UCL Department of Geography
Alice Milner
  
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Alice Milner

About

Alice-Milner.jpgUCL Department of Geography
Room 106, Pearson Building
University College London
Gower Street
London. WC1E 6BT

Tel: +44(0)207 679 0510 (ex 35412)
Fax: +44(0)207 679 0565
Email: a.milner@ucl.ac.uk
Twitter: @alicemmilner

As a Knowledge Transfer Officer based in the Department of Geography, I improve knowledge transfer of environmental science research at UCL to bring more research into use by business, the public sector and the wider community.

I have a strong research background in geography and environmental science and a particular interest in understanding how ecosystems respond to climate change. My specific areas of expertise include: ecology, climate change, vegetation history, peatland ecosystems, Mediterranean biogeography, palynology and palaeoclimatology.

 

Biography

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER OFFICER, 2013 – present

Department of Geography, University College London.

 

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, 2010 – 2013

Department of Geography, University College London. Past4Future Collaborative Project, 7th Framework Programme of the EC. Past4Future is a multidisciplinary collaborative project with 22 international partner institutions, established to improve predictions of future climate change by investigating past climates and ecosystems.

 

Ph.D. QUATERNARY SCIENCE, 2006 – 2010

University of Leeds, School of Geography. Thesis title “Orbital- and millennial-scale variability during the Last Interglacial Complex: Evidence from Tenaghi Philippon, Greece”.

 

ECOLOGICAL FIELD TECHNICIAN, 2006 – 2007

The Nature Conservatory, Oregon, USA. Surveys and monitoring of rare/invasive species on the Zumwalt Prairie to protect priority species and enhance biodiversity.

 

GIS TECHNICAL AND SALES ADVISOR, 2004 – 2005

Geosoft Ltd, Leeds. GIS mapping software and data sales, technical support for businesses and individuals, bespoke design briefs, software demonstrations, account management, marketing campaigns.

 

B.Sc. (Hons) GEOGRAPHY (Industrial), 2002 – 2006

University of Leeds, School of Geography. 1st. Included a one-year industrial placement with Geosoft Ltd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Research Interests

My research interests are focussed on the following areas:

Characterising terrestrial and marine environments during the last (Eemian) and present (Holocene) interglacials using combined pollen, alkenone and isotope analysis from the Central Mediterranean Sea (ODP 963). This project is in collaboration with the University of Cambridge (L.C. Skinner) and CSIC Spain (J.O. Grimalt and B. Martrat) as part of the Past4Future Collaborative Project.

 

Understanding seasonality of precipitation in the Mediterranean during the early part of the Last Interglacial using a multiproxy approach of pollen, macrofossil and sediment analyses from Tenaghi Philippon, Greece. The multiproxy data revealed evidence for both an increase in precipitation and summer aridity during the insolation maximum and deposition of Sapropel S5 in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. In a paper published in Geology, we argue that this reflects an increase in seasonal contrast, with wetter winters and drier summers than the Holocene.The finding may also indicate that winter precipitation in the northern borderlands of the mediterranean influenced hydrographic conditions in the Mediterranean Sea that were crucial for the deposition of sapropels.

 

Investigating the nature of abrupt climate variability in the Mediterranean during the last interglacial and early glacial (Eemian-Weichselian) using high-resolution pollen analysis from Tenaghi Philippon, Greece, a peatland site renowned for its important record of Quaternary vegetation change. The new record reveals evidence of climate thresholds and abrupt climate events previously undetected in southern Europe and has been published in the Journal of Quaternary Science.

 

Ecosystem dynamics in peatlands, including i) understanding the processes of peat initiation and erosion in a hagged peatland, Ffynnon Eidda, north Wales, and, ii) quantifying the effects of peatland microtopography (ridges and hollows) on physical processes at Cors Fochno, a raised peat bog in mid Wales. This work is in collaboration with the University of Leeds and is in preparation for the Journal of Ecology.

 

Membership of professional bodies

 

Publications

Published

Milner, A.M., Müller, U.C., Roucoux, K.H., Collier, R.E.L., Pross, J., Kalaitzidis, S., Christanis, K., and Tzedakis, P.C. (2013). Environmental variability during the Last Interglacial: a new high-resolution pollen record from Tenaghi Philippon, Greece. Journal of Quaternary Science, 28 (2): 113-117.

Milner, A.M., Collier, R.E.L., Roucoux, K.H., Müller, U.C., Pross, J., Kalaitzidis, S., Christanis, K., and Tzedakis, P.C. (2012). Enhanced seasonality of precipitation in the Mediterranean during the early part of the Last Interglacial. Geology, 40 (10): 919-922.

Kettridge, N., Binley, A., Comas, X., Cassidy, N.J., Baird, A.J., Harris, A., van der Kruk, J., Strack, M., Milner, A.M, Waddington, J.M. (2012). Do peatland microforms move through time? Examining the developmental history of a patterned peatland using ground penetrating radar. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences. 117, G03030.

Pross, J., Tzedakis, P.C., Schmiedl, G., Christanis, K., Hooghiemstra, H., Müller, U.C., Kotthoff, U., Kalaitzidis, S., Milner, A.M. (2007). Tenaghi Philippon (Greece) Revisited: drilling a continuous lower-latitude terrestrial climate archive of the last 250,000 years. Scientific Drilling, 5: 44-46.

 

Submitted and in preparation

Müller, U.C., Fletcher, W.J., and Milner, A.M. (in review). Interhemispheric asymmetry of orbitally-driven climate change in the low latitudes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

Müller, U.C., Milner, A.M., Kotthoff, U., Pross, J., Christanis, K. (in review). The sequence of climate warming across the Earth’s latitudes associated with the Last Glacial Termination. Quaternary Science Reviews.

Milner, A.M., Roucoux, K.H., Collier, R.E.L., Müller, U.C., Pross, J., Kalaitzidis, S., Christanis, K., and Tzedakis, P.C. (in prep.). Suborbital variability during the Last Interglacial Complex in northeast Greece. Quaternary Science Reviews.

Baird, A. J., Milner, A.M., Blundell, A. (in prep). Strong ecological memory in patterned raised bogs? The case of peat composition and peat permeability. Journal of Ecology.

Teaching

As a researcher at UCL, I do not have a regular teaching load. However, my expertise in pollen identification, analysis and interpretation has meant that I have been involved in the University of London M.Sc. Quaternary Science course and pollen practical classes at UCL. I also give Masters and Ph.D. students pollen analysis advice and have had extensive experience leading practical classes and small group teaching for a variety of subjects.

 

M.Sc. Biological Indicators of Environmental Change: Pollen

2013, UCL. Preparation, identification and interpretation of pollen as part of the M.Sc. Climate Change, M.Sc. Aquatic Science and M.Sc. Conservation.

 

M.Sc. Quaternary Science & Short Course in Environmental Palaeoecology

2010 - 2012, UCL. Preparation, identification and interpretation of pollen (practical classes).

 

Various undergraduate and postgraduate courses

2006 - 2010, University of Leeds.

Quaternary Palaeoecology (undergraduate) small group teaching
Palaeoclimate (undergraduate) practical classes
Geographical Information Systems (M.Sc. and undergraduate) practical classes
Statistical and Laboratory Methods (undergraduate) practical classes
Other small group teaching and practical classes in Natural Hazards and Research and Information Technology Skills