Dr Bob Jamieson
- Position: Stable Isotope Experimental Officer and Field Equipment Manager
- Areas of expertise: geochemistry; stable isotopes; palaeoclimatology; climate proxies; speleothem science
- Email: R.A.Jamieson@leeds.ac.uk
- Location: 9.128 Maths/Earth and Environment Building
- Website: Googlescholar | Researchgate | ORCID
Profile
My broad research interests are the limitations and complexities of high resolution proxies, particularly around issues of seasonality, sample heterogeneity, and interpreting proxies which integrate multiple environmental signals. I work with trace element concentrations and stable isotopes in a variety of archives, including sedimentary material, speleothems and paleontological material.
I work on samples from throughout geological time, but am particularly interested in working with modern samples which can be compared directly with environmental records.
- Stable Isotope Geochemistry – My position at Leeds involves maintaining and running both of the Stable Isotope lab IRMS instruments. This includes analysis of a variety of materials using an Elemental Analyser coupled to a continuous flow IRMS for C, N, S, and O isotopes, as well as small quantities of carbonate materials via Dual Inlet IRMS for δ13C and δ18O.
- Trace Element Geochemistry – One of the key foci of my PhD thesis was the application of trace element geochemistry in speleothems for paleoclimate reconstruction. I have experience with both solution and laser-ablation ICP-MS analysis, and have used these techniques to produce records of volcanic ash deposition over cave sites as well as more traditional climatological proxy reconstructions. This included developing a new proxy for qualitatively examining paleorainfall recorded in aragonitic speleothems by varying prior aragonite precipitation influencing U/Ca.
- Organic Geochemistry and Biomarkers – My undergraduate work in the Glasgow Molecular Organic Geochemistry Laboratory (GMOL) involved working with biomarker proxies in both lake and ocean sediment archives. I have experience in performing chemical extractions, concentration measurement and compound identification (GC-FID and GC-MS).
Qualifications
- PhD, Geology, Durham University
- MSc, Geochemistry, University of Leeds
- BSc, Earth Science, University of Glasgow
Student education
I focus almost entirely on field teaching whenever possible, as I consider field based teaching to be the area in which the Earth Sciences excels.
Currently at Leeds I teach on the 1st and 2nd year field skills and field mapping courses.
Research groups and institutes
- Cohen Geochemistry
- Earth Surface Science Institute
- Palaeo@Leeds