Staff Profile

Area of Expertise

Palaeoclimate reconstruction, Quaternary and Holocene environmental change, organic geochemistry, biomarkers, lake sediments.

Background

NERC funded PhD (Newcastle University) Thesis Lipid biomarkers in Spanish saline lake sediments: indicators of source inputs and environmental change

MSc Quaternary Science (UCL and Royal Holloway University of London) Thesis Validating diatom-hydrological and hydrochemical transfer functions in Lake Hora, Ethiopia

BSc Environmental Geography (UCL, University College London)

Previous Positions

Principal Research Scientist, Newcastle University

Senior Research Scientist, Newcastle University

Research Scientist, Newcastle University

Physical Geography Facilities Manager, Newcastle University

Physical Geography Research Technician, Newcastle University

Organic Geochemistry Team Leader, Derwentside Environmental Testing Services

Roles and Responsibilities

Chair of the Newcastle University Expeditions Committee (2010 - 2025)

Chair of Geography's Sonia Stonehouse Expedition Fund Committee (2008 - 2025)

Faculty research representative on the University Research Strategy Group (2009 - 2018)

Member of the Quaternary Research Association Executive Committee (2014 - 2017)

Memberships 

American Geophysical Union (AGU), European Geosciences Union (EGU), International Paleolimnology Association (IPA), European Association of Organic Geochemists (EAOG), British Organic Geochemical Society (BOGS), Quaternary Research Association (QRA)

Google Scholar

Research Interests

Palaeoclimate reconstruction, Quaternary and Holocene environmental change, organic geochemistry, biomarkers, lake sediments.

My research focuses on the use of lipid biomarkers, including glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs), alkenones and compound specific isotopes (leaf wax δC and δD), for reconstructing Quaternary environmental and climatic change from a range of locations worldwide. 

Current projects include examining Holocene temperature variation in Antarctica, and influences of climate change on human evolution in eastern Africa.

Research Projects

Using leaf wax palaeo-precipitation records to inform climate-cultural-landscape interactions in southwestern Amazonia. PI Funded by NERC NEIF grant (2025 - present).

The aim of this project is to construct palaeo-precipitation records and explore historical climate-cultural interactions in the Llanos de Mojos wetlands of the Bolivian Amazon, in particular examining the role of precipitation, and the interplay between Holocene climate and culture in the development of the wetlands.

Reconstructing fire history and past temperature using molecular markers: enhancing our understanding of the climate-environment context of human evolution in eastern Africa. PI Funded by NERC NEIF grant (2023 - present).

The aim of this project is to reconstruct fire history and temperature using molecular records from lake sediments from Chew Bahir, southern Ethiopia. The focus is on key time periods in the history of human evolution over the past 250ka.

Past temperature change from biomarker analysis of lake sediments from Southern Ocean and Antarctic Islands. PI Dr Steve Roberts (British Antarctic Survey). Funded by NERC NEIF grant (2023 - present).

The aim of this project is to produce the first continuous pre-Holocene quantitative terrestrial palaeotemperature record from Macquarie Island, a sub-Antarctic island, in the Pacific Sector of the Southern Ocean and assess the influence of increased warming on Southern Ocean wind intensity and implications for CO2 dynamics.

A new technique for reconstructing past environments: biomarker signals of environmental change in travertine from Western Turkey. Funded by NERC NEIF grant (2020 - present).

The aim of this project is to investigate the use of lipid biomarkers and their isotopes to reconstruct past environmental change in travertine via analysis of both modern and a Late Quaternary (last interglacial, Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5) travertine sequence in Western Turkey.

Quantifying past temperatures from Antarctic lake sediments: Links to wind strength and CO₂ degassing of the Southern Ocean during the last deglaciation. PI Dr Steve Roberts (British Antarctic Survey). Funded by NERC LSMSF grant (2018 - present).

The aim of this project is to determine when the Southern Ocean acted as a net source or sink for global atmospheric CO2 by quantifying the long-term spatial and temporal relationship between past temperature and SHW strength across the SO during the past 20,000 years.

A 500,000 year environmental record from Chew Bahir, south Ethiopia: testing hypotheses of climate-driven human evolution, innovation and dispersal. PI Prof. Henry Lamb (Aberystwyth University). Funded by NERC (2014 - present).

