Dr Matthew Watkins

Technician (Biosciences)
Faculty of Science and Engineering
Technician office - 112
First Floor
Wallace Building
Singleton Campus

About

I completed my degree in Geography from the University of South Wales, graduating with a 2:1 in 2013. Following this I came to Swansea University to study a Master’s in Environmental Dynamics and Climate Change. For my thesis, I reconstructed Sir William Paxton’s’ ornamental garden using fossil pollen analysis. I then went on to do my Ph.D. in the Department of Biosciences at Swansea University. My studies took me to Oregon and Washington in the Pacific Northwest of America, where we reconstructed 3,000 years of forest disturbances, with a focus on bark beetles, wildfire, and volcanic activity. While writing up my Ph.D. I also worked within the Covid-19 PCR testing laboratory for Public Health Wales, in Cardiff. I joined the Biosciences technical team in October 2022.

  • First Aid at Work (PRU Medical, 2023)
  • Chemical First Aid (PRU Medical, 2022)

Areas Of Expertise

  • Molecular Ecology
  • Sedimentary and Environmental DNA
  • Forest Pests and Disease
  • Palaeoecology
  • Wildfire Reconstruction
  • Environmental Change
  • Dendrochronology
  • Radiocarbon Dating