Nathan Brooks-english
Professor
Medical and Applied Sciences
The University of Queensland
Australia
Biography
The consistent theme of my research is the study of how environmental variables affect Earth-surface processes (climate, transport, etc.) and natural materials (biota, earth and water) over multiple scales of time and distance. Currently, I'm using dendrochronology, stable isotopes, and ancient kauri pines of North Queensland to reconstruct past rainfall and model the response of drought and floods to El Niño Southern Oscillation and other mulitdecadal climate phenomena (Indian Ocean Dipole, Pacific Decadal Oscillation). In the past, my colleagues and I investigated the link between ecophysiology, climate, and isotopic variation in the spines of columnar cactuses, including the tropical species Trichocereus pasacana in Bolivia. This research develops and explains a novel climate proxy that yields high–resolution information about plant ecology, water relations and past climate that will be useful in tropical and subtropical regions with few annually resolved and centuries-long terrestrial climate proxies.
Research Interest
EARTH SCIENCES
