Virginia Ettwein

I am part of the department’s team of research and technical experts, working across both the Geofacilities and ICP Suite SRFs. In Geofacilities, I oversee the Earth Sciences Microscope and Imaging Suite, supporting staff and students using our research-grade petrological microscopes and imaging equipment, as well as advising on and assisting with sample preparation across the wider geological facilities.
 

In the ICP Suite, I provide research and technical expertise for solution-based elemental analysis using our inductively coupled plasma (ICP) instruments, helping researchers get the most effective use from both the facilities and their samples.

I can usually be found in the analytical labs up on L2.
 

ORCID: 0009-0000-1874-6079
 

For researchers within our department, even more information about the Earth Sciences SRFs and laboratories can be found on the intranet.

Areas of particular expertise:

Light microscopy and imaging
Major, minor and trace element analysis
High precision laboratory work
Marine sediments

Academic background:

PhD (2005)
The Effective Moisture History of the Amazon Basin for the Last 40,000 Years, Reconstructed from ODP Site 942 (Leg 155) on the Amazon Fan.
Supervisor: Prof. Mark Maslin, Environmental Change Research Centre, UCL, UK.

MSc Quaternary Science (2000)
Examining the Effects of the Intensification of the Northern Hemisphere Glaciation on Productivity Within the Benguela Upwelling System: A Study Using Diatoms and Nitrogen Isotopes (ODP Site 1083, Leg 175).
Supervisors: Prof. Mark Maslin and Dr Cathy Stickley, Environmental Change Research Centre, UCL awarded jointly with Centre for Quaternary Research, RHUL, UK.

BSc (Hons) Geography (1998)
A Palaeolimnological (Diatom) Investigation of Eutrophication at Upper Talley Lake, Wales.
Supervisors: Prof. Laurence Carvalho and Prof. Tim Allott, Environmental Change Research Centre, UCL.