Dr William Gosling

Lecturer

The Open University Faculty of Science Department of Environment, Earth & Ecosystems

w.d.gosling@open.ac.uk
+44 (0) 1908 655147
x 55147

William's Personal Website
William's Blog

Profile

William is a Lecturer in Earth Sciences and has published widely on past environmental change in the tropics. Appointed at The Open University in 2005 as a RCUK Academic Fellow in 'Ecosystem Science' he has established the 'Palaeoenvironmental Change Research Group'. The research activity within his group seeks to place current concerns related to ongoing climate change into a longer term context by examining multiple aspects of the fossil record. Research techniques employed include fossil pollen, chironomid, charcoal, wood and organic biomarkers to provide environmental reconstructions; and Ar-Ar and Uranium series dating to develop chronologies.

For further details click here to visit my page on the research group site.
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External appointments
- Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) peer review college member (2010-2013)
- British Ecological Society (BES) elected member of council (trustee of the charity and director of the company; 2010-2014)
- BES Tropical Ecology Special Interest Group secretary (2006-2009)
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Qualifications

- PhD in Characterization of Neotropical forest and savannah ecosystems by their modern pollen spectra (2000-2003), Department of Geography, University of Leicester
- MPhil in Quaternary Science (1998-1999), Department of Geography, University of Cambridge (Queens' College)
- BSc (Hons) in Physical Geography (1995-1998), Department of Geography, University of Hull
- Certificate in British Archaeology (1996-1998), Centre for Life Long Learning, University of Hull
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Teaching Interests

BSc (Honours) NATURAL SCIENCE
S369 - The geological record of environmental change, course team member (since 2006) exam board chair (2010-onwards)
SXG390 - Science project course: geosciences, production of 'past environmental change' module (2007-2009)
SXR369 - Environmental change: the record in the rocks, senior demonstrator (2009); module no longer offered
S288 - Practical Science: Earth and Environment, Discovering Cyprus: rocks, mud and water, production (2010-onwards), first presentation due 2012
SXR216 - Enviornmental science in the field, residential school tutor (2010 & 2011); module no longer offered
SXR260 - The geological history of the British Isles, senior demonstrator (2008), guest lecturer (2006); module no longer offered
SXR103 - Practicing science, ecology tutor (2006)
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Research Interests

FOCUS
Human and climate influence on past environmental change in the tropics
Technical specialism: Palaeoecology (fossil pollen)
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Current Research Projects

AFRICAN TROPICS
Climate-vegetation dynamics in western tropical Africa
Funding: NERC and Royal Society.

NEOTROPICS
Human and climate change impacts on Andean and Amazon landscapes
Funding: Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation scheme (DiFID, NERC, ESRC), NERC, NERC radiocarbon, NERC Isotope Geosciences, Santander Bank, British Ecological Society, Santander Bank, Natural History Museum, Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, and National Geographic.
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Visit the Palaeoenvironmental Change Research Group web pages or blog for full details of projects and opportunities.

Publications

Book Chapter

Bush, Mark B. and Gosling, William D. (2012). Environmental change in the humid tropics and monsoonal regions. In: Matthews, John A.; Bartlein, Patrick J.; Briffa, Keith R.; Dawson, Alastair G.; de Vernal, Anne; Denham, Tim; Fritz, Sherilyn C. and Oldfield, Frank eds. The SAGE Handbook of Environmental Change: Volume 2. Human Impacts and Responses. London: SAGE, pp. 113–140.

Bush, M. B.; Gosling, W. D. and Colinvaux, P. A. (2011). Climate and vegetation change in the lowlands of the Amazon Basin. In: Bush, Mark B.; Flenley, John R. and Gosling, William D. eds. Tropical Rainforest Responses to Climatic Change (2nd ed.). Heidelberg: Springer/Praxis, pp. 61–84.

Bush, M.B.; Gosling, W.D. and Colinvaux, P.A. (2006). Climate change in the lowlands of the Amazon Basin. In: Flenley, John R. and Bush, Mark B. eds. Tropical Rainforest Response to Climatic Change. Environmental Sciences. USA and UK: Springer, jointly published with Praxis Publishing, UK, pp. 55–79.

Conference Item

Moore, Samuel; Gauci, Vincent; Gosling, William; Page, Susan and Evans, Chris (2009). Losses of dissolved organic carbon from natural and degraded tropical peatlands in Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia. In: 2nd International Symposium on Peatlands in the Global Carbon Cycle, 25-30 September 2009, Prague, Czech Republic.

Journal Article

Williams, Joseph J.; Gosling, William D.; Brooks, Stephen J.; Coe, Angela L. and Xu, Sheng (2011). Vegetation, climate and fire in the eastern Andes (Bolivia) during the last 18,000 years. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 312(1-2), pp. 115–126.

Cárdenas, Macarena L.; Gosling, William D.; Sherlock, Sarah C.; Poole, Imogen; Pennington, R. Toby and Mothes, Patricia (2011). Response to comment on "The response of vegetation on the Andean flank in western Amazonia to Pleistocene climate change". Science, 333(6051), p. 1825.

Williams, Joseph J.; Gosling, William D.; Coe, Angela L.; Brooks, Stephen J. and Gulliver, Pauline (2011). Four thousand years of environmental change and human activity in the Cochabamba Basin, Bolivia. Quaternary Research, 76(1), pp. 58–68.

Gosling, William D. and Holden, Philip B. (2011). Precessional forcing of tropical vegetation carbon storage. Journal of Quaternary Science, 26(5), pp. 463–467.

