Nicholas R. Patton, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Associate

Office: Room 202C

Specialties:

Research Interests:

My research primarily involves the interaction between biotic and abiotic processes that drive landscape, climate, and ecosystem evolution over the Quaternary. I am involved with projects investigating coastal dune systems and paleoclimate in Australia, glacial history in New Zealand and Alaska, and soil thickness and nutrients stocks globally. I am currently working with Professor Kathleen Lohse on the Critical Zone Collaborative Network’s (CZNet) Geomicrobiology Project where I am evaluating mineral associated 'heavy fraction' and microbial associated 'light fraction' of organic matter across landscapes and soil profiles. In the past, I have worked with research groups such as the British Geological Survey (BGS), Australia's Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Desert Research Institute's Integrated Terrain Analysis Program (ITAP), Critical Zone Observatories (CZO), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on a suite of multifaceted projects. Working with such diverse groups, my work tends to be at the interface of many scientific disciplines which has motivated me to become a voice for the scientific community and an advocate of science literacy and communication.

Education:

Selected Publication:

Patton, N. R., Shulmeister, Hua, Q., Almond, P., Rittenour, T., Hanson, J. M., Grealy, A., Gilroy, J., & Ellerton, D. (2023) Reconstructing Holocene fire records using dune foot-slope deposits at the Cooloola Sand Mass, Australia. Quaternary Research, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2023.14

Ellerton, D., Rittenour, T., Shulmeister, J., Roberts, A.P., Miot da Silva, G., Gontz, A., Hesp, P., Moss, P., Patton, N. R., Santini, T., Welsh, K., & Zhao, X. (2022). Fraser Island (K'gari) and initiation of the Great Barrier Reef linked by Middle Pleistocene sea-level change. Nature Geoscience, 1752-0894. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-01062-6

Patton, N. R., Shulmeister, J., Ellerton, D., & Seropian, G. (2022). Measuring landscape evolution from inception to maturity: Insights from a coastal dune system. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 584, 117448. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117448

O'Bryan, C. J., R. Patton, J. Hone, J. S. Lewis, V. Berdejo-Espinola, D. R. Risch, M. H. Holden, & E. McDonald-Madden. (2021). Unrecognized threat to global soil carbon by a widespread invasive species. Global Change Biology, 28(3), 877-882. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15769

Florin, S. A., P. Roberts, B. Marwick, R. Patton, J. Shulmeister, C. E. Lovelock, L. A. Barry, Q. Hua, M. Nango, D. Djandjomerr, R. Fullagar, L. A. Wallis, A. S. Fairbairn, & C. Clarkson. (2021) Pandanus nutshell generates a palaeoprecipitation record for human occupation at Madjedbebe, northern Australia. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 5(3), 295-303. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-01379-8

Patton, N. R., A. Lohse, M. Seyfried, B.T. Crosby, & S.E. Godsey. (2018). Predicting soil thickness on soil mantled hillslopes. Nature Communications, 9(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05743-y