William Fletcher

Biography

BA, M.Phil, PhD (Cambridge)

• Lecturer in Physical Geography Quaternary Science, School of Environment and Development, University of Manchester (2010-present)

• Postdoctoral research at the Institute of Geosciences, J.W. Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany (2009-2010)

• Postdoctoral research at UMR-5805 EPOC, Bordeaux 1 University, France (2005-2009)

• PhD, Quaternary Palaeoenvironments Group, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge (2005)

• M.Phil Quaternary Science, University of Cambridge (2000)

• BA (Hons) Archaeology and Anthropology, Trinity College, University of Cambridge (1999)

My specialist area of interest is the detection and characterisation of abrupt environmental and climatic changes in the Mediterranean region using vegetation records from Quaternary terrestrial and marine sediment archives.

Further information

Current administrative responsibilities

At the University of Manchester

• Undergraduate Admissions Tutor for Geography
• Academic Lead for Philanthropy for SEED

Wider professional service

• Member of: APLF (Association des Palynologues de Langue Francaise), PALCOMM (INQUA commission on Palaeoclimate), INTIMATE (INTegration of Ice-core, Marine And TerrEstrial records), Quaternary Research Association (QRA), Royal Geographical Society, IUCN Comission on Ecosystem Management

• Reviewer for: Quaternary Science Reviews, Geology, Journal of Quaternary Science, Journal of Biogeography, Paleoceanography, Climate Dynamics, Quaternary International, Climate of the Past, Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, Journal of Archaeological Science, Progress in Physical Geography, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Journal of African Earth Sciences.

Recent presentations

EGU General Assembly, Vienna, Austria (2016). Centennial-scale vegetation and climate changes in the Middle Atlas, Morocco: new insights from multi-proxy investigations at Lake Sidi Ali (Oral presentation: W. Fletcher, J. Campbell, S. Joannin, S. Mischke, C. Zielhofer, M. de Batist, and A. Mikdad)

EGU General Assembly, Vienna, Austria (2016). Stable carbon isotope fractionation in pollen of Atlas cedar: first steps towards a new palaeoecological proxy for Northwest Africa (Poster presentation: B. Bell, W. Fletcher, P. Ryan, H. Grant, and R. Ilmen)

EGU General Assembly, Vienna, Austria (2016). AMS radiocarbon dating of pollen concentrates in a karstic lake system (Poster presentation: W. Fletcher, C. Zielhofer, S. Mischke, J. Campbell, C. Bryant, D. Fink, and X. Xu)

EGU General Assembly, Vienna, Austria (2016). Anthropogenic triggers for Late Holocene soil erosion in the Jebel Toubkal, High Atlas, Morocco. (Poster presentation: W. Fletcher and Philip Hughes).

XIX INQUA Congress, Nagoya, Japan (2015). Reconstructing Western Europe climate since last deglaciation and Early Holocene: an INTIMATE compilation of terrestrial records. (Co-authored oral presentation: Brooks, Stephen J; Connors, Simon; Engels, Stefan; Fletcher, William; Genty, Dominique; Heiri, Oliver; Labuhn, Inga; Moreno, Ana; Persiou, Aurel; Peyron, Odile; Sadori, Laura; Svensson, Anders; Valero-garces, Blas L; Wulf, Sabine; Zanchetta, Giovanni)

XIX INQUA Congress, Nagoya, Japan (2015). A palaeoecological reconstruction of early anthropogenic impacts on the mid- to late-Holocene landscape of the Middle Atlas Mountains, Morocco. (Co-authored oral presentation: Campbell, Jennifer F E; Fletcher, William; Hughes, Philip D; Joannin, Sebastien; Mischke, Steffan; Zielhofer, Christoph.)

XIX INQUA Congress, Nagoya, Japan (2015). Younger Dryas and Holocene hydroclimatic variability and aeolian history of the Middle Atlas (Morocco). (Co-authored oral presentation: Zielhofer, Christoph; Fletcher, William; Mischke, Steffen)

XIX INQUA Congress, Nagoya, Japan (2015). Late-Holocene environmental change at a terrestrial bog, Col du Zad, in the Middle Atlas Mountains, Morocco: a multi-proxy palaeoecological approach. (Co-authored poster presentation Campbell, Jennifer F E; Fletcher, William; Hughes, Philip D)

XIX INQUA Congress, Nagoya, Japan (2015). Aquatic and terrestrial impacts of the mid-Holocene Mount Mazama Eruption, NW North America. (Co-authored poster presentation: Egan, Joanne; Fletcher, William; Allott, Timothy E) – Winner Best Student Poster Award

XIX INQUA Congress, Nagoya, Japan (2015). Past interglacial vegetation and climate dynamics in the eastern Mediterranean: the case study of the third climatic cycle (Marine Isotope Stages 9 and 8) at Tenaghi Philippon. (Oral presentation: Fletcher, William J; Koutsodendris, Andreas; Pross, Joerg)

XIX INQUA Congress, Nagoya, Japan (2015). Environmental and climatic changes in the Mediterranean. (Session convenors: S. Mischke, W.J. Fletcher, C. Zielhofer)

From Archive to Process: Progress in Quaternary archive studies in the Iberian Peninsula, Sevilla, Spain (2015). Perspectives on early Holocene environmental and climatic changes in the western Mediterranean: a view from the Middle Atlas, Morocco. (Oral presentation: W.J. Fletcher, J.F.E. Campbell, S. Joannin, S. Mischke, C. Zielhofer)

From Archive to Process: Progress in Quaternary archive studies in the Iberian Peninsula, Sevilla, Spain (2015). Younger Dryas and Holocene hydroclimatic variability and aeolian history of the Middle Atlas. (Co –authored oral presentation: C. Zielhofer , W.J. Fletcher, S. Mischke, M. de Batist)