Helen McGREGOR

Research Interests

• Holocene (the last 10,000 years) as a baseline for future climate change.
• El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability from the mid-Holocene to present.
• stable isotope and geochemical proxy climate records from coral microatolls, Kiritimati, central Pacific Ocean.
• Ocean-atmosphere interactions in the west Pacific warm pool and the implications for Holcene and present climate.
• Coastal upwelling processes off the northwest African margin and the implications for fisheries in these regions.
• Human impacts and land use changes in southern Morocco over the past 2000 years.

Representative Publications

McGregor, H.V. and Mulitza, S. (in press) Rapid 20th-century increase in coastal upwelling off northwest Africa revealed by high-resolution marine sediment cores, PAGES News, 15 (2):

McGregor, H.V., Dima, M., Fischer, H.W. and Mulitza, S. (2007) Rapid 20th-century increase in coastal upwelling off northwest Africa. Science, 315:637-639, DOI:10.1126/science.1134839

Abstract: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/315/5812/637?ijkey=/H5teVCFaPL/c&keytype=ref&siteid=sci

Full Text: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/315/5812/637?ijkey=/H5teVCFaPL/c&keytype=ref&siteid=sci

Müller, A. McGregor, H.V., Gagan, M.K., and Lough, J.M. (in press) The effects of early marine aragonite, calcite and vadose-zone calcite diagenesis on coral reconstructions of changes in coral calcification and oceanic Suess effect. Proceedings of the 10^th International Coral Reef Symposium pp607-614

McGregor, H.V., and Gagan, M.K. (2004) Western Pacific coral δ¹⁸O records of anomalous Holocene variability in El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Geophysical Research Letters, 31, L11204, doi:10.1029/2004GL019972

McGregor, H.V. (2003) Coral Reconstructions of Mid-Holocene Ocean-Atmosphere Variability in the Western Pacific Warm Pool. PhD Thesis. The Australian National University, 151pp

McGregor, H.V., and Gagan, M.K. (2003) Diagenesis and Geochemistry of Late Quaternary Porites Corals: Implications for Paleoenvironmental Reconstructions. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 67(12): 2147-2156

McGregor H.V., Gagan M.K., McCulloch M.T., Chappell, J. (2002) Abrupt shift in mid-Holocene climate in the Western Pacific Warm Pool. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 66 (15A): A501-A501 Suppl. 1

McGregor, H.V. & Gagan, M.K. (1999), Tropical Climate Variability and the Role of the Western Pacific Warm Pool: A Review Paper, Quaternary Australasia 16(2): 24-27

McGregor, H.V. & Gagan, M.K. (1999), New Research into Coralline Palaeoclimatic Records from the Western Pacific Warm Pool, Papua New Guinea, Quaternary Australasia 16(2):14-17

Searchable Publications

Abbreviated CV

2006-present Associate Research Fellow, University of Wollongong & Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) – Holocene ENSO variability

2006 Open postdoc position, University of Bremen, Germany – International Graduate College “Proxies in Earth History” (EUROPROX) mentor to 14 PhD students, recent climate change off NW Africa

2004-2005 Post-doctoral Scientist, University of Bremen, Germany – decadal-scale changes in upwelling intensity off NW Africa over the last 2000 and the impact of global warming.

1998-2003 PhD at the Australian National University. Thesis topic: “Coral Reconstructions of Mid-Holocene Ocean-Atmosphere Variability in the Western Pacific Warm Pool”. Degree conferred 2004.

1997 Great Central Mines Ltd. – exploration and mine geologist, Jundee Gold Operations.

1996 Rio Tinto – Graduate mine geologist, Century Zinc Ltd.

1992-1995 Bachelor of Science (Honours) James Cook University of North Queensland. First-class Honours.