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Dr

Kaja Fenn

Lecturer in Environmental Change

Geography and Planning

Orcid identifier0000-0002-6322-0540
  • Lecturer in Environmental Change
    Geography and Planning

ABOUT

Personal Statement
I explore Earth’s recent geological past to uncover how climate, landscapes, and life have evolved — and what they can teach us about our planet’s future. My research focuses on reconstructing past climates and landscapes, with a particular emphasis on loess–palaeosol deposits — windblown dust and ancient soils that preserve detailed records of environmental change. I specialise in palaeoclimatology, palaeoenvironments, geochronology, geochemistry, and sedimentology, and am interested in supervising students in these areas.

By combining geochronological techniques (Optically Stimulate Luminescence) with geochemical analyses (U–Pb zircon dating, Hf isotopes, and elemental/isotopic composition), I investigate the provenance, transport pathways, and deposition of sediments. This work sheds light on sediment production, atmospheric circulation, dust fluxes, and landscape evolution, enabling more accurate reconstructions of local, regional, and global environmental change. My work bridges field observations with laboratory analyses to produce high-resolution reconstructions of environmental change.

I work actively across disciplines and welcome collaborations that push the boundaries of sediment provenance research, advance Quaternary climate reconstruction, environmental background for archaeological research and innovate in geochronological and geochemical methods.

As the BSc Geography Programme Director, I oversee and support all BSc Geography cohorts, and lead the ongoing development of the undergraduate curriculum to ensure it remains aligned with the latest research, industry needs, and teaching innovation.

Prior to joining the University of Liverpool, I held posts at St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford and at Oxford Brookes University. I completed my NERC-funded PhD at the University of Oxford on the provenance of late Quaternary loess along the middle and lower Danube, following an MSc in Quaternary Science at Royal Holloway, University of London, and a BSc in Geography and Environmental Management at the University of the West of England.

 

Research Overview
I investigate Quaternary environmental change using loess–palaeosol sequences and complementary archives to resolve the timing, sources and processes of sedimentation and dust fluxes. My work integrates robust geochronology and multi-proxy geochemistry with field-based stratigraphy to address questions of landscape evolution, atmospheric circulation, and human–environment interactions over millennial to orbital timescales. Understanding past environmental dynamics also helps predict future drivers of landscape activation and dust emissions under progressively drier climates—a critical factor in assessing the impacts of modern climate change and ongoing aridification.

I actively collaborate with geomorphologists, geochemists, archaeologists, and climate modellers linking sedimentary records research with palaeoclimate modelling, archaeology, and environmental change. I welcome enquiries from colleagues seeking: field partnerships, co-supervision of postgraduate students, method-development collaborations, and grant proposals. For collaboration or data/ sample-sharing requests, please use the email above — brief project outlines are helpful.

UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL ORGANISATIONAL UNITS MEMBERSHIP

UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

  • 13 Climate Action
  • 15 Life on Land

RESEARCH AREAS