This project is part of a programme of research aimed at understanding the long-term dynamics of environmental change in eastern Africa and its relationship to the emergence, development and impact of human cultures in the region. It is part of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Programme’s (ICDP) Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project (HSPDP) involving researchers from the UK, USA, Germany and Ethiopia.

http://hspdp.asu.edu/ 

Greenland fjord calving and ice melt history (POEM). PI Thorbjoern Joest Andersen (University of Copenhagen). Funded by the University of Copenhagen (2014-2016).

Reconstructing Holocene palaeoclimate in the South Pacific and past movement of the South Pacific Convergence Zone using terrestrial sediment archives. With Prof. David Sear, Prof. Peter Langdon, Prof. Ian Croudace and PhD student Jonathan Hassall (University of Southampton). Funded by NERC PhD studentship and NERC LSMSF grants for compound specific biomarker analyses (2013-2017 and 2015-2017).

Climatic controls on species-specific leaf wax hydrogen and carbon isotopes in subtropical Australia. PI Dr Andrew Henderson (Newcastle University). Funded by Newcastle University Faculty Research Fund and NERC LSMSF grant (2012-2017).

Arctic lake carbon processing and terrestrial vegetation transitions (LAC-VEG): PI Dr Suzanne McGowan and PhD student Mark Stevenson (Nottingham University). Funded by EU-INTERACT and NERC / ESRC PhD studentship (2012-2016), and NERC Isotope Geoscience support grant (2014) and NERC radiocarbon facility grants (2013 and 2014)

This project uses geochemical analyses of sediment cores to reconstruct Holocene catchment vegetation changes and infer periods of past lake autotrophy/heterotrophy. Vegetation changes influence soil carbon and nutrient cycling, but the extent to which they change the storage or release of carbon at a landscape scale, and the role that lakes play as carbon processing focal points is currently not well understood. Our work focuses on lakes from Disko Island, West Greenland. http://arcticresearch.wordpress.com/category/blogs-from-the-field/lac-veg-arctic-lake-carbon-processing-and-terrestrial-vegetation-transitions/ 

Reconstructing Holocene climate change across the Polar Frontal Zone (PFZ): With Dr Steve Roberts and Dr Dominic Hodgson (British Antarctic Survey), Dr Steve Juggins and PhD student Louise Taylor (Newcastle University). Funded by NERC PhD studentship (2011-2015).

This project examines variations in the movement of the PFZ and changes in the strength, intensity and position of the Southern Hemisphere westerly wind circulation over the Holocene. Geochemical, sedimentological, isotopic and biomarker techniques are being applied to reconstruct changes in temperature, precipitation and nutrient flux using lake sediments from the Antarctic Peninsula, sub-Antarctic islands and East Antarctica.

Quantitative reconstructions of past climate and relative sea level change on the South Shetland Islands: (PI Dr Stephen Roberts, British Antarctic Survey). 2011 Fieldwork season funded by NERC / BAS Collaborative Gearing Scheme grant and the European Science Foundation IMCOAST Project. Fieldwork carried out in collaboration with the Instituto Antárctico Argentino (IAA) and the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). 

Lake sediment, water and catchment samples were collected from the Potter Peninsula on King George Island, South Shetland Islands to examine inorganic and organic geochemistry, and climate-driven biogeochemical changes over the last 2000 years. On-going work contributes to the ESF-funded IMCOAST project.

http://www.imcoast.org/  

https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/emmapearson/

Deciphering timings and rates of abrupt climate changes over the Lateglacial-Holocene period: The Lake Suigetsu biomarker record: PI, with CoI Prof. Takeshi Nakagawa (Newcastle University). Funded by NERC (2009-2010). 

This project examines the Late Glacial-Holocene biomarker record of Lake Suigetsu, Japan, with a focus on deciphering timings and rates of climate change across the Younger Dryas and Holocene boundaries. The Lake Suigetsu sediments are also being examined for evidence of the “8.2ka event”. Biomarkers are being used to provide information on changes in source inputs and processes occurring within the lake and catchment while compound specific isotope analysis (δD) is being used to provide information on past hydrological conditions. Fourier Transform Near Infra Red Spectroscopy (FT-NIRS) is being used to reconstruct high resolution changes in sediment total organic content (TOC).

www.suigetsu.org 

Development of glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) as temperature indicators in lake sediments. PI. Funded by Newcastle University Faculty Research Fund (2007-2008).

