Tarryn Frankland

Tarryn Frankland is interested in palaeoclimatology, understanding the local impacts of climate change, and environmental system monitoring and modelling. Tarryn’s Honours research looked at the viability of mangrove foraminifera as a tool to reconstruct sea level at the Umlalazi Nature Reserve. Her MSc established a modern analogue of the hydrologic, sediment and vegetation signals within the Mzimvubu catchment in the Eastern Cape. The research utilised organic lipid biomarker techniques, pollen analysis and inorganic XRF analyses to determine the key hydrologic, sediment and vegetation signals within the Mzimvubu catchment. The main aim of the results of this research were compared to a marine sediment core (GeoB20624-2) extracted at the Mzimvubu river mouth, to better understand past climatic conditions over the last 6000 years. This research was co-supervised by Dr Enno Schefuß at the Center for Marine Environmental Sciences (MARUM), University of Bremen and fell within the Regional Archives for Integrated Investigation (RAiN2) project under the SPACES Programme. Tarryn is now working as an environmental consultant.