Fiona Shanhun

The 2008 Recipient of the Kate Sheppard Memorial Award is Fiona Shanhun, a 27 year old student from Lincoln University.  The Award is being used to help pay for resources necessary for Fiona to undertake her doctoral research to advance the current state of our knowledge of salts in Antarctic soils and what they can tell us about past climate conditions.

Fiona initially came from Palmerston North where she attended Freyberg High School.  In 2001 she moved to Christchurch to take up a Sports Scholarship for Cricket at Lincoln University.  Her love of sport saw her play both representative and club cricket in both Central Districts and Canterbury.  She also has interests in mountain biking, tramping, skiing, yoga, hockey, swimming, surfing and photograph.  She completed a Bachelor of Science in Soil Science in 2003 and then, as a Post-Graduate Cricket Scholar and Senior Scholar, she completed her Honours in Soil Science.

In 2005 she transferred to the University of Waikato with a scholarship to complete a Masters in Earth Science.  During this time she presented a number of written papers and oral presentations in collaboration with other colleagues in the field, including a presentation to the Annual Antarctic Conference in July 2005 on ‘Soil moisture and salt variability in relation to stream hyporheic zones, Lower Wright Valley, Antarctica.”

Fiona recently worked as a technician and lecturer in the Soil and Physical Sciences Group at Lincoln University.  Her recent research  used soil stratigraphy, chemistry and morphology to interpret the paleoenvironment of Canterbury, NZ, through:

• Using pedogenic carbonate in loess to characterise the paleoclimate of Banks Peninsula;

• Analysing soil chemical properties to assess paleoclimatic conditions;

• Phytolith analysis to determine paleovegetation of Banks Peninsula;

• Developing methodology to analyse d¹³C and d¹⁸O of pedogenic carbonate on the Lincoln University Continuous Flow Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer.

Fiona’s research for her Doctorate aims to derive a new terrestrial paleotemperature proxy based on the isotopic composition of pedogenic carbonate in soils of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica.  The paleothermometer is based on the temperature dependent fractionation of carbon isotopes during the formation of pedogenic carbonate from soil CO₂. 

Antarctica provides a rare opportunity to apply this technique as complications arising from soil respiration are negligible.  Pedogenic carbonate will be sampled on surfaces aged up to 50,000 years.  Age control will be provided by radiocarbon dating.  This research will address the issue highlighted in Antarctica New Zealand’s Science Strategy that “there are very few high-quality records from the Antarctic continental margin that can corroborate past climate change behaviour”

This research will ultimately provide a better understanding of past climatic conditions in Antarctica that will enable us to better predict how climate might change in New Zealand.  This knowledge will be very valuable to all New Zealanders, particularly those interested in understanding the complexity of Earth’s global climate system.

Fiona is a self-motivated and committed young scientist who can make a significant contribution to the knowledge base on Antarctic soils and paleoclimate.  Her goal is to one day establish her own Antarctic research programme and inspire other young scientists to pursue research in Antarctica.