Jennifer McElwain
Jennifer McElwain | |
|---|---|
 McElwain in 2014 | |
| Academic background | |
| Education | BA, Botany, 1993, Trinity College Dublin PhD, Paleobotany, 1997, Royal Holloway, University of London |
| Thesis | Fossil stomatal parameters as indicators of palaeo-atmospheric CO←2 concentration through Phanerozoic time. (1997) |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | Trinity College Dublin |
Jennifer Claire McElwain, MRIA, is an Irish researcher and educator, specialised in palaeobotany. She is a full professor in the Trinity College Dublin's (TCD) School of Natural Sciences, holding the 1711 Chair of Botany. She is also the Director of the Trinity College Botanic Garden. McElwain held the position of Assistant Curator of Paleobotany at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago between 2000 and 2003 and later that of Associate Curator of Paleobotany from 2003 until 2006.
Early life and education
[edit]McElwain was born into an academic family; her father was a chemical engineer and her mother was a gardener. When speaking of her childhood, she said: "I knew the Latin names of all the plants at the age of three. It was seeded early."[1] McElwain completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Botany from Trinity College Dublin (TCD) in 1993 and her PhD in Paleobotany in 1997 from the Royal Holloway, University of London.[2] During her first year at TCD, she was influenced to pursue a career as a palaeobotanist after enrolling in a course focusing on quaternary palynology and geomorphology of the Irish landscape.[3] Following this, she was a Natural Environment Research Council postdoctoral student and a Leverhulme Postdoctoral Fellow between 1998 and 2000 at the University of Sheffield.[2] As a postgraduate student at Sheffield University, McElwain studied the impact carbon dioxide had on global warming by examining plant fossils collected in Greenland during the 1920s.[4] In order to gather the fossils, she led a team of scientists in Greenland for one month to collect over 1,000 fossils.[5]
Career
[edit]While engaging in post-doctoral work at the University of Sheffield, McElwain also held the position of Assistant Curator of Paleobotany at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago between 2000 and 2003 and was later Associate Curator of Paleobotany (from 2003 until 2006).[2] In these roles, she studied fossil leaves of plants that grew before, during and after the die-off of Triassic plants and animals. Through these fossils, McElwain found evidence of a rapid surge of seven times the normal amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.[4][6] This included pioneering a new type of cuticle analysis that used their record of stomatal density as a proxy for CO2 partial pressure (pCO2).[7] In 2004, she counted stomata to know where mountains and plateaus were located in the past, presenting barriers to atmospheric circulation.[8][9] Two years later, McElwain accepted a faculty position at University College Dublin[10] and received the Award for Excellence in EU research by the President of Ireland in 2012.[2]
McElwain continued her research into CO2 in the atmosphere, and led a study in 2019 which found that holly and ivy are more climate change-ready in the face of warming temperatures than birch and oak.[11] During the COVID-19 pandemic, McElwain came up with the idea to film five-minute videos to showcase Ireland's native plants and wild places.[12]
Selected publications
[edit]- The Evolution of Plants (2002), as author (and 2nd edition in 2013)
- 14 Expeditions as editor, which she said "showcases the breadth and importance of botany as a modern science addressing global research challenges."[13]
Recognition
[edit]In 2017 she was admitted as a member of the Royal Irish Academy.[14]
References
[edit]- ^ "Remarkable women in science". europeanwomeninmaths.org. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Professor Jennifer Mc Elwain". tcd.ie. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ Hellawell, Jo. "Careering off Course: Jenny McElwain (Academic Professor)". palass.org. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ a b Mullen, William (9 December 2002). "Unlocking the mystery of extinction". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ Loomis, Brandon (20 December 2002). "Plant fossils checked for global warming cues". The Republic. Retrieved 15 March 2021 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "In ancient leaves, a warning for us". The Springfield News-Leader. 23 December 2002. Retrieved 15 March 2021 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ McElwain JC (1 December 2004). "Climate-independent paleoaltimetry using stomatal density in fossil leaves as a proxy for {{CO2}} partial pressure". Geology. 32 (12): 1017–1020. Bibcode:2004Geo....32.1017M. doi:10.1130/G20915.1. ISSN 0091-7613.
- ^ Levy, Sharon (1 December 2022). "As the Arctic warms, beavers move in". Knowable Magazine. doi:10.1146/knowable-120122-1. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ Mullen, William (29 November 2004). "Blueprint of mountain found in fossil leaves". Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 15 March 2021 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Professor Jenny McElwain BA, PHD". ucd.ie. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ "New research pinpoints which of the world's trees are climate change-ready". tcd.ie. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ "Trinity College Botanical Gardens 5 in five". tcd.ie. 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ "New 14 Expeditions book showcases globetrotting adventures of botanists". tcd.ie. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ "18 New Members of the Royal Irish Academy". Royal Irish Academy. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2021.[permanent dead link]
External links
[edit]- Jennifer McElwain publications indexed by Google Scholar
