Main Focus
My research focuses on the analysis of natural archives of the past, to develop palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironmental records. I use a range of methods, including geochemistry, palaeoecology, sedimentology, and the analysis of microfossils. I have applied these methods to the study of a range of environments, from East Antarctica to the Kimberley in northwestern Australia.
I am particularly interested in Southern Hemisphere climate variability, and the use of palaeoclimate archives to complement archaeological research.
Curriculum Vitae
I completed a BSc (Hons) at the University of Adelaide, majoring in Geology and Geophysics & Applied Geology. Following this, I completed my PhD, also at the University of Adelaide, in March 2020 with a thesis titled "Lake sediment archives of late Holocene climate variability in Lützow-Holm Bay, East Antarctica".
Publications
Peer-reviewed publications
Rudd, R.C., Tyler, J.J., Tibby, J., Tanabe, Y. and Kudoh, S. (2022). Ecological and habitat preferences of diatoms in lakes of Lützow-Holm Bay, East Antarctica, Freshwater Biology., https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.14000
Jones, R., Roberts, A., Westell, C., Moffat, I., Jacobsen, G., Rudd, R.C. and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation (2022). Aboriginal Earth mounds of the Calperum Floodplan (Murray Darling Basin, South Australia): new radiocarbon dates, sediment analyses, and implications for behavioural change, The Holocene., https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836221095981
Mackay, A., Armitage, S., Niespolo, E., Sharp, W., Stahlschmidt, M., Blackwood, A., Boyd, K., Chase, B., Lagle, C., Kaplan, C., Low, M., Martisius, N., McNeil, P., Moffat, I., O’Driscoll, C., Rudd, R.C., Orton, J. and Steele, T. (2022) Environmental influences on human innovation and behavioural diversity in southern Africa 92-80 thousand years ago, Nature Ecology & Evolution., https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01667-5
Moffat, I., Rudd, R.C., Willmes, M., Mortimer, G., Kinsley, L., McMorrow, L., Armstrong, R., Aubert, M., and Grün, R. (2020) Bioavailable Soil and Rock Strontium Isotope Data from Israel, Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3641-2020
Rudd, R.C., Tyler, J.J., Tibby, J., Yokoyama, Y., Tavernier, I., Verleyen, E., Fukui, M. & Takano, Y. (2016). A diatom-inferred record of lake variability during the last 900 years in Lützow-Holm Bay, East Antarctica. Journal of Quaternary Science, 31, 114-125. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2845
Other writing
Rudd, R.C., Dixon, T., Howie, C., Haberle, S. and McGowan, H. (2022). Palaeoenvironmental fieldwork in the Kimberley, Quaternary Australasia, 39 (2), 16-18, https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.733593043377249
Rudd, R.C. (2022) "... Hang on, has anyone seen my field notebook?": Tales of mishap and problem-solving from the field, Quaternary Australasia, 39 (1), 18-21, https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.529636540450653