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Earth and Environmental Sciences

Photo of Dr Sev Kender

Dr Sev Kender

Senior Lecturer in Earth Sciences

 S.Kender@exeter.ac.uk

 01326 370756


Overview

Research Group Website

 

Research Overview

I am interested in the changes to Earth's climate and oceanography through the Phanerozoic, how these changes have been influenced by orbital, tectonic and volcanic variations, and how these impacted marine and terrestrial life. My research has largely focussed on microfossil, isotopic, and sedimentological evidence preserved in marine sediment cores to understand environmental and climatic changes across major climate transitions. These include carbon isotope excursions from the Jurassic and Palaeogene, ice sheet expansions during the Eocene-Oligocene transition, the middle Miocene climate transition, the mid-Pleistocene transition, and Antarctic environmental changes since the de-glacial. I carry out my research using established and novel environmental proxies which include: foraminiferal stable isotopes and trace metals; sediment major elements and mercury; radiogenic neodymium isotopes of marine sediment and fish teeth; organic biomarkers.

My research can be divided into the following themes:
- Investigating geological examples of rapid global warming (hyperthermals) due to changes in the carbon cycle, including the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum and Oceanic Anoxic Events.
- Deciphering the causal mechanisms of Earth’s major climate transitions, including the middle Miocene climate transition, the mid-Pleistocene transition and Quaternary glacial cycles.
- Using micropalaeontological, ancient sedimentary DNA and geochemical techniques to decipher Quaternary changes in marine biota in the Antarctic, and their causal mechanisms.

Biography

2018–to date Senior Lecturer in Geology, Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter
2017–2018 Lecturer in Geology, Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter
2014–2017 Senior Research Fellow, University of Nottingham, Department of Geography
2013–2014  Teaching and Research Fellow, University of Leicester, Department of Geology
2014  Shipboard Scientist (Foraminifera), JOIDES Resolution, IODP Exp. 351
2009   Shipboard Scientist (Foraminifera), JOIDES Resolution, IODP Exp. 323
2008–2013 Palaeoceanographer/Team Leader, British Geological Survey
2004–2007 PhD Micropalaeontology and Palaeoceanography, University College London
2002–2003 MSc Micropalaeontology, University College London
1998–2001 BSc Geology, University of Leicester

Professional Memberships

NERC Peer Review College
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Honorary Research Associate of the British Geological Survey
Editor of the Journal of Micropalaeontology

Teaching

(CSM1044) Earth History and Palaeontology
(CSM2183) Sedimentology and Stratigraphy
(CSM3048) Applied Field Geology
(CSM3061) Energy Resource Geology
(CSM3071) Geological History of Life on Earth
(CSM3072) Climate Change: Past and Future
(CSM3379) Summer Vacation Project
(CSMM440) Research Frontiers in Earth Science

Opportunities

I am offering to supervise self-funded PhD students in the following areas. Information about fees and funding can be found here: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/pg-research/money/

- Palaeoproxy reconstruction of the Southern Ocean, focussing on Holocene and Anthropocene changes to understand the sensitivity of the Antarctic to future warming

- Model-palaeoproxy investigation of volcanism, ocean circulation, CO2 and ocean productivity during the Middle Miocene Climate Transition, a time period with atmospheric CO2 concentrations close to near-future

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Publications

Copyright Notice: Any articles made available for download are for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the copyright holder.

| To Appear | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2006 | 2005 |

To Appear

2023

  • Mason M. (2023) Sediment accumulation rates and carbon burial in West Antarctic Peninsula fjords.
  • Wilkin J, Kender S, DeJardin R, Allen C, Peck V, Swann G, McClymont E, Scourse J, Littler K, Leng M. (2023) South Georgia palaeo-productivity and glacial evolution over the past 15 ka, International Symposium on Foraminifera - FORAMS 2023, Perugia, Italy, 26th - 30th Jun 2023, Abstract Book, volume Grzybowski Foundation Special Publication No. 27, pages 268-269.
  • Kender S, Walker-Trivett C, Edvardsen T, Bogus K, Littler K, Lacey J, Leng M. (2023) Elevated productivity during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 in the Mentelle Basin, Western Australia (IODP Expedition 369), indicated by benthic foraminifera and geochemical proxies, International Symposium on Foraminifera - FORAMS 2023, Perugia, Italy, 26th - 30th Jun 2023, Abstract Book, volume Grzybowski Foundation Special Publication No. 27, pages 157-157.
  • Mariani E. (2023) Oceanographic and vegetation changes across the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum in NW Europe and the Arctic (PhD Thesis).

