Dr. Nicolas Bourgon
Main Focus
My research applies stable isotope approaches to reconstruct the diets, trophic ecology, and environmental adaptations of past human and animal communities. I focus especially on zinc stable isotopes (δ⁶⁶Zn) in tooth enamel, a method well suited to tropical and deep-time contexts where organic preservation is poor. By integrating δ⁶⁶Zn with other isotope systems and geochemical proxies, my work investigates how humans and animals responded to environmental change, resource availability, and ecological pressures through time.
Linked Core Research Themes
Curriculum Vitae
After completing my BA in Archeology at Laval University in 2014, I obtained my MA in Archeology from the Paris National Natural History Museum in 2017, where my final year research involved C&O stable isotopes analyses of Late Pleistocene faunal assemblage from the Indochinese peninsula.
I then completed my PhD in geosciences in 2022, conducted jointly between Johannes Gutenberg University and the Department of Human Evolution of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. My work sought to explore the potential of the zinc isotope method in tooth enamel for providing dietary and trophic information in fossil communities in paleontology and archeology.