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Dr. Clare WilsonLecturer in Soil ScienceLecturer – University of Stirling (2007-present) School
of Biological & Environmental Sciences tel: +44 1786 467817
I always welcome enquiries about projects and studentships |
Available PhD Projects
Soil disturbance as a result of tree stump extraction practices
Jointly funded by University of Stirling, Forest Research and UPM.
Contact Dr. Clare Wilson
Micromorphological and Microchemical analysis of grave soils: unlocking the hidden archive of archaeological human burials
As part of an ERC funded project two studentships are available in collaboration with University of York (time to be spent at both institutions).
Contact Dr. Clare Wilson or Dr. Raimonda Usai, University of York
Studentships on both projects are available for start in 2010.
Research Interests
My research centres around understanding processes and landscapes of soil change. My work has three main themes which span the school Ecological and environmental process and Geoarchaeology and environmental history research clusters.
Soil Carbon Dynamics - As a SAGES lecturer I am part of a Scotland wide pooling initiative researching terrestrial carbon dynamics, current and recent projects in this area include:
- Assessing spatial variability of carbon, iron and aluminium concentrations in gleyed soils as a means of understanding the stabilisation of soil organic carbon. NERC small grant in collaboration with University of Edinburgh.
- Soil organic cabon stabilisation processes in paddy soils. Carnegie grant for field sampling in Sri Lanka.
Geoarchaeology - The application of soil science techniques, particularly soil micromorphology and soil geochemistry, to address archaeological questions of site formation processes and space use:
- Geochemical soil signatures of burials and burial practice. A collaborative ERC project with Don Brothwell, University of York.
- Development of SASSA (Soil Analysis Support System for Archaeologists). NERC knowledge transfer grant.
- Multi-element soil analysis to aid interpretation of space use on archaeological sites. NERC and Historic Scotland funded collaboration with University of York.
- Site formation processes at the Xeropolis-Lefkandi tell site, Greece. Collaboration with University of Oxford.
- Development of soil quality indicators for cultural heritage preservation. DEFRA funded as part of UK Soil Indicators Consortium.
- The Geoarchaeology of 16th and 17th Century Alum and Copperas industry around Poole Harbour. In collaboration with the Poole Habour Heritage Project.
Technique development -
- Microsoil 2009 workshop integrating biological, physical and chamical techniques for the study of soil micro-habitats.
- The integration of 2-D SEM-EDX maps of soil chemistry with 3-D micro-XCT models of soils physical structure. In collaboration with SIMBIOS, University of Abertay.
- The application of soil micromorphology and micro-analytical techniques to soil thin sections.
- In-situ gamma spectrometry as a method of archaeological prospection.
- Lead isotope ratios as tracers of anthropogenic inputs to archaeological soils. In collaboration with University of York and Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen.
Teaching
Current undergraduate teaching commitments include:
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The tell site of Xeropolis – Lefkandi, Greece. |
- 8 day field trip to Urra, SE Spain, ENV6T6
- 2 day field trip to Aviemore, Scotland
- Agriculture in the 21st Century, half-module, ENV8AF
- Soil Quality and Protection Module, ENV5S5
- Field Skills - mapping, SCI2FS
- Field and Laboratory techniques - project groups, ENV5T5
- Dissertation students, ENV9PR
Current postgraduate teaching commitments include:
- Msc module, ENMP20, Assessing and managing soil quality.
- PhD student supervision - second supervisor to Krista Gilliland and Audrey Wayolle.
Administration duties
- Programme director for Environmental Science,
- Admissions officer for Environmental Science and Environmental Geography
- Member of the Research and Knowledge Transfer Committee
- Module co-ordinator for ENV8AF and ENMP20
- Part of the management team for the thin section laboratory
External / commercial duties
- Council member of the British Society of Soil Science
- Geoarchaeology consultancy including site visits, laboratory assessments and analysis and soil micromorphology.
- SEM-EDX analysis, current projects include analysis of archaeological soils and artefacts and analysis of air pollution on Spanish oil rigs.
- Maintenance of SASSA website.
Recent Publications
Copies of many of these papers and/or preprints can be accessed through the Stirling University Online Repository, STORRE.
Cowie, J., Cairns, D., Blunn, M., Wilson C.A., Pollard, E., Davidson, D.A. (2009) Supporting geoarchaeologists in the field: a case study in decision support and knowledge management. International Journal of Information Management, 29, 397-406.
Otten, W., Grinev, D. and Wilson, C. (2009) Visualizing chemical phases in 3-D heterogeneous soil environments: combining X-ray microtomography with SEM-EDX. Geophysical Research Abstracts, Vol. 11, EGU General Assembly, EGU2009-3060.