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

  • Kender S, Kaminski MA, Jones RW. (2008) Early to middle Miocene foraminifera from the deep-sea Congo Fan, offshore Angola, Micropaleontology, volume 54, no. 6, pages 447-568, DOI:10.47894/mpal.54.6.01.
  • Kender S, Kaminski MA, Jones RW. (2008) Oligocene Deep-Water Agglutinated Foraminifera from the Congo Fan, Offshore Angola: Palaeoenvironments and Assemblage Distributions, Proceedings of the Seventh International Workshop on Agglutinated Foraminifera Urbino, Italy, October 2-8, 2005, 107-156.
  • Kender S, Kaminski MA, Jones RW. (2008) Early to middle Miocene foraminifera from the deep-sea Congo Fan, offshore Angola, Micropaleontology, volume 54, no. 6, pages 477-568.

2006

2005

  • Kender S, Kaminski MA, Cieszkowski M. (2005) Foraminifera from the Eocene variegated shales near Barwinek (Magura unit, Outer Carpathians), the type locality of Noth (1912) revisited, Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae, volume 75, pages 249-271.

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Further information

Research

Recent Research Grants

• Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) Grant BUS002c, 2023. £2.47 Million to Co-Investigator Sev Kender (£5.69 Million total). Entrepreneurial Culture (Geotracer Facility and Environmental Monitoring).

• NERC NEIF Facility Grant 2586.1022, 2022, £18,900. Principal Investigator. Sediment provenance and hydrological cycle impacts on biota in Australia during Oceanic Anoxic Events.

• NERC NEIF Facility Grant 2398.0421, 2021, £39,900. Principal Investigator. Oceanographic and biotic changes in Australia during Oceanic Anoxic Events.

• NERC NEIF Facility Grant 2258.0420, 2020, £18,900. Principal Investigator. Understanding the causes and consequences of palaeoenvironmental change in the high latitudes during the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event.

• Leverhulme Fellowship, 2020, £43,000. Principal Investigator. Assessing the long term stability of retreating Antarctic Peninsula glaciers.

• ERC Synergy Grant, 2019, €11.75 Million. Co-Investigator. Quantifying the impact of major cultural transitions on marine ecosystem functioning and biodiversity – SEACHANGE.

• NERC NIGFSC Facility Grant IP-1915-0619, 2019, £30,000. Principal Investigator. Oceanographic and vegetation changes across the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum in NW Europe and the Arctic.

• NERC NIGFSC Facility Grant IP-1914-0619, 2019, £7,700. Principal Investigator. Deep sea biotic responses during Cretaceous Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE) 2 in the southern high latitudes.

• Royal Society Research Grant RGS\R2\180441, 2019, £19,919. Principal Investigator. The impact of mass volcanism on climate and biota during past rapid CO2 release events.

• Collaborative Antarctic Science Scheme grant CASS-147, 2018, ca. £20,000 (approximate cost to take part in the Antarctic expedition). Principal Investigator. Characterisation of modern foraminifera and ostracods of Ryder Bay, Marian Cove and Borgen Bay (Antarctic Peninsula), and reconstruction of palaeoclimatic changes over the Holocene.

• NERC NIGFSC Facility Grant IP-1856-1118, 2018, £32,000. Principal Investigator. Investigating Paleogene strata from the tropical low-latitudes; using geochemistry and biostratigraphy to reveal new insights into the impacts of past global warming events.

• NERC NIGFSC Facility Grant IP-1740-0517, 2017, £30,500. Co-Investigator. Reconstructing upwelling, nutrient supply, and the efficiency of the biological pump in the Bering Sea since the middle Pleistocene, using diatom silicon isotope records.

