Dr Claire Belcher

• e-mail: belchercm[at]gmail[dot]com
• From: London, U.K.
• Position: Marie Curie Experienced Research Fellow
• Qualifications:
  • PhD, Royal Holloway University of London, U.K. 2005
  • MSc, University College London, U.K. 2001
  • BSc, Royal Holloway University of London, U.K. 2000
• Previous Employment: Marie Curie Experienced Research Fellow – Programme for Experimental Atmospheres and Climate, University College Dublin.

Bio:

• Claire is an Earth Scientist studying Fire and the Earth System. She trained as a geologist and has moved into the realms of Earth system science via the study of fire. Fire science stretches across geological, palaeontological, chemical, biological and engineering disciplines (to name just a few). As such Claire’s work aims to cross-cut research areas toward integrating cutting edge modern fire science methods into deep time studies toward promoting understanding of long-term environmental changes on million year timescales. This approach makes for exciting collaborations at BRE Centre for Fire Safety Engineering where she seeks to use the wealth of knowledge amassed by the fire group to answer questions involving fire that include extinction of the dinosaurs and asteroid impacts, palaeoatmospheric oxygen and climate change.

Personal Website:

• http://clairembelcher.carbonmade.com/

Selected Publications

• Belcher, C.M., Mander, L., Rein, G., Jervis, F.X., Haworth, M., Glasspool, I.J., Hesselbo, S.P. and McElwain, J.C. (2010). Increased fire activity at the Triassic/Jurassic boundary in Greenland due to climate-driven floral change. Nature Geoscience, 3, 426 - 429. [LINK]
• Belcher, C.M. (2009). Reigniting the Cretaceous-Palaeogene Firestorm Debate. Research Focus Article. Geology, 37 (Dec 2009). [LINK]
• Belcher, C.M., Finch, P., Collinson, M.E. and Scott, A.C., N.V. Grassineau (2009). Geochemical Evidence for Combustion of Hydrocarbons During the K-T Impact Event. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106; 4112-4117. [LINK]
• Belcher, C.M. and McElwain, J.C., (2008). Limits on Combustion in Low O2 Redefine Palaeoatmospheric Levels for the Mesozoic. Science, 321; 1197-1200. [LINK]
• Harvey, M.C., Brassell, S.C., Belcher, C.M. and Montanari, A., (2008). Combustion of Fossil Organic Matter at the K-P Boundary. Geology, 36; 355-358. (This paper was the was the most viewed article in Geology in May 2008). [LINK]
• Morgan, J., Lana, C., Kearsley, A., Coles, B., Belcher, C.M., Montanari, S., Dias, E., Barbosa, E. and Neumann, V., (2006). Analyses of Shocked Quartz at the Global K-P Boundary Indicate an Origin from a Single, High-Angle, Oblique Impact at Chicxulub. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 251; 264-279. [LINK]
• Belcher, C.M., (2006). Impacts and Wildfires - An Analysis of the K-T Event. In, Koeberl, C. and Gilmour, I. (eds) “Biological Processes Associated with Impact Events” Springer Verlag; 221-243. [LINK]
• Belcher, C.M., Collinson, M.E. and Scott, A.C., (2005). Constraints on the Thermal Power Released from the Chicxulub Impactor: New Evidence from Multi-Method Charcoal Analysis. Journal of the Geological Society of London, 162; 591-602. [LINK]
• Belcher, C.M., Collinson, M.E., Sweet, A.R., Hildebrand, A.R. and Scott, A.C., (2004). Reply to comment on Fireball Passes and Nothing Burns - The Role of Thermal Radiation in the K-T Event: Evidence from the Charcoal Record of North America by Robertson et al., Geology online forum. Page e51. Published Online: March 2004, DOI 10.1130/0091-7613(2004)312.0.CO; 2
• Belcher, C.M., Collinson, M.E., Sweet, A.R., Hildebrand, A.R. and Scott, A.C., (2003). Fireball Passes and Nothing Burns - The Role of Thermal Radiation in the K-T Event: Evidence from the Charcoal Record of North America. Geology, 31; 1061-1064. [LINK]