PGR - Joelyn Han Philip

Areas of interest

Palaeoecology
Palaeoclimatology
Vegetation reconstruction
Vegetation-fire interactions
Anthropogenic influence

Research centres and groups

Research projects

Vegetation-Fire Interactions in Africa during the Holocene

This project aims to use the newly devised Probabilistic Biomisation method to reconstruct vegetation and fire regimes across Africa during the Holocene, it is part of the Ecological Archaeologies of the Afrotropics (EcoArch) project and is funded by its ERC Synergy Grant. Various vegetation reconstructions of the Afrotropics have been attempted previously, they are not cohesive or complete. This project aims to make a comprehensive total reconstruction using newly pollen fossil data obtained by members of EcoArch. From this, the temporal links between, anthropogenic activity, vegetation, and fire will be explored, not only to aid in our understanding of the Holocene landscape, but also as a means to understand these dynamic interactions over various timescales.

Supervisors:

Professor Sandy Harrison (University of Reading)

Esmeralda Cruz Silva (University of Reading)

Background

I completed a BSc in Biological Sciences (Hons) at the University of Northampton and then did my MSc in Environmental Bioscience in a Changing Climate at the University of Warwick where my dissertation investigated the ‘Effects of Biocrust Successional Stages and Disturbance on Functional Soil Nitrogen Processes’. During my degrees, I have gained various wet and field lab skills as well as statistical, modelling, and reconstruction skills.