, diamond, planets
- Catherine Rose, paleoenvironmental change, stratigraphy, sedimentary basin reconstruction
- Paul Savage, isotope geochemistry and cosmochemistry, formation and evolution of the terrestrial planets, planetary accretion and differentiation
- Robert Steele, isotope geochemistry and cosmochemistry, early Solar System, planet formation
- Sebastian Fischer, geology & petrology of igneous and metamorphic rocks; trace element and isotope geochemistry; geochronology
Underpinning the School’s research are outstanding analytical facilities supported by full-time technicians. These allow for the detailed characterization of natural (and synthetic) materials, culturing of micro and macro organisms in extreme environments, and geological and geophysical field deployment.
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Our research seeks to understand the fundamental features of Earth’s climate and surface environment, past, present, and future. We bring together expertise spanning climate dynamics, geochemistry, oceanography, and terrestrial environments, to address critical societal questions including climate change, ocean acidification, natural hazards, and the interactions between people and their environments.
Much of our research bridges multiple disciplines and research groups, including the interdisciplinary research groups listed below.
Climate, Ocean, and Atmosphere at St Andrews (COASt)
St Andrews Volcanic Eruptions and Impacts (StA-VEI) Group
St Andrews Isotope Group (STAiG)
Staff primarily undertaking research into Climate, Society and Environmental Change include:
- Nicky Allison, biomineralization, corals, geochemical climate proxies
- Richard Bates, applied terrestrial geophysics, archaeology, cultural heritage
- Andrea Burke, climate and carbon cycle through Earth’s history, volcanic impacts on climate, ocean circulation
- Mike Byrne, climate dynamics, the hydrological cycle, extreme temperatures
- Tim Kinnaird, landscape evolution, geochronology using optically-stimulated luminescence, archaeology
- Graeme MacGilchrist, the oceans’ role in climate, ocean circulation, biogeochemistry
- James Rae, the carbon cycle, paleoceanography, Earth’s history, geochemistry
- Rob Wilson, tree-ring archives, late Holocene paleoclimatology
- Luke Bridgestock, critical zone, element cycles, soil sustainability, chemical weathering and CO2 removal
- Simon Lee (from Summer 2024), meteorology, extremes
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Targeting the pressing scientific questions to meet the challenge of net zero - from finding new resources, through providing geological and environmental solutions for their extraction, to finding the best ways to manage the resources we have, including metals, water and energy for a future sustainable Planet.
Staff primarily undertaking research into Earth Resources and Sustainability include:
- Nicholas Gardiner, magmatic-metamorphic petrology; isotope geochemistry; Archean geodynamics and critical metal granites
- Will Hutchison, volcanic-magmatic processes, microanalysis, isotope geochemistry, Earth evolution and resources
- Adrian Finch, Igneous petrology, mineralogy and geochemistry; biominerals; the development and application of synchrotron methods to Earth sciences.
- William McCarthy, Architecture of igneous intrusions and associated mineral deposits, structural geology, rock magnetics
Underpinning the School’s research are outstanding analytical facilities supported by full-time technicians. These allow for the detailed characterization of natural (and synthetic) materials, culturing of micro and macro organisms in extreme environments, and geological and geophysical field deployment.