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Dr. Bob McCullochLecturer in Environmental Geography1990 - 1993 PhD - NERC Research Studentship, University of Aberdeen
School
of Biological & Environmental Sciences tel: +44 1786 467771
Programme Director: BSc Environmental Geography degree programme . Copy of Environmental Geography prospectus pages > |
Background / Previous Posts
Research Fellow, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling.
High-resolution temporal and spatial reconstruction of the vegetation and land uses of the upland landscape of Ben Lawers within the last c.1,000 years.
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Research Fellow, Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh.
1) Reconstruction of pre- and post-Hispanic environmental change from multi-disciplinary lake records in central Mexico.
2) The last glacial / interglacial transition in the southern Andes and migration of the southern westerlies.
Research Fellow, Department of Environmental Science, University of Stirling.
Vegetation history and human impact at Reidchalmai, Little Rogart, Sutherland.
Research Fellow, Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh.
1) Geomorphic and glacio-lacustrine evidence for an extensive glacier advance in the Strait of Magellan, southern Chile between c.12,000 -10,000 yrs BP.
2) Quantification of the distal tephra fallout over Finland from the eruption of Hekla in 1947 and its relationship and its relationship to meteorological conditions..
Research interests and collaboration
My current research interests and research collaborations are:
1) The timing and extent of the first human settlers in Fuego-Patagonia and their potential role in increased frequency of fire versus the role of climate. Collaborators: Flavia Morello and Dr Alfredo Prieto (Universidad de Magallanes), Dr Luis Borrero (Buenos Aires).
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2) The timing and nature of inter-hemispheric climate reorganisation during the Last glacial / inter-glacial transition and its role in driving glacier and vegetation changes. Collaborators: Prof. David Sugden (Edinburgh), Dr Michael Bentley (Durham), Dr Ross Purves (Zurich), Professor Tasuku Akagi (Kyushu, Japan), Aloys Borys (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory / Lille).
3) The timing and nature of pre- and post-Hispanic environmental change from multi-proxy lake records in central Mexico. Collaborators: Prof. Sarah Metcalfe (Nottingham), Dr Sarah Davies (Aberystwyth), Dr Anthony Newton (Edinburgh).
4) The Holocene vegetation history of northern and upland Britain, with particular regard to the timing and nature of prehistoric and historic human activities and their impacts. Collaborators: Prof. Ian Simpson, Dr Eileen Tisdall (Stirling) and Dr Jane Downes (ORCA - UHI).
5) The application of tephrochronology, Spheroidal Carbonaceous Particles and 210Pb to establish regional correlations and to test radiometric dating methods. Collaborators: Dr Andrew Dugmore, Prof. Charles Stern (Boulder) and Dr Eileen Tisdall (Stirling)..
Teaching
Patagonia |
I teach on the following modules:
- ENV2E2: Global Environmental Issues (Atmospheric pollution and past, present and future climate change)
- Aviemore: 2nd year Residential Field Course - geographical field techniques
- ENV5T5: Field and Laboratory Techniques (Project: monitoring traffic pollution levels across Stirling)
- ENV6T6: Spain (Urra) Residential Fieldcourse (Landscape change in an arid environment)
- ENV6EH: Environmental Hazards (Module co-ordinator) (How humans turn environmental hazards into greater risks)
- ENV6IC: Iceland (Heimaland) Residential Field Course (Module co-ordinator) (landscape change in a glacial and volcanic region and human impacts)
- ENV7RQ: Reconstructing Quaternary Environments (Module co-ordinator) (Long term climate change and how we reconstruct the past)
- ENV8GE: Geographical Review Essay (Module co-ordinator) (Review of physical and socio-economic geography topics)
Recently supervised Undergraduate and Postgraduate research topics
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A reconstruction of tree establishment across Tierra del Fuego during the early Holocene, with regards to westerly migration. (UG Hons).
Reconstruction of mid Holocene environmental change at Shebster, Caithness, North East Scotland during the mid Holocene (UG Hons).
Achieving a low carbon footprint in new homes - perspectives from the construction trade and the local authority in Central Scotland (MSc).
Discussions over a pint: The role of the individual in climate change (MSc).
