Teresa Spicer

Teresa Spicer/née Magner:

I am me. I came to science a little later in life compared to the other people in this group. In 1986, whilst pregnant with my first child, I decided I should fill in all the spare time I was going to have by doing a degree (having forgotten to get one previously). Nine years later, I was awarded a BSc Hons in Earth Sciences from the Open University. This I think set me up for all I have been doing over the past 14 years or so, working alongside Bob, collaborating with our colleagues around the world, using CLAMP as a proxy for palaeoclimate etc., doing fieldwork in India, China and New Zealand to collect modern leaves to expand the calibration database to cover tropical, subtropical and Southern Hemisphere vegetation, and looking for fossil leaves.

Life before a degree was also far from dull. My childhood was spent in Somaliland, East Africa, followed by some years in Ghana, Egypt and then India, where my father’s work took us. Having been brought up learning languages, I was one of the first of the UK contingent to go over to Brussels in 1973 when we joined the European Economic Community. My first post was in the Directorate General for the Internal Market, focusing on the free movement of people, goods and services within the Community and harmonisation of laws. In 1986, following the ‘cod wars’, I attended the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, where both Iceland and the US had brought in 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zones and it was decided that the EEC should do likewise. I spent the next 7 very busy years working with the Director General for Fisheries to formulate a Common Fisheries Policy for Europe. Having achieved this, I returned to the UK and qualified as a teacher in Tertiary Education.

teresa@palaeobob.plus.com

Website:

Research gate page

Publications:

Papers

In Review

  1. Linnemann, U., Su, T., Kunzmann, L., Spicer, R.A., Ding, W.-N., Spicer, T.E.V., Zieger, J., Hofmann, M/, Moraweck, K., Gärtner, A., Gerdes, A., Marko, L., Zhang, S.Y., Tang, H., Huang, J., Mulch, A., Mosbrugger, V., Zhou, Z.–Z. New U/Pb dates show a Paleogene Origin for the Modern SE Asia Biodiversity ‘Hotspot’.
  2. Maslova, N.P., Karasev, E.V., Kodrul, T.M., Spicer, R.A., Volkova, L.D., Spicer, T.E.V., Jin, J.-H., Liu, X.-Y. Sun and shade leaf variability in Liquidambar chinensis Champion and Liquidambar formosana Hanse (Altingiaceae): implications for paleobotany.

In Press

  1. François, L., Bruch, A., Utescher, T., Spicer, R.A., Spicer, T.E.V., 2016 Reconstructing Cenozoic vegetation from proxy data and models – a NECLIME synthesis (Editorial). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.11.043

