Dr Kaja Fenn BSc (Hons), MSc , PhD

Personal Statement

I am a Quaternary scientist with a particular interest in palaeoclimatology, palaeoenvironments, geochronology, geochemistry, and sedimentology. Most of my work is focused on investigating loess-palaeosol deposits to better understand their provenance and deposition. Sediment source, whether geomorphological or geological, provides information about past landscapes and sediment transport including sediment production, atmospheric circulation, landscape evolution, and the wider dust cycle. Whereas the timing of deposition provides a context for environmental reconstruction, and allows us to better understand local and regional changes to climate and environment, and dust fluxes. To answer these questions I use a range of approaches including geochronology (luminescence dating and tephra), geochemistry (U-Pb dating of zircons, Hf isotopes, and bulk sample elemental and isotopic composition).

2019 – 2021 — Stipendiary Lecturer in Physical Geography (St. Catherine's College, University of Oxford)
2020 — Lecturer in Physical Geography (Oxford Brookes University)
2015 – 2019 — NERC funded PhD (University of Oxford). Thesis title: "Provenance of late Quaternary loess along the middle and lower Danube River, Europe"
2013 – 2014 — MSc in Quaternary Science (Royal Holloway, University of London)
2009 – 2013 — BSc in Geography and Environmental Management (University of the West of England)