The corporate approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions: A review of the effectiveness of policies implemented in the workplace to reduce energy consumption and increase uptake of small-scale renewables (MSc).
Professional Service
Peer reviewer for: The Holocene, Journal of Quaternary Science, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, Quaternary Science Reviews, Revista Chilena, Scottish Geographical Journal.
Member of the Quaternary Research Association.
Member of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society
Member of the Scottish Alliance for Geosciences, Environment and Society
Publications
Refereed journal publications
David E. Sugden, Robert D. McCulloch, Aloys J.-M. Bory & Andrew S. Hein. 2009 Influence of Patagonian glaciers on Antarctic dust deposition during the last glacial period, Nature Geoscience, 2, 281 - 285. doi:10.1038/ngeo474
Tipping, R., Bunting, M.J., Davies, A.L., Murray, H., Fraser, S. and McCulloch, R. 2009 Modelling land use around an early Neolithic timber 'hall' in north east Scotland from high spatial resolution pollen analyses. Journal of Archaeological Science, 36, 140-149.
Tipping, R., Davies, A., McCulloch, R. and Tisdall, E. 2008 Response to late Bronze Age climate change of farming communities in north east Scotland. Journal of Archaeological Science 35, 2379–2386.
Anderson, S., Rees, A.R., Ballin, T.B., Carter, S., Cressey, M., Hastie, M., Hunter, F., Ingemark, D., Jackson, A., McCulloch, R., Thoms, J. and Wallace, C. 2006. The excavation of a large double-chambered souterrain at Ardownie Farm Cottages, Monifieth, Angus. Tayside and Fife Archaeological Journal, 12, 14-60.
Gilli, A., Ariztegui, D., Anselmetti, F.S., McKenzie, J.A., Markgraf, V., Hajdas, I. and McCulloch, R.D. 2006. Mid-Holocene strengthening of the southern westerlies in South America - Sedimentological evidences from Lago Cardiel, Argentina (49oS). Global and Planetary Change, 49, 75-93.
Sugden, D.E, Bentley, M.J., Fogwill, C.J., Hulton, N.R.J., McCulloch, R.D. and Purves, R.S. 2005. Late-glacial glacier events in southernmost South America: a blend of ‘northern’ and ‘southern’ hemispheric climatic signals. Geografiska Annaler, 87A(2) 273-288.
Bentley, M.J., Sugden, D.E., McCulloch, R.D. and Hulton, N.R.J. 2005. The landforms and pattern of deglaciation in the Strait of Magellan and Bahía Inútil, southernmost South America. Geografiska Annaler, 87A(2) 313-334.
McCulloch, R.D., Bentley, M.J., Tipping, R.M. and Clapperton, C.M. 2005. Evidence for Late-glacial ice dammed lakes in the central Strait of Magellan and Bahía Inútil, southernmost South America. Geografiska Annaler, 87A(2) 335-362.
McCulloch, R.D., Fogwill, C.J., Sugden, D.E., Bentley, M.J. and Kubik, P.W. 2005. Chronology of the last glaciation in central Strait of Magellan and Bahía Inútil, southernmost South America. Geografiska Annaler, 87A(2) 289-312.
Bentley, M.J. and McCulloch, R.D. 2005. Impact of neotectonics on the record of glacier and sea level fluctuations, Strait of Magellan, southern Chile. Geografiska Annaler, 87A(2) 393-402.
Turner, K.J., Fogwill, C.J., McCulloch, R.D. and Sugden, D.E. 2005. Deglaciation of the eastern flank of the North Patagonian Icefield and associated continental-scale lake diversions. Geografiska Annaler, 87A(2) 363-374.
Hulton, N.R.J., Purves, R.S., McCulloch, R.D., Sugden, D.E. and Bentley, M.J. 2002. The Last Glacial Maximum and deglaciation in southern South America. Quaternary Science Reviews, 21, 233-241.
Metcalfe, S., Say, A., Black, S., McCulloch, R. and O’Hara, S. 2002. Wet conditions during the Last Glacial in the Chihuahuan desert, Alta Babicora basin, Mexico. Quaternary Research, 57, 91-101.
McCulloch, R.D. and Davies, S.J. 2001. Late-glacial and Holocene palaeoenvironmental change in the central Strait of Magellan, southern Patagonia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 173, 143-173.