Hanselman, Jennifer A.; Bush, Mark B.; Gosling, William D.; Collins, Aaron; Knox, Christopher; Baker, Paul A. and Fritz, Sheri C. (2011). A 370,000 year record of vegetation and fire history around Lake Titicaca (Bolivia/Peru). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 305(1-4), pp. 201–214.

Cárdenas, Macarena L.; Gosling, William D.; Sherlock, Sarah C.; Poole, Imogen; Pennington, R. Toby and Mothes, Patricia (2011). The response of vegetation on the Andean flank in western Amazonia to Pleistocene climate change. Science, 331(6020), pp. 1055–1058.

Bush, M. B.; Hanselman, J. A. and Gosling, W. D. (2010). Nonlinear climate change and Andean feedbacks: an imminent turning point? Global Change Biology, 16(12), pp. 3223–3232.

Gosling, William D.; Mayle, Francis E.; Tate, Nicholas J. and Killeen, Timothy J. (2009). Differentiation between Neotropical rainforest, dry forest, and savannah ecosystems by their modern pollen spectra and implications for the fossil pollen record. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 153(1-2), pp. 70–85.

Gosling, William D.; Hanselman, Jennifer A.; Knox, Christoper; Valencia, Bryan G. and Bush, Mark B. (2009). Long term drivers of change in Polylepis woodland distribution in the central Andes. Journal of Vegetation Science, 20(6), pp. 1041–1052.

Marchant, R.; Cleef, A.; Harrison, S. P.; Hooghiemstra, H.; Markgraf, V.; van Boxel, J.; Ager, T.; Almedia, L.; Anderson, R.; Baied, C.; Behling, H.; Berrio, J. C.; Burbridge, R.; Bjorck, S.; Byrne, R.; Bush, M.; Duivenvoorden, J.; Flenley, J.; de Oliveria, P.; van Geel, B.; Graf, K.; Gosling, W. D.; Harberle, S.; van der Hammen, T.; Hansen, B.; Horn, S.; Kuhry, P.; Ledru, M.-P.; Mayle, F.; Leyden, B.; Lozano-Garcia, S.; Melief, A. M.; Moreno, P.; Moar, N. T.; Priesto, A.; van Reenen, G.; Salgado-Labouriau, M.; Schabitz, F.; Schreve-Brinkman, E. J. and Wille, M. (2009). Pollen-based biome reconstruction for Latin America at 0, 6000 and 18 000 radiocarbon years ago. Climate of the Past, 5, pp. 725–767.

Gosling, William D.; Bush, Mark B.; Hanselman, Jennifer A. and Chepstow-Lusty, Alex (2008). Glacial-Interglacial changes in moisture balance and the impact on vegetation in the southern hemisphere tropical Andes (Bolivia/Peru). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 259(1), pp. 35–50.

Gosling, William D. and Bunting, M. Jane (2007). A role for palaeoecology in anticipating future change in mountain regions? Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 259(1), pp. 1–5.

Bush, Mark B.; Silman, Miles R.; de Toledo, Mauro B.; Listopad, Claudio; Gosling, William D.; Williams, Christopher; de Oliveira, Paula E. and Krisel, Carolyn (2007). Holocene fire and occupation in Amazonia: records from two lake districts. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 362(1478), pp. 209–218.

Hanselman, Jennifer A.; Gosling, William D.; Paduano, Gina M. and Bush, Mark B. (2005). Contrasting pollen histories of MIS 5e and the Holocene from Lake Titicaca (Bolivia/Peru). Journal of Quaternary Science, 20(7-8), pp. 663–670.

Gosling, William D.; Mayle, Francis E.; Tate, Nicholas J. and Killeen, Timothy J. (2005). Modern pollen-rain characteristics of tall terra firme moist evergreen forest, southern Amazonia. Quaternary Research, 64(3), pp. 284–297.

Gosling, William D. and Bush, Mark B. (2005). A biogeographic comment on: Wüster et al. (2005) Tracing an invasion: landbridges, refugia, and the phylogeography of the Neotropical rattlesnake (Serpentes: Viperidae: Crotalus durissus). Molecular Ecology, 14(11), pp. 3615–3617.

Bush, Mark B.; Hansen, Barbara C.S.; Rodbell, Donald T.; Seltzer, Geoffrey O.; Young, Kenneth R.; Leon, Blanca; Abbott, Mark B.; Silman, Miles R. and Gosling, William D. (2005). A 17,000-year history of Andean climatic and vegetation change from Laguna de Chochos, Peru. Journal of Quaternary Science, 20(7-8), pp. 703–714.

Mayle, Francis E.; Beerling, David J.; Gosling, William D. and Bush, Mark B. (2004). Responses of Amazonian ecosystems to climatic and atmospheric carbon dioxide changes since the last glacial maximum: One contribution of 17 to a Theme Issue 'Tropical forests and global atmospheric change'. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 359(1443), pp. 499–514.

Gosling, William D.; Mayle, Francis E.; Killeen, Timothy J.; Siles, Marcelo; Sanchez, Lupita and Boreham, Steve (2003). A simple and effective methodology for sampling modern pollen rain in tropical environments. The Holocene, 13(4), pp. 613–618.

Trudgill, S.T.; Viles, H.A.; Inkpen, R.; Moses, C.; Gosling, W.; Yates, T.; Collier, P.; Smith, D.I. and Cook, R.U. (2001). Twenty-year weathering remeasurements at St Paul's Cathedral, London. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 26(10), pp. 1129–1142.

last updated 18-Jan-2012