This project focuses on the calibration of GDGT biomarkers as temperature indicators in lakes and includes lakes from Scandinavia, Europe, Japan, Central and South America, East Africa and Antarctica.

Postgraduate Supervision

Palaeolimnology, development and application of biomarkers to reconstruct past vegetation, environments and climate (including lacustrine alkenone and GDGT temperature calibration, leaf wax δC and δD), Quaternary and Holocene environmental change, timings and rates of abrupt climate changes.

Loretta-Ann Jilks 2021-2025 (PhD based at Northumbria) Paleoecological evidence for the domestication of the wetlands of the Bolivian Amazon.

Charlotte Rex 2019-2023 (PhD NERC IAPETUS2 based at SUERC) High resolution palaeoenvironmental reconstruction from Lake Suigetsu, Japan.

Bianca Cavazzin 2015-2019 (PhD NERC IAPETUS based at Glasgow) Paleotemperature change in the drought-prone Canadian Prairies.

Jonathan Hassall 2013-2017 (PhD NERC based at Southampton) Reconstructing Holocene palaeoclimate in the South Pacific from lake sediment archives.

Mark Stevenson 2012-2016 (PhD ESRC/NERC based at Nottingham) Arctic lake carbon processing and terrestrial vegetation transitions

Louise Foster 2011-2015 (PhD NERC joint with British Antarctic Survey) Reconstructing Mid-Late Holocene Climate and Environmental Change in Antarctica using Glycerol Dialkyl Glycerol Tetraethers (GDGTs) and Pigments in Lake Sediments

