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Dr Simon Armitage

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Simon Armitage graduated with a BA in Geography at the University of Oxford before moving to the University of Wales Aberystwyth to research his PhD entitled “Testing and application of luminescence techniques using sediment from the southeast African coast” under the supervision of Prof. Ann Wintle and Prof. Geoff Duller. He finished his PhD in 2002 and moved back to Oxford where he was employed for four years as a postdoctoral researcher on two NERC funded projects. Simon was appointed Lecturer in Physical Geography at Royal Holloway in 2006.

Simon's research focuses on the application of Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating to late Quaternary sediments. In particular he is interested in North African climate change as an environmental backdrop to human evolution and dispersal. His recent work has concentrated on the episodic filling of extremely large lakes in presently arid areas of the Sahara as part of NERC EFCHED (Environmental Factors in the Chronology of Human Evolution and Dispersal) programme. Previously he dated dust flux variations recorded in deep-sea cores to develop a long term record of North African aridity. Simon is currently working on research projects in Tunisia, Libya and Chad.