Melanie Leng

Melanie Jane Leng MBE is a Professor of Isotope Geosciences at the University of Nottingham^[1] working on isotopes, palaeoclimate and geochemistry.^[2][3][4][5] She also serves as the Chief Scientist for Environmental Change Adaptation and Resilience at the British Geological Survey and Director of the Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, a collaboration between the University of Nottingham and the British Geological Survey. For many years (till 2019) she has been the UK convenor and representative of the UK geoscience community on the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program.^[6]

Melanie Leng MBE
Melanie Leng
Born	Melanie Jane Leng Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Alma mater	Oxford Polytechnic (BSc) Aberystwyth University (PhD)
Scientific career
Fields	Isotopes Palaeoclimate Geochemistry^[1]
Institutions	University of Nottingham British Geological Survey
Thesis	Late Ordovician-early Silurian palaeo-environmental analysis in the Tywyn-Corris area of mid-Wales (1990)
Website	www.nottingham.ac.uk/biosciences/people/melanie.leng

Early life and education

Leng grew up in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.^[7] She spent her childhood on the cliffs and beaches of the Lower Jurassic. Leng studied geology for GCSE and A Level. At Sixth Form College she took a field trip to Ravenscar and described finding an ammonite which hooked her into geology. She studied for a BSc in Earth Science at Oxford Polytechnic, gained her PhD at Aberystwyth University in 1990,^[8][9] then moved to the British Geological Survey to work in the isotope laboratory.^[10]

Research and career

 

Leng on ORCHESTRA cruise

Leng has several roles, her most current is Chief Scientist for Environmental Change Adaptation and Resilience at the British Geological Survey. She is also Director of the Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, a collaboration between the British Geological Survey and the University of Nottingham, Leng leads research around environmental change, human impact, food security, and resource management. Leng has been involved in deep drilling as part of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program, and worked in Lake Ohrid in Macedonia and Lake Chala in East Africa.^[9] She also heads the Stable Isotope Facility at the British Geological Survey, which is part of the National Environmental Isotope Facility.^[11] Stable isotopes can be used to better understand climate change and human-landscape interactions, with increasing importance on the Anthropocene and the modern calibration period; tracers of modern pollution; and understanding the hydrological cycle especially in areas suffering human impact. Leng takes part in expeditions, most recently the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) mission called Ocean Regulation of Climate by Heat and Carbon Sequestration and Transports (ORCHESTRA).^[12][13] She actively blogs about her research.

Leng serves on the editorial board of the journals Quaternary Research, Quaternary Science Reviews, Scientific Reports and the Journal of Paleolimnology.^[14]

She has written several articles about successfully undertaking a PhD.^[15][16]

Awards and honours

Leng was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2019 Birthday Honours.^[17]

Leng received a Honorary Doctor of Science (DSc) degree from Oxford Brookes University in 2022.^[18]

References

1. Melanie Leng publications indexed by Google Scholar  
2. Lamb, Angela L.; Wilson, Graham P.; Leng, Melanie J. (2006). "A review of coastal palaeoclimate and relative sea-level reconstructions using δ13C and C/N ratios in organic material". Earth-Science Reviews. 75 (1–4): 29–57. Bibcode:2006ESRv...75...29L. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2005.10.003. ISSN 0012-8252.
3. Haug, Gerald H.; Ganopolski, Andrey; Sigman, Daniel M.; Rosell-Mele, Antoni; Swann, George E. A.; Tiedemann, Ralf; Jaccard, Samuel L.; Bollmann, Jörg; Maslin, Mark A.; Leng, Melanie J.; Eglinton, Geoffrey (2005). "North Pacific seasonality and the glaciation of North America 2.7 million years ago". Nature. 433 (7028): 821–825. Bibcode:2005Natur.433..821H. doi:10.1038/nature03332. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 15729332. S2CID 24116155.
4. Leng, Melanie J; Marshall, Jim D (2004). "Palaeoclimate interpretation of stable isotope data from lake sediment archives" (PDF). Quaternary Science Reviews. 23 (7–8): 811–831. Bibcode:2004QSRv...23..811L. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2003.06.012. ISSN 0277-3791.
5. "Customer Spotlight: British Geological Survey". Website of Elementar. Elementar. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
6. Melanie Leng publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
7. girlsintogeoscience (8 June 2016). "Profile: Prof Melanie Leng (Director, Stable Isotope Facility (British Geological Survey); Professor of Isotope Geoscience, University of Nottingham)". Girls Into Geoscience. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
8. Leng, Melanie Jane (1990). Late Ordovician-early Silurian palaeo-environmental analysis in the Tywyn-Corris area of mid-Wales. library.wales (PhD thesis). University of Wales. OCLC 1179892188. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.388533.
9. "Melanie Leng - The University of Nottingham". nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
10. "University of Nottingham-British Geological Survey Centre for Environmental Geochemistry". environmentalgeochemistry.org. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
11. "New £15 million national isotope facility for earth and environmental science" (PDF). www.bgs.ac.uk. 27 February 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
12. . Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
13. "GeoBlogy: On board the RRS James Clark Ross: ORCHESTRA part 3…by Melanie Leng". GeoBlogy. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
14. "Staff profiles".
15. "The Geological Society of London - Essential tips for a rock-solid geoscience PhD: Part I". geolsoc.org.uk (8): 28–29. doi:10.1144/geosci2018-011. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
16. Brown, Gavin (2021). How to get your PhD: A Handbook for the Journey. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198866923. OCLC 1203135944. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
17. Reid, Ben (7 June 2019). "Queen's Birthday Honours 2019: The full list of who has been honoured in Notts". nottinghampost.com. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
18. Anon (2022). "Recipients of honorary awards announced by Oxford Brookes University". brookes.ac.uk.