December’s Macquarie Minds Showcase brings together a compelling group of visionaries, researchers and experts to discuss how we can shape a brighter future.  In the lead up, we are bringing you insights from Macquarie Minds presenters.

Here, Sophia Aharonovich, PhD student in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, talks about her time on board an international drilling vessel, collecting samples that reconstruct past climates to inform future climate modelling.

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I find the correlation between human evolution and climate change fascinating; by using small pieces of information preserved in sediments, we can recreate a full picture of the environment thousands of years ago.

After studying pollen grains and phytoliths (silica remains of plants) in soil during my Masters in Archaeology at the University of Haifa, Israel, I discovered that it is possible to reconstruct past climates using organic molecules preserved in soils and rocks, going back not thousands, but millions of years.

One of my favourite parts of my PhD research at Macquarie University was the 60 days I spent on-board the JOIDES Resolution, an international scientific drilling vessel, for the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition in the Arabian Sea last year. The JOIDES Resolution has a fully equipped coring facility and laboratory.

I was on-board as an organic geochemist and was the only Australian among 30 scientists from a mix of languages and cultures and at different career stages. We all had something in common – a passion for science. We worked hard during our 12 hour shifts and had a lot of fun in between. Some of us saw 60 sunrises over the Indian Ocean and some saw 60 sunsets. We left the JOIDES Resolution as good friends and research collaborators. We collected samples in seas 3.5 km deep and drilled down over one kilometre into sediments and rocks that were dated to more than 13 million years old. We discovered signs of correlation between uplift of the Himalayas and changes in the summer monsoon intensity, a weather period that currently impacts 70 per cent of the world’s population.

With a better understanding of past climate changes and human influence on the planet, we can predict future climate changes. In my Macquarie Minds session, we’ll explore the geological evidence of past climate change episodes, their correlation with global patterns of extinction and the rise and fall of civilisations, as well as impacts on human technological evolution.

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Register for Sophia’s session Is Climate Change Really Much Ado About Nothing?, as part of the Macquarie Minds Showcase 13-14 December 2016. Dr Kira Westaway, Professor Simon George and Professor Michael Gillings are also participating.