Wilson, C.A., Davidson, D.A. and Cresser, M.S. (2009) An evaluation of the site specificity of soil elemental signatures for identifying and interpreting former functional areas. Journal of Archaeological Science, 36, 2327-2334.
Wilson, C.A., Davidson, D.A., Cowie, J., Cairns, D. and Blunn, M. (2008) Soil Analysis Support System for Archaeologists: developing SASSA. Internet Archaeology, 25, http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue25/wilson_index.html.
Wilson, C. A., Davidson, D. A., and Cresser, M. S. (2008) Multi-element soil analysis: an assessment of its potential as an aid to archaeological interpretation. Journal of Archaeological Science, 35; 412-424.
Cowie, J., Cairns, D., Blunn, M., Wilson, C.A., and Davidson, D. A., (2007) Mobile decision making and knowledge management: supporting geoarchaeologists in the field. ICEIS 2007: Proceedings of the ninth international conference on enterprise information systems – artificial intelligence and decision support systems: 57-62.
Davidson, D. A., Wilson, C. A., Meharg, A., Stutter, C., Edwards, K. J. (2007) The legacy of past manuring practices on soil contamination in remote rural areas. Environment International, 33: 78-83.
Entwistle, J. and Wilson, C.A. (2007) A comparison of XRF and nitric-extraction/ICP-AES for differentiating & interpreting soils from an abandoned rural township in Perthshire, Scotland. Society of Archaeological Science Newsletter, 30(3), 10-12.
Wilson, C. A., Davidson, D. A. and Cresser, M. S. (2007) Evaluating the use of multi-element soil analysis in archaeology: a study of a post-medieval croft (Olligarth) in Shetland. Atti della Società Toscana di Scienze Naturali, Memorie serie A, 112: 69-77.
Tipping, R., Tisdall, E., Davies, A., Wilson, C., and Yendell, S. (2007) Living with peat in the flow country: prehistoric farming communities and blanket peat spread at Oliclett, Caithness, northern Scotland. In Sheridan, A. (ed) Wetland Archaeology in the British Isles. Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Monograph Series. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Edinburgh. 157-164.
Wilson, C.A., Davidson, D.A., Cairns, D.A., Cowie, J., Blunn, M., and Pollard, E.J. (2007) SASSA: Soil analysis Support System for Archaeologists’. [internet] www.sassa.org.uk.
Wilson C.A. (2006) Book Review of Branch N., Canti, M., Clark, P. and Turney, C., 2005, Environmental Archaeology: theoretical and practical approaches. London, Hodder Arnold Press. Society of Archaeological Science Newsletter. 29 (3)
Wilson C.A (2006) Book Review of Goldberg, P. and Macphail, R.I., 2006, Practical and theoretical archaeology. Oxford, Blackwell Publishing. European Journal of Soil Science, 57: p. 926.
Wilson, C.A., Bacon, J.R., Cresser, M.S., and Davidson, D.A. (2006) Lead isotope ratios as a means of sourcing anthropogenic lead in archaeological soils: a pilot study of an abandoned Shetland croft. Archaeometry, 48: 501-509.
Wilson, C. A., Cresser, M. S., and Davidson, D. A. (2006) Sequential element extraction of soils from abandoned farms: an investigation of the partitioning of anthropogenic element inputs from historic land use. Journal of Environmental Monitoring, 8: 439-444.
Wilson, C.A., Cresser, M. S., and Davidson, D. A. (2006) Testing the use of soil contamination data in environmental archaeology. Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology, January 2005, New Orleans.
Wilson, C.A., Davidson, D. A., and Cresser, M. S. (2006) Evaluating the use of multi-element soil analysis as an aid to archaeological interpretation. In (eds. R.E. Jones and L. Sharpe) Going over old ground. British Archaeological Reports, British Series, 416, 143-147.
Wilson, C. A., Davidson, D. A., and Cresser, M. S. (2005) An evaluation of multi-element analysis of soil contamination to differentiate space use and
former function in and around abandoned farms. The Holocene, 15, 1094-1099.
Davidson, D. A. , Bruneau, P. M. C., Grieve, I. C., and Wilson, C. A. (2004) Micromorphological assessment of the effect of liming on faunal excrement in an upland grassland soil. Applied Soil Ecology, 26, 169-177.
Wilson, C. A., Simpson, I. A., and Currie E. (2002) Soil management in pre-Hispanic raised field systems: Micromorphological evidence from Hacienda Zuleta, Ecuador. Geoarchaeology, 17, 261-283.
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The field site at Olligarth, Papa Stour, Shetland. |
Zinc concentrations associated with fish bone in historic agricultural soils |