• Articles

  • Pearson EJ, Juggins S, Allbrook H, Foster LC, Hodgson DA, Naafs BDA, Phillips T, Roberts SJ. Development of new global lake brGDGT-temperature calibrations: advances, applications, challenges, and recommendations. Quaternary Science Reviews 2025, 369, 109615.
  • Heredia Barión PA, Strelin JA, Roberts SJ, Spiegel C, Wacker L, Niedermann S, Bentley MJ, Pearson EJ, Manograsso Czalbowski NT, Davies SJ, Schnetger B, Grosjean M, Arcusa S, Perren B, Hocking EP, Kuhn G. The impact of Holocene deglaciation and glacial dynamics on the landscapes and geomorphology of Potter Peninsula, King George Island (Isla 25 Mayo), NW Antarctic Peninsula. Frontiers in Earth Science 2023, 10, 1073075.
  • Heredia Barión P, Roberts SJ, Spiegel C, Binnie SA, Wacker L, Davies J, Gabriel I, Jones VJ, Blockley S, Pearson EJ, Foster L, Davies SJ, Roland TP, Hocking EP, Bentley MJ, Hodgson DA, Hayward CL, McCulloch RD, Strelin JA, Kuhn G. Holocene deglaciation and glacier readvances on the Fildes Peninsula and King George Island (Isla 25 de Mayo), South Shetland Islands, NW Antarctic Peninsula. The Holocene 2023, 33(6), 636-658.
  • Yao Y, Zhao J, Vachula RS, Liao S, Li G, Pearson EJ, Huang Y. Phylogeny, alkenone profiles and ecology of Isochrysidales subclades in saline lakes: implications for paleosalinity and paleotemperature reconstructions. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 2022, 317, 472-487.
  • Lupien RL, Russell JM, Pearson EJ, Castañeda IS, Asrat A, Foerster V, Lamb HF, Roberts HM, Schäbitz F, Trauth MH, Beck C, Feibel CS, Cohen AS. Orbital controls on eastern African hydroclimate in the Pleistocene. Scientific Reports 2022, 12, 3170.
  • Stevenson MA, Mcgowan S, Pearson EJ, Swann GEA, Leng MJ, Jones VJ, Bailey JJ, Huang X, Whiteford E. Anthropocene climate warming enhances autochthonous carbon cycling in an upland Arctic lake, Disko Island, West Greenland. Biogeosciences 2021, 18(8), 2465-2485.
  • Sear DA, Allen MS, Hassall JD, Maloney AE, Langdon PG, Morrison AE, Henderson ACG, Mackay H, Croudace IW, Clarke C, Sachs JP, Macdonald G, Chiverrell RC, Leng MJ, Cisneros-Dozal LM, Fonville T, Pearson E. Human settlement of East Polynesia earlier, incremental, and coincident with prolonged South Pacific drought. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2020, 117(16), 8813-8819.
  • Kaufman D, McKay N, Routson C, Erb M, Davis B, Heiri O, Jaccard S, Tierney J, Datwyler C, Axford Y, Brussel T, Cartapanis O, Chase B, Dawson A, de Vernal A, Engels S, Jonkers L, Marsicek J, Moffa-Sanchez P, Morrill C, Orsi A, Rehfeld K, Saunders K, Sommer PS, Thomas E, Tonello M, Toth M, Vachula R, Andreev A, Bertrand S, Biskaborn B, Bringue M, Brooks S, Caniupan M, Chevalier M, Cwynar L, Emile-Geay J, Fegyveresi J, Feurdean A, Finsinger W, Fortin MC, Foster L, Fox M, Gajewski K, Grosjean M, Hausmann S, Heinrichs M, Holmes N, Ilyashuk B, Ilyashuk E, Juggins S, Khider D, Koinig K, Langdon P, Larocque-Tobler I, Li J, Lotter A, Luoto T, Mackay A, Magyari E, Malevich S, Mark B, Massaferro J, Montade V, Nazarova L, Novenko E, Paril P, Pearson E, Peros M, Pienitz R, Plociennik M, Porinchu D, Potito A, Rees A, Reinemann S, Roberts S, Rolland N, Salonen S, Self A, Seppa H, Shala S, St Jacques JM, Stenni B, Syrykh L, Tarrats P, Taylor K, vandenBos V, Velle G, Wahl E, Walker I, Wilmshurst J, Zhang E, Zhilich S. A global database of Holocene paleotemperature records. Scientific Data 2020, 7, 115.
  • Roberts SJ, Monien P, Foster LC, Loftfield J, Hocking EP, Schnetger B, Pearson EJ, Juggins S, Fretwell P, Ireland L, Ochyra R, Haworth AR, Allen CS, Moreton SG, Davies SJ, Brumsack H-J, Bentley MJ, Hodgson DA. Past penguin colony responses to explosive volcanism on the Antarctic Peninsula. Nature Communications 2017, 8, 14914.
  • Cisneros-Dozal LM, Xu X, Bryant C, Pearson EJ, Dungait JAJ. Grass Material as a Modern Process Standard for ¹⁴C Analysis of n-Alkanes. Radiocarbon 2016, 58(3), 445-458.
  • Foster LC, Pearson EJ, Juggins S, Hodgson DA, Saunders KM, Verleyen E, Roberts SJ. Development of a regional glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT)–temperature calibration for Antarctic and sub-Antarctic lakes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 2016, 433, 370-379.
  • Pearson EJ, Juggins S, Tyler J. Ultra-high resolution total organic carbon analysis using Fourier-Transform Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (FT-NIRS). Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 2014, 15(1), 292-301.
  • Schouten S, Hopmans EC, Rosell-Melé A, Pearson A, Adam P, Bauersachs T, Bard E, Bernasconi S, Bianchi TS, Brocks JJ, Truxal Carlson L, Castañeda IS, Dutta K, Eglinton T, Fosse C, Grice K, Hinrichs KE, Huang Y, Huguet A, Huguet C, Hurley S, Ingalls A, Jia G, Keely B, Knappy C, Lincoln S, Lipp J, Mangelsdorf K, Martinez-Garcia A, Ménot G, Mets A, Mollenhauer G, Ohkouchi N, Ossebaar J, Pagani M, Pancost RD, Pearson EJ, Peterse F, Reichart GJ, Schaeffer P, Schmitt G, Selver AD, Shah SR, Smith RW, Smittenberg R, Takano Y, Talbot HM, Taylor KWR, Tarozo R, van Dongen BE, Van Mooy BAS, Weijers JWH, Werne JP, Woltering M, Xie S, Yamamoto M, Yang H, Zhang C, Zhao M, Sinninghe Damsté JS. An interlaboratory study of TEX₈₆ and BIT analysis of sediments, extracts and standard mixtures. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 2013, 14(12), 5263-5285.
  • Pearson EJ, Juggins S, Talbot HM, Weckström J, Rosén P, Ryves D, Roberts S, Schmidt R. A lacustrine GDGT-temperature calibration from the Scandinavian Arctic to Antarctic: Renewed potential for the application of GDGT-paleothermometry in lakes. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 2011, 75(20), 6225-6238.
  • Schouten S, Hopmans E, Van Der Meer J, Mets A, Bard E, Bianchi T, Diefendorf A, Escala M, Freeman K, Furukawa Y, Huguet C, Ingalls A, Ménot-Combes G, Nederbragt A, Oba M, Pearson A, Pearson E, Rosell-Melé A, Schaeffer P, Shah S, Shanahan T, Smith R, Smittenberg R, Talbot H, Uchida M, Van Mooy B, Yamamoto M, Zhang Z, Damsté J. An interlaboratory study of TEX86 and BIT analysis using high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 2009, 10(3), Q03012.
  • Pearson E, Juggins S, Farrimond P. Distribution and significance of long-chain alkenones as salinity and temperature indicators in Spanish saline lake sediments. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 2008, 72(16), 4035-4046.
  • Maddy D, Demir T, Veldkamp A, Candy I, Pearson E. Reconstructing Early Pleistocene environments in the Gediz river valley. Anatolian Archaeology 2007, 13, 8-10.
  • Pearson EJ, Farrimond P, Juggins S. Lipid geochemistry of lake sediments from semi-arid Spain: Relationships with source inputs and environmental factors. Organic Geochemistry 2007, 38(7), 1169-1195.
  • Talbot H, Watson D, Pearson EJ, Farrimond P. Diverse biohopanoid compositions of non-marine sediments. Organic Geochemistry 2003, 34(10), 1353-1371.

