Andrew Johnson
Research Fellow
Department: Natural Sciences
University of Derby
United Kingdom
Biography
At the end of January 2015 I left my position as a lecturer in geology to focus on research, principally in the applications of bivalve sclerochronology to understanding late Cenozoic climate and oceanography of the North Atlantic region. I am continuing with some teaching duties as an associate lecturer.
Research Interest
My research focuses on the use of proxy data from marine bivalve mollusc shells to document environmental change. Fine-scale (e.g. seasonal) information can be obtained from ontogenetic (through-growth) records of stable-isotopic composition, trace element concentration and growth-increment width. I have applied this methodology in investigations of the distant (Jurassic) and more recent (late Cenozoic) past, the results from the latter being relevant to prediction of future changes in climate and the biological productivity of the oceans.
Publications
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Williams M, Nelson AE, Smellie JL, Leng MJ, Johnson ALA, Jarram DR, Haywood AM, Peck VL, Zalasiewicz J, Bennett C & Schöne BR (2010) Sea ice extent and seasonality for the Early Pliocene northern Weddell Sea determined from fossil Austrochlamys bivalves. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292, 306-318.
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Johnson ALA, Hickson JA, Bird A, Schöne BR, Balson PS, Heaton THE & Williams M (2009) Comparative sclerochronology of modern and mid-Pliocene (c. 3.5 Ma) Aequipecten opercularis (Mollusca, Bivalvia): an insight into past and future climate change in the north-east Atlantic region. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 284, 164-179.
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Williams M, Haywood AM, Harper EM, Johnson ALA, Knowles T, Leng MJ, Lunt DJ, Okamura B, Taylor PD & Zalasiewicz J (2009) Pliocene climate and seasonality in North Atlantic shelf seas. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 367, 85-108.
