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Professor Bronwen Whitney

Professor

Department: Geography and Environmental Sciences

Bronwen Whitney I studied for my PhD at the University of Edinburgh (2005 – 2009) where I examined climate and vegetation change from the last glacial period until present in the world’s largest tropical wetland. From there, I continued my research into human and climatic causes of tropical environmental change and I joined ��Ƶ in January 2015

Campus Address

Ellison Building A207

Key Publications

Ecohydrological response of a tropical peatland to rainfall changes driven by Intertropical Convergence Zone variability, Swindles, G., Whitney, B., Gałka, M., Mullan, D., Low, R., Gallego-Sala, A., Lopez, R., Kilbride, E., Graham, C., Baird, A. 1 Mar 2025, In: Journal of Biogeography
Culture, Climate and Landscape shape the savanna and wetland mosaic of the Bolivian Amazon, Whitney, B., Walker, J., Duncan, N., Loughlin, N. 13 Sep 2024, In: Frontiers in Water
Insights into past land-use and vegetation change in the Llanos de Moxos (Bolivia) using fungal non-pollen palynomorphs, Loughlin, N., Mayle, F., Nuñez Otaño, N., O'Keefe, J., Duncan, N., Walker, J., Whitney, B. 1 Jun 2021, In: Journal of Archaeological Science
Island resource exploitation by the ancient Maya during periods of climate stress, Ambergris Caye, Belize: Island climate refuge of the ancient Maya, Bermingham, A., Whitney, B., Loughlin, N., Hoggarth, J. 1 Jun 2021, In: Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
Pre-Columbian fire management and control of climate-driven floodwaters over 3500 years in southwestern Amazonia, Duncan, N., Loughlin, N., Walker, J., Hocking, E., Whitney, B. 5 Oct 2021, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
A Tale of Maize, Palm, and Pine: Changing Socio-Ecological Interactions from Pre-Classic Maya to the Present Day in Belize, Rushton, E., Whitney, B., Metcalfe, S. 17 Oct 2020, In: Quaternary
Identifying drivers of forest resilience in long-term records from the Neotropics, Adolf, C., Tovar, C., Kühn, N., Behling, H., Berrío, J., Dominguez-Vázquez, G., Figueroa-Rangel, B., Gonzalez-Carranza, Z., Islebe, G., Hooghiemstra, H., Neff, H., Olvera-Vargas, M., Whitney, B., Wooller, M., Willis, K. 29 Apr 2020, In: Biology Letters
Palaeoecological potential of phytoliths from lake sediment records from the tropical lowlands of Bolivia, Plumpton, H., Mayle, F., Whitney, B. 1 Apr 2020, In: Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology
Climate change and cultural resilience in late pre-Columbian Amazonia, de Souza, J., Robinson, M., Maezumi, S., Capriles, J., Hoggarth, J., Lombardo, U., Novello, V., Apaéstegui, J., Whitney, B., Urrego, D., Travassos Alves, D., Rostain, S., Power, M., Mayle, F., da Cruz, F., Hooghiemstra, H., Iriarte, J. 1 Jul 2019, In: Nature Ecology and Evolution
Constraining pollen-based estimates of forest cover in the Amazon: A simulation approach, Whitney, B., Smallman, T., Mitchard, E., Carson, J., Mayle, F., Bunting, M. 1 Feb 2019, In: The Holocene

Current and Recent Projects

MAPPP - Maya Archaeology and Paleoecology Partnership Project, Whitney, B. (Principal Investigator), Arts & Humanities Research Council, 03/05/21 - 02/05/23, 0.00
Shifted Ecological Baselines in the Brazillianb Savannah (SEBBS), Whitney, B. (Principal Investigator), Natural Environment Research Council, 01/09/19 - 31/01/21, £91,901.00
Paleoethnobotany and Landscape in the Southwestern Amazon, Whitney, B. (Principal Investigator), Arts & Humanities Research Council, 01/06/18 - 31/05/20, £189,234.00
Climate and Landscape Change in the Pantanal: Assessing environmental vulnerabilities and future water security in Brazil’s wetland wilderness, Whitney, B. (Principal Investigator), British Council, 01/04/16 - 31/10/16, £42,500.00

PGR Supervision

Loretta-Ann Jilks Palaeoenvironmental evidence of wetland domestication in the Llanos de Mojos, Bolivian Amazon. Start Date: 01/10/2021

Qualifications

Geography PhD June 29 2009
Fellow (FHEA) Higher Education Academy (HEA) 2016

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