Macquarie University
Research Field: Geochemistry

Dr Heather Handley uses the chemistry of rocks, soils and sediments to unravel the timescales of a wide range of geological processes. The results of her research have provided new, and some of the first, constraints on determining the timescales of magmatic and volcanic processes.

Heather is also currently working on new methodologies for dating sediments to deliver a novel approach to understanding climate-led landscape changes. The research will lead the way in understanding how landscapes have responded to climate change in the last million years, not only in Australia, but around the world.

Heather is a passionate and innovative science communicator, having won a scholarship to teach secondary school students for a year, participated in ‘Career Speed Dating’, and having been a part of the NSW STEM NERD project to produce a YouTube video that contradicts the stereotypical image of scientists.