Laura Tilley

I graduated with a Masters degree in Geology (Mgeol) at the University of Leicester in 2010. I started my PhD at the University of Leeds in October 2011 supervised by Jane Francis, Vanessa Bowman and Alistair Crame (British Antarctic Survey).

My research project involves the study of Late Cretaceous-Paleogene (70-55 Ma) fossil wood from Antarctica. With this fossil wood I will reconstruct the composition and evolution of the Late Cretaceous-Paleogene forests of Antarctica and determine the climate under which they grew. I will analyse the tree rings and cell anatomy in the fossil wood to reconstruct climate features, such as annual temperature, rainfall and seasonality.

This will help us understand how forests survived at high latitudes during past warm greenhouse climates, and how polar vegetation may respond in warmer climates in future.