Andrew Dugmore

Andy Dugmore studies long term records of environments and archaeology to understand  the dynamics of complex socio-ecological systems- what creates resilience (for whom, at what cost and for how long), and why do threshold-crossing events take place? A central theme is the development and application of tephrochronology- a dating technique based on the identification and correlation of volcanic ash layers. Tephra provide outstanding ways to integrate environmental records, history and archaeology and cm-scale layers also preserve early warning signals of landscape tipping points - abrupt and major shifts from one state to another.

Adjunct Professor (Research) Doctoral Program in Anthropology (2002-

The Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016-4309, USA

Adjunct Professor (Research) School of Human Evolution and Social Change (2014-7)

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287-2402, USA

Adjunct Professor (Research) Department of Anthropology (2015- ) College of Arts and Sciences,

Washington State University, Pulman, WA 99164-1067, USA

• President's Award, Royal Scottish Geographical Society, 2002
• Co-recepient 2010: Gordon R. Willey journal prize from the American Anthropological Association
• Honorary Life Membership of International Focus Group on Tephrochronology, INQUA,  2014
• Co-recepient 2018: British Society for Geomorphology Chorley Award for an outstanding published paper based on PhD research (by co-supervised doctoral student Edwin Baynes)
• Co-recepient of the 2019 St Andrews Article Prize in European Environmental History

Former PhD Students:

Richard Streeter 2011

Climate change, de-population and landscape dynamics in Medieval Iceland

Nick Culter PhD 2007

The ecological dynamics of Icelandic lava flows

Phillipa Ascough PhD 2005

The Holocene marine radiocarbon reservoir effect in Scotland

Kate Smith PhD 2004

Holocene jokulhlaups, glacier fluctuations and palaeoenvironmental implications, Myrdalsjokull, Iceland.

Darcey Gillie PhD 2003

Late Holocene vegetation, climate change & human response in the Strath of Kildonan, Sutherland, Scotland

Andy Mackintosh PhD 2000

Glacier fluctuations and climate change in Iceland

Tom Bradwell 1997-2001

Glacier fluctuations, lichenometry and climate change in Iceland

Steven Roberts PhD 2001

Quaternary tephrochronology in Iceland: Dating principles & applications

In this video Andrew describes his research on how layers of volcanic ash (tephra) provide outstanding dating control for stratigraphic sequences and effective ways to integrate environmental records and archaeology. Tephra layers also have the potential to preserve early warning signals of threshold crossing changes.