• NERC NIGFSC Facility Grant IP-1413-1113, 2016, £30,000. Principal Investigator. Investigating sea ice and Bering Sea palaeoceanography during the middle Pleistocene global climatic shift.

• Birmingham-Nottingham Strategic Collaboration Fund, 2016, £25,750. Co-Investigator.  Quantifying Earth System Sensitivity in a high-CO2 world.

• NERC Directed Grant NE/N004795/1, 2015, £67,570. Principal Investigator. Miocene development of the Asian monsoon and oceanographic response in the Bay of Bengal.

• NERC NIGFSC Facility Grant IP-1547-0515, 2015, £39,000. Principal Investigator. North Sea Palaeocene Eocene Thermal Maximum: carbon release rates and environmental impacts.

• NERC NIGFSC Facility Grant, 2014, £55,750. Co-Investigator. Determining if changes in the position of the Southern Westerly Wind belt impact the South.

• NERC Directed Grant NE/M017370/1, 2014, £37,926. Principal Investigator. IODP Expedition 351, Philippine Sea: Neogene NW Pacific Deep Water Circulation.

• National Biomolecular Analytical Facility Grant, 2014, £5,500. Principal Investigator. Southern Ocean climate since the Last Glacial Maximum: Using novel ancient DNA and micropalaeontology techniques to constrain foraminiferal diversity changes.

• NERC NIGFSC Facility Grant, 2014, £44,000. Principal Investigator. Pliocene–Pleistocene Paleoceanography and Climate History of the Bering Sea – IODP Expedition 323.

Supervision

 

Charlotte Greenall

PhD (Primary Supervisor) 2021-present, University of Exeter
Topic: ‘Uncovering the long term sensitivity of Southern Ocean phytoplankton to Antarctic climate change, using novel geochemical and ancient DNA proxies’

Jack Wilkin

PhD (Primary Supervisor) 2021-present, University of Exeter
Topic: ‘Palaeoceanographic and climatic change in the Antarctic during the Holocene using marine micropalaeontology and geochemistry’

Jane Earland

PhD (Co-Supervisor) 2021-present, University of Exeter
Topic: ‘Holocene marine geology and palaeoecology’

Matthew Mason

MByRes (Co-Supervisor) 2021-present, University of Exeter
Topic: ‘Sedimentation Rates of Fjords on the West Antarctic Peninsula’

Dr Kara Bogus

PDRA 2020-2021, University of Exeter, Leverhulme Trust

Dr Trine Edvardsen

PDRA 2019-2020, University of Exeter, Carlsberg Foundation Grant

Tom Gibson

PhD (Primary Supervisor) 2018-present, University of Exeter
Topic: ‘Biostratigraphy and geochemistry of the UK and Norwegian Sea Early Jurassic’

Chloe Walker-Trivett
PhD (Primary Supervisor) 2018-present, University of Exeter
Topic: ‘Oceanographic and Biotic Changes in Australia during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2’

Erica Mariani
PhD (Primary Supervisor) 2018-present, University of Exeter
Topic: ‘Climatic and vegetation changes over the Palaeocene-Eocene boundary’

Charlotte Beasley
PhD (Co-supervisor) 2016-2021, University of Exeter
Topic: ‘Investigating Paleogene strata from Oman and the UAE’

Savannah Worne
PhD (Primary Supervisor) 2015-2019, University of Nottingham
Topic: ‘Pleistocene palaeoceanography of the Bering Sea’

Dr Kara Bogus

PDRA 2015, University of Nottingham, NERC Directed Grant

Rowan Dejardin
PhD (Primary Supervisor) 2014-2018, University of Nottingham
Topic: ‘Last glacial palaeoceanography of South Georgia’

Henrieka Detlef
PhD (Co-supervisor) 2014-2018, Cardiff University
Topic: ‘Pleistocene palaeoceanography of the Bering Sea’

Jenny Roberts
PhD (Co-supervisor) 2012-2016, University of Cambridge
Topic: ‘Last glacial palaeoceanography of the Falkland Plateau’

Adeyinka Aturamu
PhD (Co-supervisor) 2011-2015, University of Leicester
Topic: ‘Benthic foraminiferal taxonomy and palaeoecology from the Bering Sea’ 


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