The University of Sheffield
Department of Geography

Dr Gunnar Mallon

University Teaching Assistant

Gunnar Mallon

Room number: E20
Telephone (internal): 27954
Telephone (UK): 0114 222 7954
Telephone (International): +44 114 222 7954
Email: G.Mallon@Sheffield.ac.uk

Gunnar Mallon received a BSc (First Class Honours) in Environmental Science from the University of Stirling in 2007 and a PhD in Palaeoecology (entitled: Patterns of mid-Holocene climate change – evidence from the peat archive) from the University of Southampton in 2012. From 2010 to 2013, Gunnar worked as PDRA on the NERC-funded PRECIP project at the University of Southampton, investigating Holocene climate change in Atlantic Canada and Maine.

He started his post at Sheffield in February 2013.

Research interests
  • Palaeoclimatology: reconstructing natural climate change using plant macrofossils, testate amoebae, and stable isotopes (O, H, and C)
  • Statistical treatment of palaeoecological data
  • The ecology of testate amoebae and their link to bog surface wetness
  • Peatland carbon dynamics and natural impacts on carbon accumulation
  • The Viking settlement at L’Anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland

Current research
  • Holocene palaeoclimatic change in the Atlantic provinces of Canada and Maine, USA (NERC-PRECIP)
  • Impacts of tephra deposits on peatland carbon accumulation
  • Environmental history of the Viking settlement L’Anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland
  • Holocene palaeoclimates of Hokkaido: developing a temporal moisture balance model from raised peat for comparison with equivalent Atlantic records
  • The ecological preferences of testate amoebae species Difflugia pulex

Teaching

Gunnar convenes and teaches on a range of practical and theoretical undergraduate modules ranging from stream hydrology to dryland geomorphology:

GEO150 Practical Methods for Physical Geography
GEO152 Statistical Data Analysis in Geography
GEO154 Geoenvironmental Fieldwork Skills
GEO163 Information & Communication Skills for Geographers
GEO232 Dryland Geomorphology
GEO302 Extended Geographical Essay
GEO356 Geographical Research Project

At postgraduate level, Gunnar teaches Geochemical Techniques, which explores aquatic-atmospheric gas exchanges and the dissolution of minerals in stream water. He is also actively involved in teaching practical skill in Physical Geography research design.

GEO6030 Research Design in Physical Geography
GEO6604 Geochemical Techniques in Environmental Analysis

Recent publications
  • Hughes, P.D.M., Mallon, G., Brown, A., Essex, H.J., Stanford, J.D., Hotes, S. (2013). The impact of high tephra loading on late-Holocene carbon accumulation and vegetation succession in peatland communities. Quaternary Science Reviews, 67, 160-175.
  • Pyne-O'Donnell, S.D.F., Hughes, P.D.M., Froese, D.G., Jensen, B.J.L., Kuehn, S.C., Mallon, G., Amesbury, M.J., Charman, D.J., Daley, T.J., Loader, N.J., Mauquoy, D., Street-Perrott, F.A., Woodman-Ralph, J. (2012). High-precision ultra-distal Holocene tephrochronology in North America, Quaternary Science Reviews, 52, 6-11.
  • Amesbury, M.J., Mallon, G., Charman, D.J., Hughes, P.D.M., Booth, R.K., Daley, T.J., Garneau, M. (2012). Statistical testing of a new testate amoeba-based transfer function for water-table depth reconstruction on ombrotrophic peatlands in north-eastern Canada and Maine, United States. Journal of Quaternary Science, 28, 27-39.
  • Mallon, G, Amesbury, M.J., Hughes, P.D.M., Charman, D.J., Street-Perrott, F.A., Loader, N.J., Mauquoy, D. and Daley, T.J. (2011). Comparison of instrumental and reconstructed climate data from Atlantic Canada. At European Geosciences Union General Assembly, Vienna, Austria, 03 - 08 Apr 2011.
  • Hughes, P.D.M., Mallon, G., Essex, H.J., Amesbury, M.J., Charman, D.J., Blundell, A., Chambers, F.M., Daley, T.J. and Mauquoy, D. (2011). The use of k-values to examine plant ‘species signals’ in a peat humification record from Newfoundland. Quaternary International, 268, 156-165
  • Mallon, G. (2011). Palaeoecological evidence of mid-Holocene climate change in south-central Sweden. Quaternary Newsletter, 124, 59-61.
  • Pyne-O'Donnell, S., Hughes, P.D.M., Amesbury, M.J., Booth, R., Charman, D.J., Daley, T.J., Loader, N., Mallon, G., Mauquoy, D., Street-Perrott, A. and Woodman-Ralph, J. (2011). Towards a Holocene distal tephrochronology for north-eastern North America. At INQUA XVIII, Bern, CH, 21 - 27 Jul 2011.
  • Amesbury, M.J., Hughes, Paul D.M., Booth, R., Charman, D.J., Daley, T.J., Loader, N, Mallon, G, Mauquoy, D., Pyne-O'Donnell, S., Street-Perrott, A. and Woodman-Ralph, J. (2011). Holocene land-ocean-atmosphere interactions on the eastern seaboard of North America. At INQUA XVIII, Bern, Switzerland, 21 - 27 Jul 2011.
  • Mallon, G, Hughes, P.D.M. and Barber, K.E. (2010). Palaeoecological records of Holocene climate change: evidence from the peat archive. At British Ecological Society Annual Discussion Meeting, Leeds, GB, 07 - 09 Sep 2010.
  • Mallon, G. and Cole, J.J. (2009). The Quaternary of the Solent Basin and West Sussex raised beaches. Quaternary Newsletter, 118, 19-27.