Dr. Michael-Shawn Fletcher

Overview / specialty

I am a Biogeographer. That means I am interested in understanding the patterns in nature and the processes that have led to them. In this endeavour, I focus on time, guided by the notion that the past holds the key to understanding the future. More specifically, I am interested in the long-term interactions between humans, climate, disturbance (such as fire) and vegetation. My current work involves developing and integrating records of environmental change from across the Southern Hemisphere using the information stored in the bottom of lakes. This affords me a window in to time that stretches from yearly changes to changes that occur over thousands of years or longer. This information sheds light on changes in climate, vegetation dynamics, the role of humans in the landscape, the frequency and magnitude of wildfire and many other processes.