Dr Chen Xu

(he/him)

Biography

I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Isotope Geochemistry (Palaeoclimate) at Cardiff University, working with Prof Caroline Lear and Prof Stephen Barker within the Horizon Europe Past2Future (P2F) project. The project uses records of past climate change to improve our understanding of the climate system and help constrain future climate projections. My research focuses on applying foraminiferal boron isotope (δ¹¹B) measurements to reconstruct seawater pH and atmospheric CO₂, particularly during the Pliocene and Pleistocene.

Before joining Cardiff University, I undertook my PhD at the University of St Andrews (2021-2025), supervised by Prof James Rae, Prof Andrea Burke and Dr Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand. My doctoral research investigated the role of the Southern Ocean in atmospheric CO₂ change over the past ~800,000 years. I used foraminiferal boron isotopes and other geochemical proxies to reconstruct past changes in ocean carbonate chemistry and air–sea CO₂ exchange. My PhD also involved developing improved laboratory techniques for boron purification and isotope analysis.

Prior to my PhD, I completed a BSc (Hons) in Earth and Marine Sciences (2018–2021) at the Australian National University (ANU). My honours research, supervised by Prof Jimin Yu and Dr Bradley Opdyke, focused on using foraminiferal boron isotopes to reconstruct atmospheric CO₂ across the Mid-Pleistocene Transition.

My research interests span palaeoclimatology, palaeoceanography, isotope geochemistry and the global carbon cycle, with a particular focus on developing and applying geochemical proxies to understand the relationship between ocean processes and atmospheric CO₂ through geological time.