Accepting applications from PhD students.
Email: D.Evans@soton.ac.uk
My research focuses on quantifying linkages between climate change, key Earth surface processes, and biological-environmental interactions over both geologic and human timescales. I achieve this through the development and application of novel geochemical proxy methodologies, the experimental culturing of marine organisms, and numerical modelling.
My research focuses on quantitatively reconstructing natural warm climates in Earth's geological past for both societally important reasons (such as the use of these to evaluate climate model performance) and to improve our understanding of interactions between climate, Earth surface processes, and the biosphere.
At present, I lead research projects funded via the Royal Society and UKRI focused on substantially improving the accuracy of our palaeotemperature and palaeo-CO2 reconstructions from key Cenozoic warm intervals such as the early Eocene, with the key aim of determining whether fully coupled climate models can reproduce these warm climate states. Key to achieving this is:
1) Accurately and precisely reconstructing boundary condition changes that have the potential to bias quantitative geochemical proxy reconstructions, especially the elemental and isotopic composition of seawater
2) Determining how key proxy archives biomineralise, especially the foraminifera, such that modern empirical relationships can be applied through time with confidence
I am also interested in marine biomineralisation and CaCO3 production in the ocean more broadly, as well as determining the drivers of past carbon cycle changes.
As part of these projects, I am currently looking for both PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers. Please get in touch!