• Book Chapter

  • McGowan S, Stevenson M, Whiteford E, Pearson E. Carbon processing in Arctic lakes when vegetation changes on land. In: Callaghan, TV; Savela,H, ed. INTERACT Stories of Arctic Science. Aarhus University, 2015, pp.138-139.

• Notes

  • Foster LC, Pearson EJ, Juggins S, Hodgson DA, Saunders KM, Verleyen E, Roberts SJ. Corrigendum to “Development of a regional glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) temperature calibration for Antarctic and sub-Antarctic lakes” [Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 433 (2016) 370–379]. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 2020, 542, 116342.
  • Kaufman D, McKay N, Routson C, Erb M, Davis B, Heiri O, Jaccard S, Tierney J, Datwyler C, Axford Y, Brussel T, Cartapanis O, Chase B, Dawson A, de Vernal A, Engels S, Jonkers L, Marsicek J, Moffa-Sanchez P, Morrill C, Orsi A, Rehfeld K, Saunders K, Sommer PS, Thomas E, Tonello M, Toth M, Vachula R, Andreev A, Bertrand S, Biskaborn B, Bringue M, Brooks S, Caniupan M, Chevalier M, Cwynar L, Emile-Geay J, Fegyveresi J, Feurdean A, Finsinger W, Fortin M-C, Foster L, Fox M, Gajewski K, Grosjean M, Hausmann S, Heinrichs M, Holmes N, Ilyashuk B, Ilyashuk E, Juggins S, Khider D, Koinig K, Langdon P, Larocque-Tobler I, Li J, Lotter A, Luoto T, Mackay A, Magyari E, Malevich S, Mark B, Massaferro J, Montade V, Nazarova L, Novenko E, Paril P, Pearson E, Peros M, Pienitz R, Plociennik M, Porinchu D, Potito A, Rees A, Reinemann S, Roberts S, Rolland N, Salonen S, Self A, Seppa H, Shala S, St-Jacques J-M, Stenni B, Syrykh L, Tarrats P, Taylor K, van den Bos V, Velle G, Wahl E, Walker I, Wilmshurst J, Zhang E, Zhilich S. Author Correction: A global database of Holocene paleotemperature records (Scientific Data, (2020), 7, 1, (115), 10.1038/s41597-020-0445-3). Scientific Data 2020, 7(1), 246.