Dr Philippa Ascough
- Senior Lecturer-Manager of NEIF Radiocarbon Laboratory (Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre)
email:
Philippa.Ascough@glasgow.ac.uk
pronouns:
She/her/hers
Nerc-Rcf, Suerc, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride G75 0QF
Research interests
Radiocarbon dating and technique development
Fire-derived carbon in the environment
Palaeoenvironmental change over the Holocene/ last Glacial
Stable isotopes in environmental systems
Marine and Freshwater 14C Reservoir Effects
Environmental/Scientific Archaeology
Grants
PI Glasgow Centre for International Development 2023-2024: Building capacity for carbon cycle research in tropical Africa by deploying portable, low-cost, CO2 analysers. £17,841.
Co-I UKRI-BBSRC 2021-2026: Biochar Demonstrator Addressing Key Deployment Barriers for Carbon Sequestration. BB/V011596/1: £4.5 Million
Co-I RANNIS (Icelandic Research Fund) 2021-2024: Power, Wealth and Pandemic in Two Valleys: Svarfaðardalur, Hörgárdalur and their hinterlands ca. AD 870–1500 (ISK 42,116,000: £241,123)
Co-I NERC Standard Grant 2020-2023: Stabilisation of pyrogenic carbon in tropical grasslands (SPECTRAL) NE/T008040/1. £798,350
Co-I Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (Chile) 2019-2023, ‘The impact of wildfire severity on soil pyrogenic carbon across contrasting fire-prone ecosystems in central Chile: Temporal dynamics and related effects on soil properties’ (CLP$ 2 Million: £229,200) Nº 018/FONDECYT/21
Co-I NERC 2019-2029, ‘A National Radiocarbon Facility’ (£5,656,030, NE/S011854/1
Co-I NERC 2018-2022, ‘Radiocarbon-Based Source Apportionment of Carbonaceous Aerosol in Delhi (RSA-Delhi)’ (£36,144)
Co-I NERC 2018-2019, ‘Palaeoclimate reconstructions of the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition for the Northern Isles of Scotland’ (£5522)
Co-I NERC 2018-2020, 'Improving mangrove radiocarbon chronologies for reconstructing Holocene sea-level change' (£14,056)
Co-I Swiss National Science Foundation, 2018-2021, ‘Where on Earth is the fire-derived carbon stored?’ CHF 815,696 (£599,364) Grant reference SNF 200021_178768
Developing a new chemical link between composition, abundance and sources of black carbon in a major urban environment. Ascough, Heal, Toney, Mills. (NERC). £73,668. 2016-2020.
PECRE exchange with the Department of Geography, The University of Zurich. Ascough. (Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment and Society: Researcher Exchanges scheme). £4827. 2016.
Seeing the full spectrum: An integrated approach to characterization of Martian carbon. Ascough, Mark, Lee, Cockell, Faithfull. (The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland grant LG13SUE001). £34,534. 2013.
Reassessing the Scottish Mesolithic-Neolithic transition: Questions of diet and timing. Ascough, Cook, Murray, Bonsall. (AHRC AH/L008521/1). £60,699. 2014-2017.
Comparative Island Ecodynamics in the North Atlantic. McGovern, Cook, Ascough. (National Science Foundation of America). $50,000 (£33,000). 2012-2015.
Assessing the potential for mineralisation of charcoal carbon in a woodland soil using a 14C-dead charcoal tracer. Ascough, Garnett, Tilston. (NERC 1510.1010). £6760. 2010-2012.
Norse deforestation and woodland sustainability in Iceland. Church, Ascough, Roucoux, Lawson. (NERC). £10,920. 2010-2011.
Dynamics of resistant carbon in tropical environments: diagenetic alteration of charcoal. Ascough. (Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland). £1920. 2010-2011.
Testing the accuracy of ABA, ABOx-SC and HyPy charcoal pretreatment methods against the Campanian Ignimbrite. Snape, Meredith, Higham, Wood, Brock, Douka. (NERC). £14,040. 2009-2010.
An integrated investigation of stable and radiogenic isotopes in lake Myvatn, north Iceland: implications for ecosystem studies and freshwater radiocarbon reservoir effects. (NERC). £9660. 2009.
Establishing hydropyrolysis as an effective technique for the determination and isolation of pyrogenic carbon in samples from the natural environment. Snape, Large, Ascough. (NERC NE/F017456/1). £190,929. 2008-2011.
Radiocarbon in a North Icelandic freshwater system: Implications for ecosystem studies and archaeology. Ascough. (Royal Scottish Geographical Society). £250. 2008.
Marine Radiocarbon Reservoir Effects (MRE) in Archaeology: Temporal and Spatial Changes Through The Holocene Within the UK Coastal Environment. Cook, Dugmore, Ascough. (NERC NE/F002211/1, Historic Scotland). £60,963. 2007-2011.
Assessing the utility of hydrogen pyrolysis as a new tool for the decontamination of charcoal samples for radiocarbon dating and the geochemical characterization of removed contamination. Bird, Snape, Ascough. (NERC). £7425. 2007.
Long Term Human Ecodynamics in the Norse North Atlantic: cases of sustainability, survival, and collapse. McGovern, Ascough, Cook. (NSF-IPY, OPP/Division of Arctic Sciences). $13,500 (£8877). 2007.
Stable isotopic investigation of Ancient Norse and Modern Icelandic ecosystem dynamics. Ascough. (Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland). £1290. 2006.
19th International Radiocarbon conference, University of Oxford, UK. Ascough. (Royal Scottish Geographical Society Conference Grant). £500. 2006.
10th AMS conference, University of California, Berkley, U.S.A. Ascough. (Scottish Universities International Travel Fund). £1500. 2005.
