A Lancaster University Professor has been awarded a prestigious Medal in recognition of their contribution to Quaternary science - which is the study of the last 2.6 million years of Earth's history.
Professor Phil Barker, interim Dean of Lancaster University's Faculty of Science and Technology, has been awarded the James Croll Medal 2026, the highest honour of the Quaternary Research Association (QRA).
The James Croll Medal is normally awarded to a member of the QRA who has not only made an outstanding contribution to the field of Quaternary science, but whose work has also had a significant international impact.
The award recognises his outstanding contributions through his pioneering work on past climates and freshwater ecosystems.
Professor Barker has spent more than three decades advancing the use of diatoms (microscopic algae with silica shells) to understand long-term environmental change. His research has shown how diatoms can preserve the chemical signatures of the waters in which they grew, providing an archive of past climate, hydrology and biogeochemical processes.
Much of this innovation emerged from Professor Barker's early career in France, where he explored diatom and isotope geochemistry, helping to establish diatom silica as a useful tool for past environmental reconstruction. On his return to the UK, he helped establish the country's leading diatom oxygen isotope facility with colleagues from British Geological Survey, initially through a project on a Turkish lake demonstrating the potential of oxygen isotope measurements in diatom silica at Quaternary timescales. This work helped shape the interpretation of oxygen, silicon, carbon and nitrogen isotopes from freshwater systems.
Professor Barker's focus on silica further extended into wider questions about biogeochemical cycles, helping test a hypothesis that silica could influence atmospheric CO₂ during glacial-interglacial transitions, a concept similar to that now applied in carbon-capture discussions. He later co-founded the Isotopes and Biogenic Silica working group, bringing together specialists studying silica cycles across past and contemporary ecosystems.
Beyond diatoms, Professor Barker has played a major role in interpreting lake sediment archives across Africa, examining past climate change in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Morocco. His early work helped refine the timing of the 'Younger Dryas' climate event in East Africa, while later collaborations tested the influence of CO₂ on glacial-interglacial environmental change on Mount Kenya.
His research has also explored how volcanic ash impacts lake systems, drawing distinctions between changes caused by ash deposition and those driven by climate, as well as researching long-term climate fluctuations on Mount Kilimanjaro using crater lake sediments. He has helped produce one of Africa's most highly resolved climate records, contributing to new understanding of monsoon behaviour, lake-ice core linkages, early human ecology and volcanic histories.
Alongside his palaeoenvironmental work, Professor Barker has been engaged with contemporary freshwater ecology, including studies of water quality and carbon cycling in UK lakes and rivers. He has also contributed to lake management, reconstructed instrumental rainfall records dating back to 1780, and supervised more than 20 PhD students investigating topics from carbon isotopes in biofilms to ecosystem responses to environmental change.
Professor Barker has contributed to major international projects, including the GCRF Living Deltas initiative, which supports communities in vulnerable river deltas facing climate change and sea-level rise. His current Wellcome Trust-funded work explores ethics, inclusion and sustainability in research culture, reflecting a commitment to responsible science that goes far beyond his specialism.
Professor Barker said: "I am very proud to be awarded the James Croll medal. The award results from collaboration with some brilliant colleagues across the UK and internationally. Continued support from Lancaster Environment Centre, with its focus on interdisciplinary research, has encouraged my curiosity into changes impacting our planet from human, ecological and geological perspectives."
