Amy McGuire

I am a climate scientist currently working as a Research Fellow in the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds. Through my work I seek to better understand the nature and timing of Earth system responses to past climate oscillations. More specifically, through my work I aim to improve the dating of sediment records, allowing us to accurately correlate records of past climate change. With well-dated records, we can better understand the spatial variability in when, and how quickly, the cryosphere, ocean, atmosphere, and ecosystems respond to climate change. We can use this information to test and improve our climate models, constrain long-term sea level projections, and inform conservation efforts.

Research

Published

McGuire, A.M., Waajen, I., and Barlow, N.L.M. (in press) Advancing chronologies for Last Interglacial sequences (invited review). Journal of Quaternary Science

McGuire, A.M., Lane, C.S., Roucoux, K.H., Lawson, I.T., Koutsodendris, A., Pross, J., Margari, V., Tzedakis, P.C. (2024) Campanian Ignimbrite tephra reveals asynchronous vegetation responses to abrupt climate change in the eastern Mediterranean region. Quaternary Science Reviews | doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108714 | pdf

Kearney, R.J., Albert, P.G., Staff, R.A., Magyari, E., Pal, I., Veres, D., Lane, C.S., McGuire, A.M., Bronk Ramsey, C. (2024) At an important tephrostratigraphic crossroads: a detailed Late Glacial to Early Holocene cryptotephra stratigraphy from two lake records in the Carpathian Mountains, Romania. Quaternary Science Reviews | doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108558 | pdf

McGuire, A.M., Lane, C.S., Roucoux, K.H., Albert, P.G., Kearney, R. (2022) The dating and correlation of an eastern Mediterranean lake sediment sequence: a 46 – 4 ka tephrostratigraphy for Ioannina (NW Greece). Journal of Quaternary Science | doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3452 | pdf

McGuire, A., Rush, G., Pollard, O., Cartelle, V., Barlow, N., Hodgson, D., Busschers, F., Cohen, K., Gregoire, L., Gomez, N., and Haigh, I. (2022) Initial constraints on the rate and magnitude of Last Interglacial sea-level change in Northwest Europe (Oral presentation [online] at the PAGES Open Science Meeting, Agadir, Morrocco, May 2022).

McGuire, A. Rush, G., Pollard, O., Cartelle, V., Barlow, N., Hodgson, D., Babington, L., Busschers, F., Cohen, K., Gregoire, L., Gomez, N., and Haigh, I. (2022) Constraining the rate and magnitude of Last Interglacial (LIG) sea-level change in North West Europe using newly collected cores from the southern North Sea (Poster presentation [online] at the QRA AGM, University of Sheffield, UK, January 2022). View Online

McGuire, A., Lane, C.S., Roucoux, K., Lawson, I., and Albert, P. (2019) Tephrostratigraphic insights from Lake Ioannina, North West Greece (Oral presentation at the 20th INQUA Congress, Dublin, Ireland, July 2019).

McGuire, A., Lane, C.S., Roucoux, K., and Lawson, I. (2019) Ecosystem responses to abrupt climate change: insights from the Mediterranean (Poster presentation at the 20th INQUA Congress, Dublin, Ireland, July 2019).

McGuire, A., Lane, C.S., Roucoux, K., Lawson, I., and Albert, P. (2018) A tephrostratigraphy for Lake Ioannina, North West Greece (Poster presentation at the INTIMATE EGU Galileo conference, Gniew, Poland, August 2018/INTAV International Field Conference on Tephrochronology, Moieciu de Sus, Romania, June 2018).

McGuire, A. and Lane, C.S. (2017) Abrupt Change in the Quaternary Record of North West Greece (Poster presentation at the INTIMATE Climate Network Open Workshop and Conference, Aberystwyth University, June 2017).

