Ann Wintle
Born1948
Hampshire, UK
Alma materUniversity of Sussex (BS),
University of Oxford (PhD)
Scientific career
FieldsGeophysics, Archaeology
InstitutionsAberystwyth University

Ann Grace Wintle is a British geophysicist and is the pioneer of luminescence dating, by increasing the precision of existing methods and maximum age of fossil the method is able to reliably date. She also set up the NERC luminescence dating facility in Aberystwyth, Wales.[1]

Early life and education

Wintle was born in 1948 in Hampshire.[2] She studied physics at the University of Sussex in 1969, however she also had a fondness for archaeology, which she credits her mother and Sir Mortimer Wheeler’s TV and radio programmes. She combined both of these interests in her PhD from the University of Oxford.[1]

Career and research

After completing her studies, she completed a post-doc at Oxford and then spent two years at Simon Fraser University. In 1979, she moved to Cambridge, and in 1987 was a lecturer at Royal Holloway, then left for Aberystwyth. In 2000, she spent time at Uppsala University in Sweden as a guest professor.[3]

Wintle is an Emeritus Professor at Aberystwyth University in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences.[3][2]

Her work focuses on luminescence dating, a field at the intersection of archaeology, geology and physics. She studies and applies techniques to date samples from sedimentary deposits containing minerals such as quartz or feldspars.[4] This process is used in archaeology, to date traces of human activity or fossils, and in geology, to trace changes in climate conditions.[1][4][5]

Awards and honours

Wintle is an Honorary Member of the Quaternary Research Association[4] and a Senior Fellow of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research in Cambridge University.[3]

In 2008, she won the Institute of Physics Edward Appleton Medal and Prize for her outstanding contribution in the development and application of luminescence properties of minerals as a geological dating tool applicable to the past one million years.[6]

In 2015, she was awarded the Liu Tungsheng Distinguished Career Medal For Distinguished Service To The International Community In Quaternary Science.[7]

In 2018, she received the James Croll Medal from the Quaternary Research Association.[8]

She has received Honorary Doctorates from the University of Uppsala in 2001,[5] the University of Wollongong, Australia, in 2016 [5] as well as the University of Sussex in 2019.[9] She is recognised for her contributions to the development of the field of luminescence dating, for her collaborative work in establishing luminescence dating research laboratories around the world, and for her mentorship.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Ann Wintle | TrowelBlazers". trowelblazers.com. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Ann Wintle". The British Library. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 "Aberystwyth University - Staff". www.aber.ac.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 "Ann Wintle - Aberystwyth Research Portal". pure.aber.ac.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Ann Wintle - University of Wollongong – UOW". www.uow.edu.au. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  6. ↑ "Edward Appleton Medal and Prize recipients". Edward Appleton Medal and Prize recipients | Institute of Physics. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  7. ↑ "Awards - International Union for Quaternary Research". INQUA. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  8. ↑ "Medal Winners - archaeologists, botanists, civil engineers, geographers, geologists, soil scientists, zoologists". Quaternary Research Association. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  9. ↑ Bealing, Jacqui. "GRADUATION: Honorary degree for the physicist who sheds light on the past". The University of Sussex. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
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