Assessment of marine radiocarbon reservoir effects in Scottish waters over the Holocene. Ascough. (Moray Fund, University of Edinburgh). £2000. 2004.
Supervision
- Magdelena Blantz (current, University of Highlands and Islands). EU Funding. Seaweed as food and fodder in the North Atlantic Islands: past, present and future opportunities
- Allan Cochrane (current) Environmental records of the Late-glacial / Inter-glacial transition in the Northern Isles
- Angela Rawlings (current, University of Glasgow) Lord Kelvin Adam Smith Studentship. Performing Geochronology and Sustainability along Scotland’s Western Seaboard: Deep Time and Sustainable Futures
- Jessica Bownes (PhD candidate, current) Reassessing the Scottish Mesolithic-Neolithic transition: Questions of diet and timing.
- Nicola Russell (PhD, completed 2011). Marine Radiocarbon Reservoir Effects (MRE) in Archaeology: Temporal and Spatial Changes through the Holocene within the UK Coastal Environment.
Teaching
Archaeology degree program, School of Archaeology, University of Glasgow. Coordinator, Honours option module: Recovery and Interpretation of Archaeological Data.
Chemistry degree program, School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh. Honours option module: Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry.
Additional information
Academic recognition and scholarly positions
2019- present Member of Operations Group, NERC National Environmental Isotope Facility
2018 -present Co-Editor-in-Chief, Geochronology (a Journal of the European Geoscience Union)
2018-2022 Environmental Protection Scotland Air Quality Expert Advisory Group
2018 Scientific committee, 23nd International Radiocarbon Conference
2017 Radiocarbon and Diet 2017 Scientific Advisory Committee
2017 - 2022 Theme Leader, Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment, and Society (SAGES), SFC Pooling initiative
2016 – Present Member of the Scottish Archaeology Research Framework (Scientific Archaeology Component)
2015 - Present Peer review panel, The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland
2015 – Present Review Editor, Frontiers in Earth Science
2014 - Present International Expert Reviewer for the Australian National Research Council
2016 Guest Editorship, Environmental Archaeology
2016 Guest Editorship, Journal of the North Atlantic
2016 Keynote presentation, Geosciences Research Conference, Cologne
2015 Keynote presentation, European Association of Archaeologists, Glasgow
2015 Scientific committee, 22nd International Radiocarbon Conference
2014 Organising committee, 1st International Conference ‘Radiocarbon in the Environment’. August 2014. Queens University Belfast
2014 Keynote presentation, Radiocarbon and Diet conference, Kiel University.
2013 Member of European Science Foundation Exploratory Workshop, Spain, November 2013. ‘Impact of natural and anthropogenic Pyrogenic carbon in Mediterranean ecosystems’.
2009-2010 Visiting Scholarship (2009 and 2010) by invitation of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Science and Engineering), James Cook University, Australia.
2013 Guest Editorship, Journal of the North Atlantic
2013 Session convenor, EGU General Assembly Vienna, Austria April 2013. Freshwater Carbon Cycling: Understanding detail of the source, fate and age of carbon in freshwater systems.
2012 Session convenor, 21st International Radiocarbon Conference. UNESCO HQ, Paris, France. Advances in Chemical Pre-treatment.
2011 Session convenor, 6th International Symposium: Radiocarbon and Archaeology. Paphos, Cyprus, Radiocarbon Reservoir Ages in Archaeology.
2011 Session convenor, 11th Australasian Environmental Isotope Conference, Cairns, Australia.
2009-2013 Secretary, SUERC Consortium AMS Steering Committee
2009 Member (Ex-Officio), NERC Radiocarbon Steering Committee
Invited lectures, solicited and keynote presentations
2016 School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow. Invited guest lecture.
2016 Graduate School of Geosciences Research Conference, Cologne University, Germany. Keynote presentation: ‘The application of radiocarbon and stable isotopes to understand Holocene human-environmental interactions.’
2015 School of Earth Sciences, University of Aberdeen. Invited guest lecture: ‘The burning issue: Disentangling sources and turnover times of fire-derived Black Carbon in the environment.’
2015 European Association of Archaeologists, Glasgow University. Keynote presentation: ‘Endeavors and advances in Scottish scientific archaeology: A European perspective.’
2014 Radiocarbon and Diet meeting, Kiel University (Germany). Keynote presentation: ‘You're as old as what you eat (plus a few thousand years): Problems and prospects dealing with radiocarbon reservoir effects in archaeology.’
2013 2nd Biochar Research Wales (BReW) meeting, Swansea University. Keynote presentation: ‘Charcoal in the environment: How do we know what we (don’t) know?’
2012 EGU General Assembly, Vienna, Austria. Solicited presentation: ‘Evaluating hydropyrolysis as a method for quantification and characterisation of Black Carbon in environmental matrices.’
2012 EGU General Assembly, Vienna, Austria. Solicited presentation: ‘Assessing the mineralisation of charcoal carbon in temperate soils.’
2011 APEQ-Portuguese Association for Quaternary Studies International Conference. Keynote presentation: ‘Spatial and Temporal Variability of the Marine 14C Reservoir of Coastal Waters off Atlantic Europe during the Holocene.’
2011 Carlsberg Akademi, Copenhagen. Solicited presentation: ‘Isotopic studies of early Icelanders.’
2011 Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität, Greifswald, Germany. Invited guest lecture: ‘Radiocarbon dating.’
2010 Department of Archaeological and Environmental Sciences, Bradford University. Invited guest lecture: ‘Fire and Isotopes: Research Studies in the North Atlantic.’
2008 EGU General Assembly, Vienna, Austria. Solicited presentation: ‘Pyrogenic carbon: influences upon structure and environmental degradation potential.’