Published

  1. Kahn, M.A., Bera, M., Spicer, R.A., Spicer, T.E.V., Bera, S., 2017. First occurrence of mastixioid (Cornaceae) fossil in India and its biogeographic implications. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. Available Online https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2017.08.006
  2. Spicer, R.A., Yang, J., Herman, A., Kodrul, T., Aleksandrova, G., Maslova, N., Spicer, T. E. V., Ding. L., Xu, Q., Shukla, A., Srivastava, G., Mehrotra, R.C., Jin, J.-H., 2017. Paleogene Monsoons across India and South China: Drivers of Biotic Change. Gondwana Research 49: 350–363.
  3. Herman, A., Spicer, R.A., Aleksandrova, G.N., Yang, J., Kodrul, T., Maslova, N.P., Spicer, T.E.V., Chen, G., Jin J.-H., 2017. Eocene – Early Oligocene climate and vegetation change in southern China: evidence from the Maoming Basin. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 479: 126–137.
  4. Khan, M.A., Spicer, R.A., Spicer, T.E.V., Bera, S., 2017. Evidence for diversification of Calophyllum L. (Calophyllaceae) in the Neogene Siwalik forests of eastern
  5. Himalaya. Plant Systematics and Evolution DOI 10.1007/s00606-016-1376-5.
  6. Ding, L., Spicer, R.A., Yang, J., Xu, Q., Cai, F., Li, S., Lai, Q., Wang, H., Spicer, T.E.V., Yue, Y., Shukla, A., Srivastava, G., Khan, M.A., Bera, S., Mehrotra, R.C., 2017. Quantifying the rise of the Himalaya orogen and implications for the South Asian monsoon. Geology 45: 215–218.
  7. Spicer, R.A., Yang, J., Herman, A.B., Kodrul, T., Maslova, N., Spicer, T.E.V., Aleksandrova, Jin, J., 2016. Asian Eocene Monsoons as revealed by leaf architectural signatures. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 449: 61-68.
  8. Li, S.–F., Jacques, F.M.B., Spicer, R.A., Su, T., Spicer, T.E.V., Yang, J., Zhou, Z. 2016. Artificial neural networks reveal a high-resolution climatic signal in leaf physiognomy. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 442: 1-11.
  9. Herman, A.B., *Spicer, R.A., Spicer, T.E.V., 2016. Environmental constraints on terrestrial vertebrate behaviour and reproduction in the high Arctic of the Late Cretaceous. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 441: 317–338.
  10. Kumar, M., Spicer, R.A., Spicer, T.E.V., Shukla, A., Mehrotra, R.C., Monga, P., 2016. Palynostratigraphy and palynofacies of the early Eocene Gurha lignite mine, Rajasthan, India. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 461: 98–108.
  11. Khan, M.A., Spicer, R.A., Spicer, T.E.V., Bera, S. 2016. Occurrence of Shorea Roxburgh ex C. F. Gaertner (Dipterocarpaceae) in the Neogene Siwalik forests of eastern Himalaya and its biogeography during the Cenozoic of Southeast Asia. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 233: 236–254.
  12. Shukla, A., Mehrotra, R.C., Spicer, R.A., Spicer, T.E.V., 2016. Aporosa Blume from the paleoequatorial rainforest of Bikaner, India: Its evolution and diversification in deep time. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 232: 14–21.
  13. Spicer, R.A., Herman, A.B., Amoit, R., Spicer, T.E.V., 2016. Environmental Adapatations and Constraints on Latest Cretaceous Arctic Dinosaurs. Global Geology 19: 241245.
  14. Yang J., Spicer R.A., Spicer T.E.V., Arens N.C., Jacques F.M.B., Su T., Kennedy E.M., Herman A.B., Steart D.C., Srivastava G., Mehrotra R.C., Valdes P.J., Mehrotra N.C., Zhou Z.K., Lai J.S., 2015. Leaf Form-Climate Relationships on the Global Stage: An Ensemble of Characters. Global Ecology and Biogeography 10: 1113–1125.
  15. Khan, M.A., Spicer, T.E.V., Spicer, R.A., Bera, S. 2014. Occurrence of Gynocardia
  16. odorata Robert Brown (Achariaceae, formerly Flacourtiaceae) from the Plio-Pleistocene sediments of Arunachal Pradesh, northeast India and its palaeoclimatic and phytogeographic significance. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 211: 1–9.
  17. Spicer, R.A., Herman, A.b., Liao, W., Spicer, T.E.V., Kodrul, T.M., Yang, J., Jin, J. 2014. Cool tropics in the Middle Eocene: Evidence from the Changchang Flora, Hainan Island, China. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 412: 1–16.
  18. Shukla, A., Mehrotra, R.C., Spicer, R.A., Spicer, T.E.V., Kumar, M. 2014. Cool equatorial terrestrial temperatures and the South Asian monsoon in the Early Eocene: Evidence from the Gurha Mine, Rajasthan, India. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 412: 187–198.
  19. Spicer, R.A., Herman, A.B., Yang, J., Spicer, T.E.V., 2014. Why future climate change is likely to be underestimated: evidence from palaeobotany. J. Bot. Soc. Bengal 67: 75–88.
  20. Khan, M., Spicer, R.A., Bera, S., Ghosh, R., Yang, J., Spicer, T.E.V., Guo, S., Su, T., Jacques, F., Grote, P.J., 2014. Miocene to Pleistocene floras and climate of the Eastern Himalayan Siwaliks, and New Palaeoelevation estimates for the Namling-Oiyug Basin, Tibet. Global and Planetary Change 113: 1–10.
  21. Khan, M.A., Spicer, R.A., Spicer, T.E.V., Bera, S. 2014. Fossil evidence of insect folivory in the eastern Himalayan Neogene Siwalik forests. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 410: 264–277.
  22. Kennedy, E.M., Arens, N.C., Reichgelt, T., Spicer, R.A., Spicer, T.E.V., Stranks, L., Yang, J. 2014. Deriving temperature estimates from Southern Hemisphere leaves. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 412: 80–90.
  23. Srivastava, G., Spicer, R.A., Spicer, T.E.V., Yang, J., Kumar, M., Mehrotra, R.C., Mehrotra, N.C., 2012. Megaflora and palaeoclimate of a Late Oligocene tropical delta, Makum Coal field, Assam: evidence for the early development of the South Asia Monsoon. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 343: 130–142.
  24. Khan, M., Ghosh, R., Bera, S., Spicer, R.A., Spicer, T.E.V., 2011. Floral diversity during Plio-Pleistocene Siwalik sedimentation (Kimin Formation) in Arunachal Pradesh, India, and its palaeoclimatic significance. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 91: 237–255.
  25. Yang, J., Spicer, R.A., Spicer, T.E.V., Li, C.-S., 2011. ‘CLAMP Online’: a new web-based palaeoclimate tool and its application to the terrestrial Paleogene and Neogene of North America. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 91: 163–183.
  26. Spicer, R.A., Bera, S., De Bera, S., Spicer, T.E.V., Srivastava, G., Mehrotra, R.C., Mehrotra, N.C., Yang, J., 2011. Why do foliar physiognomic climate estimates sometimes differ from those observed? Insights from taphonomic information loss and a CLAMP case study from the Ganges Delta. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 299: 39–48.
  27. Spicer, R.A., Valdes, P.J., Spicer, T.E.V., Craggs, H.J., Srivastava, G., Mehrotra, R.C., Yang, J., 2009. New development is CLAMP: calibration using global gridded meteorological data. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatolgy, Palaeoecology, 283: 91–98.