McCulloch, R.D. and Sugden, D.E. 2001. Reply: Climatic inferences from glacial and palaeoecological evidence at the last glacial termination, southern South America. Journal of Quaternary Science, 16, 291-294.
McCulloch, R.D., Bentley, M.J., Purves, R.S., Sugden, D.E. and Clapperton, C.M. 2000. Climatic inferences from glacial and palaeoecological evidence at the last glacial termination, southern South America. Journal of Quaternary Science, 15, 409-417.
McCulloch, R.D. and Bentley, M.J. 1998. Late glacial ice advances in the Strait of Magellan, southern Chile. Quaternary Science Reviews, 17, 775-787.
Clapperton, C.M., Sugden, D.E., Kauffman, D. and McCulloch, R.D. 1995. The last glaciation in central Magellan Strait, southernmost Chile. Quaternary Research, 44, 133-148.
Book Chapters
McCulloch, R (2010) Westerlies, effect on glaciers. In: Singh, V.P., Singh, P. & Haritashya, U.K. (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Snow, Ice and Glaciers, Springer, Heidelberg (in press).
McCulloch, R. and Morello, F. 2009 Evidencia glacial y paleoecológica de ambientes tardiglaciales y del Holoceno temprano. Implicanciones para el poblamiento temprano de Tierra del Fuego. In: M. Salemme, F. Santiago, M. Alvarez, E. Piana, M. Vázquez and M.E. Mansur. VII Jornadas de Arqueologia de la Patagonia. Editorial Utopias, Ushuaia. In press.
Morello, F., Borrero, L., Torres, J., Massones, M., Arroyo, M., McCulloch, R., Calas, E., Lucero, M., Martínez, G. and Bahamonde, G. 2009 Evaluando el registro arqueológico de Tierra del Fuego durante el Holoceno temprano y medio. In: M. Salemme, F. Santiago, M. Alvarez, E. Piana, M. Vázquez and M.E. Mansur. VII Jornadas de Arqueologia de la Patagonia. Editorial Utopias, Ushuaia. In press.
Tipping, R., Davies, A.L. and McCulloch, R.D. 2006. Introduced oak woodlands in northern Scotland: pollen-analytical evidence for early historic plantations. In Woolf, A. (ed) Landscape and Environment in Dark Age Scotland. University Press, St. Andrews, 29-47.
McCulloch, R.D., Clapperton, C.M., Rabassa, J. and Currant, A.P. 1997. The natural setting. The glacial and post-glacial environmental history of Fuego-Patagonia. In: C. McEwan, L.A. Brorrero, and A. Prieto (Editors) Patagonia, Natural History, Prehistory and Ethnography at the Uttermost End of the Earth, British Museum Press, London.12-31.
Unpublished Reports
Golledge, N., McCulloch, R., Finlayson, A. and Everest, J. 2009 A Late Glacial to modern palaeoenvironmental history for the Dounreay site area, reconstructed from a peat core from the Shebster basin. British Geological Survey, Edinburgh.
Tipping, R., McCulloch, R. and Tisdall, E. 2009 Field by field, historic period environmental change in a hill farming landscape at Ben Lawers. Scottish National Trust, Edinburgh.
McCulloch, R. 2009 Pollen analysis of two peat profiles associated with the Roman road Dere Street, Dunlaw, The Scottish Borders. Centre for Field Archaeology Ltd, Edinburgh.
McCulloch, R.D. 2006. Palaeoenvironmental investigation of upland blanket mire at Farr, Strathnairn, northern Scotland. Centre for Field Archaeology Ltd, Edinburgh.
Carter, S., Tipping, R., McCulloch, R. and Tisdall, E. 2006. N7 Nenagh to Limerick: archaeological assessment of deep sediment at Drominboy and Annaholty. Headland Archaeology Ltd, Edinburgh.
Tipping, R., McCulloch, R., Tisdall, E., Senior, A. & McEwen, A. 2005. Peat Stratigraphic Approaches to Historic Landscape and Ecological Changes on Ben Lawers National nature Reserve. In The Ben Lawers Historic Landscape Project Annual Report 2004-2005, 22-23.
