Research interest

I'm a geologist by training and enthusiastic about molecular paleoclimatology. My main research interest is to enhance our understanding of the use of lipid biomarkers as tools for past climate and environmental reconstructions. I'm particularly interested in exploring hydroclimate dynamics since the last deglaciation using lake records to answer key questions about past spatiotemporal hydroclimate, vegetation dynamics, and ocean-atmospheric-land teleconnections, especially during abrupt climate events such as the Younger Dryas, the 8.2 ka event, and the Little Ice Age. My PhD research focuses on using the distribution and stable isotope composition of leaf waxes and other lipid biomarkers to reconstruct hydroclimate and ecological changes in Switzerland and upstate New York.

Educational background

Since Nov 2022: PhD student in the Organic Geochemistry group of Prof. Dr. Nemiah Ladd, University of Basel (CH)

Jan 2022 – Sep 2022: Master Research fellowship in the WarmWorlds project (Features and lessons from Past Interglacials warm periods during the last 1.5 million years), Portuguese Institute for the Ocean and Atmosphere (PT)

2021 – 2022: Master Student Research Fellowship in the Ultimatum Project (Understanding the abrupt climatic instabilities of the past in the North Atlantic Region), Portuguese Institute for the Ocean and Atmosphere (PT)

Jun 2021 – Sep 2021: ERASMUS+ research internship in the Research group Biología Costera, University of A Coruña (ES)

2019 – 2021: Master Student Research Fellowship at HOLMODRIVE project (North Atlantic Atmospheric Patterns influence on Western Iberia Climate: From the Lateglacial to Present), Instituto Dom Luiz, University of Lisbon (PT)

2019 – 2021: MSc in Geology - branch of Stratigraphy, Sedimentology, and Paleontology, University of Lisbon (PT)

2018 – 2019: Postgraduate in Petroleum Geosciences, University Lisbon (PT)

Sep 2017– Mar 2018: Curricular internship at Galp Energia, Exploration & Production Group, Lisbon (PT)

2017 – 2018: Postgraduate in Applied Geology, University of Lisbon (PT)

2013 – 2017: BSc in Geology - branch of geology and natural resources, University of Lisbon (PT)

Publications

Santos, R. N., Rodrigues, T., Naughton, F., Schefuß, E., Oliveira, D., Moreno, J., Raposeiro, P. M., Gil-Romera, G., Morgan, A., Leira, M., Gomes, S. D., Ladd, S. N., Trigo, R. M., Ramos, A. M., & Hernández, A. (2024). Understanding the Atlantic influence on climate and vegetation dynamics in western Iberia over the last 2000 years. Quaternary Science Reviews, 337, 108796. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108796

Moreno, J., Ramos, A., Raposeiro, P., Santos, R. N., Rodrigues, T., Naughton, F., Moreno, F., Trigo, R., Ibañez-Insa, J., Ludwig, P., Shi, X., & Hernández, A. (2023). Identifying imprints of externally derived dust and halogens in the sedimentary record of an Iberian alpine lake for the past ∼13,500 years – Lake Peixão, Serra da Estrela (Central Portugal). Science of The Total Environment, 903, 166179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166179

Hernández, A., Sáez, A., Santos, R.N., Rodrigues, T., Martin-Puertas, C., Gil-Romera, G. et al. (2023) The timing of the deglaciation in the Atlantic Iberian mountains: Insights from the stratigraphic analysis of a lake sequence in Serra da Estrela (Portugal). Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 1– 10. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5536

Santos, R. N., Schefuß, E., Cordeiro, L. G., Oliveira, D., Hernández, A., Ramos, A. M., & Rodrigues, T. (2022). Leaf wax biomarkers of a high-mountain lake area in western iberia—Implications for environmental reconstructions. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.994377