Joy Sargita Singarayer (born 23 September 1976) is a British climate scientist and Professor of Palaeoclimatology at the University of Reading, where she is joint Head of the Department of Meteorology.[1] She has made contributions to understanding past climate change (particularly the Quaternary) and has used that knowledge to constrain current and future environmental changes. Her work focuses on interactions between humans, land cover/use and climate, and future implications for agriculture and water resources.
Education and research career
editSingarayer completed a MSci in Physics at Imperial College London in 1998. She moved to the University of Oxford and completed a PhD in 2002 on "Linearly modulated optically stimulated luminescence of sedimentary quartz: physical mechanisms and implications for dating"[2] with Richard Bailey. Singarayer then moved to the School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, where she held a lecturer and later senior lecturer position. She moved to the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading in 2013.[3]
Singarayer's research can be broadly split into two main areas: the use of modelling approaches to help understand of the mechanisms of environmental changes, and land surface changes (anthropogenic and natural) and their interactions with climate. Her work on the catastrophic release of fresh water during the end of the last ice age showed how ocean circulation can be affected, which has implications for future loss of ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica.[4][5][6] She has shown how sea ice has regulated Earth's past climate, both through reflection of sunlight and prevention of heat escaping from the warm ocean to the atmosphere.[7][8] Using climate simulations, Singarayer demonstrated that methane emissions from last glacial cycle may be the result of Earth orbital changes, rather than human activity.[9][10] Singarayer has also quantified the climate implications of changing land use by agriculture, including assessment of the bio-geoengineering benefits of switching to high reflectivity crops.[11][12][13][14]
Media and presenting
editSingarayer has been involved in a number of scientific public communication activities. In 2009 she acted in an advisory capacity[15] for the BBC's six-part "The Incredible Human Journey", exploring the evidence for the theory of early human migration out of Africa, presented by Alice Roberts. The same year, she presented four episodes of Channel 4's "Man on Earth" series,[16] alongside Tony Robinson and Jago Cooper. It looked at the effect of climate change over the 200,000 years of human history.
Singarayer also provides commentary on historical climate-related news stories.[17]
References
edit- ^ "University of Reading presented with Queen's Anniversary Prize for climate change work - Wokingham.Today". 2022-02-23. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
- ^ Singarayer, Joy Sargita (2003). Linearly modulated optically stimulated luminescence of sedimentary quartz : physical mechanisms and implications for dating (Ph.D. thesis). University of Oxford.
- ^ "About". Joy Singarayer. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ Glasser, Neil F.; Jansson, Krister N.; Duller, Geoffrey A. T.; Singarayer, Joy; Holloway, Max; Harrison, Stephan (2016-02-12). "Glacial lake drainage in Patagonia (13-8 kyr) and response of the adjacent Pacific Ocean". Scientific Reports. 6 (1): 21064. Bibcode:2016NatSR...621064G. doi:10.1038/srep21064. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 4751529. PMID 26869235.
- ^ "Catastrophic failure of South American Ice Age dam changed Pacific Ocean circulation and climate". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
- ^ Bristol, University of. "February: Catastrophic failure of ice age dam | News and features | University of Bristol". www.bristol.ac.uk. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
- ^ Survey, British Antarctic. "New Antarctic ice discovery aids future climate predictions". phys.org. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
- ^ Holloway, Max D.; Sime, Louise C.; Singarayer, Joy S.; Tindall, Julia C.; Bunch, Pete; Valdes, Paul J. (2016-08-16). "Antarctic last interglacial isotope peak in response to sea ice retreat not ice-sheet collapse". Nature Communications. 7 (1): 12293. Bibcode:2016NatCo...712293H. doi:10.1038/ncomms12293. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 4990695. PMID 27526639.
- ^ Singarayer, Joy S.; Valdes, Paul J.; Friedlingstein, Pierre; Nelson, Sarah; Beerling, David J. (February 2011). "Late Holocene methane rise caused by orbitally controlled increase in tropical sources". Nature. 470 (7332): 82–85. Bibcode:2011Natur.470...82S. doi:10.1038/nature09739. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 21293375. S2CID 4353095.
- ^ "Orbital mechanics affect methane levels - ABC sydney - Australian Broadcasting Corporation". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
- ^ Singarayer, Joy S; Ridgwell, Andy; Irvine, Peter (October 2009). "Assessing the benefits of crop albedo bio-geoengineering". Environmental Research Letters. 4 (4): 045110. Bibcode:2009ERL.....4d5110S. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/4/4/045110. ISSN 1748-9326. S2CID 3742686.
- ^ "'Crops could keep Earth cool' say scientists". BBC News. 2010-11-11. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
- ^ "Cooling the world with crops | Royal Society". royalsociety.org. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
- ^ "Reflective Crops Could Cool the Planet". NBC News. Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
- ^ Bristol, University of. "2009: The Incredible Human Journey | News and features | University of Bristol". www.bristol.ac.uk. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
- ^ Simon, Jane (2009-12-07). "Man on Earth". mirror. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
- ^ "COP26: Climate change graph 'needs more colours' as world gets hotter". BBC News. 2021-11-02. Retrieved 2022-02-28.