McCulloch, R.D. 2004. Pollen analyses of samples from the Ardownie Souterraine, Angus. Centre for Field Archaeology Ltd, Edinburgh.
Tipping, R.M. and McCulloch, R.D. 2003. Vegetation history and human impact at Reidchalmai, Little Rogart, near Golspie, Sutherland. Historic Scotland, Edinburgh.
McCulloch, R.D. 1999. Palaeoecological assessment of the pollen content and pollen preservation of ODP Arabian Sea samples. School of GeoSciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh.
McCulloch, R.D. 1994. Palaeoenvironmental evidence for the Late Wisconsin / Holocene transition in the Strait of Magellan, southern Patagonia. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Aberdeen.
Conference Contributions
Akagi, T., Oki, S. and McCulloch, R. 2009 Interhemispheric climatic records from sphagnum peat d13 profiles. American Geophysical Union, fall meeting, San Francisco, submitted.
Seigo Oki, Fumio Kitajima, Hiroshi Naraoka, Lars Franzen, Robert Mcculloch, Tasku Akagi. 2009. Relationship between the carbon isotope ratios of Sphagnum from bog cores band the past atomospheric CO2 concentration, Japan Geoscience Union, Chiba City, Japan.,
McCulloch, R. and Morello, F. 2008 Setting the scene: glacial and palaeoecological evidence for Late Glacial and early Holocene environments in Fuego-Patagonia. VII Jornadas de Arqueología de la Patagonia, Ushuaia, Argentina (invited).
Morello, F., Massone, M., Arroyo, M., Calas, E., Torres, J., McCulloch, R., Borrero, L., Lucero, M., Martinez, I. and Bahamonde, G. 2008 Evaluando el registro arqueológico de Tierra del Fuego durante el Holoceno temprano y medio: lo positivo de los balances negativos. VII Jornadas de Arqueología de la Patagonia, Ushuaia, Argentina.
McCulloch, R. 2008 Palaeoenvironmental evidence for Late Glacial and early Holocene environments in Patagonia: providing a context for the early peopling of southernmost South America. Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and material circulation by water systems. Kyushu, Japan (invited)
McCulloch, R. and Fogwill, C. 2007. Climatic inferences from glacial and palaeoecological evidence for the Last glacial / Holocene transition in southern South America and sub-Antarctica. XVII INQUA, Cairns, Australia.
Sugden, D., Hein, A., Fogwill, C.,McCulloch, R. and Bory, A. 2007. Dust and glacier fluctuations in Patagonia since the LGM and links with Antarctica. XVII INQUA, Cairns, Australia.
Sugden, D., McCulloch, R. and Hein, A. 2007. Interpreting Patagonian dust peaks in Antarctic ice cores. International Glaciological Society, Edinburgh.
Tisdall, E., McCulloch, R. and Tipping, R. 2005. Historic landscape and ecological changes on Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve, Perthshire. Discovering a Highland Landscape, BHLP, Battleby, Perth.
Tipping, R. and McCulloch, R.D. 2003. Identifying the prehistory of woodland management: problems and potential from a case-study in northern Scotland. Walking in the footsteps of ghosts, XI Regional Biodiversity Conference, Sheffield.
Tipping, R., Davies, A. and McCulloch, R. 2003. Dark age plantations and woodland management – pollen analytical data from northern Scotland. Landscape and Environment in Dark Age Scotland, St. Andrews.
Davies, S.J., Metcalfe, S.E., Endfield, G.H., MacKenzie, A., Newton, A.J., McCulloch, R.D., Leng, M.J. and Cook, G. 2003. Pre- and Post-Hispanic landscape change in Michoacan, Mexico: a multidisciplinary investigation. XVI INQUA Congress Reno, Nevada.
Turner, K.J., McCulloch, R.D. and Sugden, D.E. 2001. Deglaciation of the late glacial Patagonian icesheet. Earth System Processes, Geological Society of America, Edinburgh.
Sugden, D.E., McCulloch, R.D., Hulton, N.R.J., Purves, R.S. and Bentley, M.J. 2001. Glacier Advance in Southernmost South America Coinciding With the Antarctic Cold Reversal. European Union of Geosciences XI, Strasbourg.
