Dr Monika Markowska

I use geological archives, such as cave deposits, to provide insights into past climate variability by utilising a variety of geochemical tools. My research takes me to places such as Arabia, Australia and Ethiopia to name a few. 

I am leading a Royal Society University Research Fellowship project investigating precipitation changes in dryland areas across the world. A particular focus is broadening our understanding of dryland hydroclimate by comparing and evaluating climate proxy and instrumental data, proxy-system modelling, developing novel techniques in quantitative temperature and rainfall reconstructions, and generating chronological methodologies across timescales from the modern to the Miocene. In this project we are investigating previous 'warmer worlds', like the Pliocene, to gain insights on the controlling mechanisms responsible for precipitation changes. I am particularly passionate about improving our understanding on how fragile and vulnerable dryland landscapes will respond to future climate change.

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• Recurrent humid phases in Arabia over the past 8 million years, Markowska, M., Vonhof, H., Groucutt, H., Breeze, P., Drake, N., Stewart, M., Albert, R., Andrieux, E., Blinkhorn, J., Boivin, N., Budsky, A., Clark-Wilson, R., Fleitmann, D., Gerdes, A., Martin, A., Martínez-García, A., Nicholson, S., Price, G., Scerri, E., Scholz, D., Vanwezer, N., Weber, M., Alsharekh, A., Al Omari, A., Al-Mufarreh, Y., Al-Jibreen, F., Alqahtani, M., Al-Shanti, M., Zalmout, I., Petraglia, M., Haug, G. 24 Apr 2025, In: Nature

• Morgan Jarvie Insights into hydroclimate extremes in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Plio-Pleistocene transition; A multi-proxy bioarchive approach to extending and refining the d18O speleothem record Start Date: 01/10/2026
• Kimberley Kathy Stevens Unravelling past dryland hydroclimate Start Date: 01/07/2025

• Geology PhD August 22 2017
• Geography BSc (Hons)
• Environmental Science and other Physical Science BSc