Climate and Environmental Dynamics Lunchtime Seminar, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge (May 2018)
Climate and Chronology Lunchtime Seminar, The Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford (June 2018)
Quaternary Discussion Group, Clare College, University of Cambridge (October 2022)
Exploring Palaeoenvironments, the Oceans, Climate, and Humans (EPOCH) Seminar, Royal Holloway University of London (January 2023)
Essex Rock and Mineral Society Virtual Seminar Series (March 2023)

• EGU Early Career Scientist support grant for attendance at INTIMATE EGU Galileo conference
• INTAV ERC/Student travel Grant for attendance at INTAV International Field Conference on Tephrochronology
• Winner of ‘Best Talk’ at the CCfCS Student Symposium
• QRA-¹⁴Chrono Centre Radiocarbon Dating Special Grant
• Winner of ‘Best Geographical Science Student’ for highest attainment in MSc Geographical Science, University of Manchester
• Winner of ‘Best Undergraduate Poster’ at the ACCESS Annual Meeting

Megan Edwards, MGeol Geology (2023) Using a multiproxy approach to interrogate the terrestrial impacts of the Laschamps geomagnetic excursion (ca. 41 ka BP) at Ioannina, NW Greece
Edward Taylor, MSc by Research (ongoing) Postglacial and Holocene environmental and sea-level change in northern Isle of Skye, western Scotland, and implications for human settlement
Denise Becker, MSc by Research (ongoing) A first terrestrial tephrochronology for the Eemian: cryptotephra study of the Bispingen palaeolake sequence (Funder: Fulbright) In the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds we have facilities for a range of analyses of Quaternary sediments. If you are seeking collaborators for, or would like training in, any of the following approaches, please do get in touch!

• Pollen extraction and analysis
• Diatom extraction and analysis
• Cryptotephra extraction, counting, and preparation for geochemical analysis

Tephrochron is an R package designed to aid in the analysis and presentation of tephrochronological data. The package is currently under development, and can be accessed here.

Install the latest version of this package by entering the following in R:

install.packages("remotes")
remotes::install_github("amy-mcg/tephrochron")

If you have any questions or ideas for useful features, please get in touch at a.mcguire@leeds.ac.uk!

Employment

Education

Experience

Geographical Tripos (Undergraduate Degree), University of Cambridge

• Part IA (Year 1): Physical Geography - Life on Earth (Supervisor), Physical Geography - Environmental Change in the Quaternary (Supervisor), Geographical Skills and Methods (Demonstrator)
• Part IB (Year 2): Quaternary Climates and Environments (Demonstrator and supervisor)
• Part II (Year 3): Quaternary Climates and Environments (Demonstrator and supervisor), Dissertation Skills (Lecturer)

BSc Environmental Science and BSc Geology, University of Leeds

• SOEE 1640 - Earth Through Time (Lecturer)
• SOEE 1690 - Shaping the Earth (Lecturer)
• SOEE 3010 - Independent Study Project (Supervisor)
• SOEE 3073 - Independent Field Projects (Supervisor)

• Co-convenor, Sutton Trust Summer School and Experience Cambridge, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge
• Teaching Materials Accessibility Coordinator, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge
• Member of gage, which seeks to make science open, inclusive, and accessible

• Co-convenor of the Cambridge Tephra Lab's first Community Cryptotephra Workshop
• Convenor of the Climate and Environmental Dynamics Research Group, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge
• Clare College MCR (Graduate Society) Committee, Clare College, University of Cambridge
• PhD representative for Lab and Fieldwork Committee, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge
• Convenor of the Earth Surface Science Institute Seminar Series, University of Leeds
• Moderator, Geddstation, twitch.tv/geddstation

Interests

When I'm not in the lab or in the field, I am usually swimming. If you would like to read more about my aquatic adventures, I have a rarely updated swimming blog. Alternatively you may find me at St. Mary's as, having had a season ticket from the age of 7, I for some reason remain a Southampton FC fan and I suspect it may be too late to change my allegiances.

As someone who studies climate change, it is impossible to be apolitical. My politics, however, are not exclusively environmental. First and foremost, I am a socialist, and believe the ongoing climate crisis is a product of our fundamentally flawed economic system which continuously places profit before people and planet. If you would like to argue with me, please find me on the website formerly known as twitter.

I often feel like a bit of an outlier in academia, so I really want to support those from under-represented backgrounds who wish to pursue post-secondary academic study. If you are thinking about studying Geography/Geoscience at university, either as an undergraduate or a postgraduate, please don't be afraid to drop me an email with any questions you might have. I can't promise to have all the answers, but I will try my best to help you however I can!