Sugden, D.E., McCulloch, R.D., Purves, R.S., Hulton, N.R.J. and Bentley, M.J. 2000. Glacier Advance in Southernmost South America Coinciding With the Antarctic Cold Reversal. American geophysical Union, San Francisco.
Sugden, D.E., McCulloch, R.D., Bentley, M.J. and Purves, R.S. 2000. Climatic inferences from glacial and palaeoecological evidence at the last glacial termination, southern South America, Global Change in the Last 250,000 Years, PAGES, London.
Tipping, R. and McCulloch, R.D. 2000. Greenlands and Blacklands: Core and periphery in the Later Bronze Age in Northern Scotland. Bronze Age Forum, Edinburgh
McCulloch, R.D., Bentley, M.J., Hulton, N.R.J., Purves, R.S. and Sugden, D.E. 1999. The Migration of the Southern Westerlies during the Glacial/Holocene Transition in Patagonia, Southern South America. Polar Regions and Quaternary Climate: Towards High Resolution Records of the Last Climatic Cycle - The Antarctic Perspective. European Science Foundation, Toulon.
McCulloch, R.D., Davies, S.J. and Bentley, M.J. 1998. Late-glacial and Holocene palaeoenvironments in the Strait of Magellan, southernmost Chile: A multi-proxy approach. Northern Hemisphere Southern Hemisphere Interconnections, AMQUA, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
McCulloch, R.D. and Bentley, M.J. 1997. Latitudinal contrasts in the response of the Patagonian ice cap during the Late-glacial: implications for shifts of the southern westerlies. Earth–Ocean–Atmosphere: Forces for Change, Joint Assemblies of the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences and International Association for Physical Sciences of the Oceans, Melbourne.
McCulloch, R.D. 1993. Evidencia palaeoambiental por l'ultima glaciacion en el sur de Chile, Sud America. El Cuaternario de Chile, Universidad de Chile, Santiago.
Clapperton, C.M., Sugden, D.E., Marden, C.J., McCulloch, R.D. and Bentley, M.J. 1993. The last Glacial-Interglacial cycle in the southernmost Andes, Palaeoclimate 93, Natural Environment Research Council - Quaternary Research Association, Durham.
McCulloch, R.D. 1993. Palaeoenvironmental evidence for the last glaciation in southernmost South America. Palaeoclimate 93, Natural Environment Research Council - Quaternary Research Association, Durham.
Media contributions
Unearthing Mysteries: presented by Prof. Aubrey Manning, BBC Radio 4, 10th January, 2006
The Scottish Sun, 23rd June, 2005, Evening News, 22nd, June, 2005; Stirling Observer, 3rd April, 2009.
Metro, 23rd June, 2005
BBC science and environment news, internet, 23, June, 2005 and 29th March, 2009
STV internet 2nd April, 2009
LabNews Online, 4th July, 2005
Hearsay, University of Stirling, autumn, 2005
Palaeoenvironmental Service
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I have been successful in providing a palaeoenvironmental analytical and advisory service for statutory bodies, charitable trusts and commercial sources. Selected topics include:
- Palaeoecological and geomorphological context for a mesolithic fint scatter, Stronsay, Orkney.
- Palaeoecological and sedimentological analysis for the ditch infill surrounding the World Heritage site at the Ring of Brodgar, Orkney.
- Pollen analysis of two peat profiles from beside and below the Roman road of Dere Street, Dunlaw, The Scottish Borders
- Late Holocene invasion of Malus sylvestris on Firth of Forth Islands.Geoarchaeological assessment of Trapain Law, the Scottish Borders.
- Palaeoecological study of a Mesolithic long house and pit alignment, Crathes, Aberdeenshire.
- Palaeoenvironmental assessment from peat stratigraphies from two bogs; Annaholty and Drominboy, Co. Limerick.
- Palaeoecological assessment and detailed study of upland peat, Farr, Strath Nairn.
- Detailed palaeoecological study of the sub-fossil pollen content of floor material from the Ardownie Souterrain, Angus.
- Palaeoecological assessment of Roman ditch deposit near Dalkeith, Midlothian.
- Ocean Drilling Project, pollen analysis of ocean sediments from the Mediterranean Sea, Arabian Sea and the Indus margin.
