Dr Fred Bowyer

Profile

I graduated with a PhD in geology from the University of Edinburgh in 2018, which included a professional internship at the BGS studying high-precision zircon U-Pb geochronology with Dr Dan Condon. I then carried out a NERC (BETR project: Biosphere evolution, transitions and resilience) funded research placement at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology to work with Prof Maoyan Zhu prior to carrying out my first postdoc with Prof Simon Poulton at the University of Leeds. This postdoc focused on constraining palaeoenvironmental geochemistry through Mesoproterozoic sections of the North China craton, in addition to the geochemical response of the global ocean to Cryogenian Snowball deglaciation. During my second postdoc at the University of Edinburgh, I worked with Prof Rachel Wood on a project associated with temporal calibration and biospheric change across the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary.

My academic career to date has focused on regional to global palaeoenvironmental reconstructions using geochemical methods to help refine global correlation and chronostratigraphic calibration. I now use this integrated approach in my third postdoc, working with the Earth Evolution Modelling group of Prof Ben Mills, to investigate intervals of Earth History that are poorly understood and improve the accuracy of input data for modelling efforts to provide quantitative estimates of Earth System change throughout the geologic record.

Responsibilities

• postdoctoral researcher

Research interests

My research focuses on understanding environmental conditions that accompanied major evolutionary transitions in Earth history. I integrate lithostratigraphic, sedimentological and palaeontological information with geochronological data (e.g., zircon U-Pb CA-ID-TIMS), chemostratigraphy (e.g. C and Sr isotopes), and palaeoenvironmental geochemistry, to build global spatiotemporal frameworks. Much of my previous work has focused on palaeomarine redox and nutrient cycling coincident with the Neoproterozoic emergence of complex life, including animals, and temporal calibration of the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian stratigraphic record.

Qualifications

• PhD (Geology)
• MEarthSci (Geology) First Class

Professional memberships

• Voting Member of the Ediacaran Subcommission of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS)
• Voting Member of the Cryogenian Subcommission of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS)

Student education

I co-supervise PhD projects in the School of Earth and Environment associated with past Earth System change.