the fledgling radiocarbon dating laboratory at Waikato University (1975–1976), undertook soil
description work for Soil Bureau DSIR (Hamilton) in the Matamata County survey (1977–
1978), and sledged and mapped in the Britannia Range in Antarctica (1978–1979). David’s
masterate thesis was in pedology, the study of soils in the landscape, and his Ph.D. was in
tephrochronology, the characterisation or ‘fingerprinting’ of volcanic-ash layers—tephras—
and their use in dating geological, climatic, and archaeological events. He has combined
pedology and tephrochronology (‘tephra’ providing the nexus) in his teaching and
wide-ranging research interests at Waikato University for *40 years. David’s research topics
include the origins and unique properties of tephra-derived soils and paleosols, dating tephras
and evaluating volcanic eruption histories and hazards, explaining why altered-tephra deposits
may collapse as landslides, climatic change over millennia, and the timing of Polynesian
settlement of New Zealand. His team was the first to develop a method to extract and purify
DNA from ancient buried paleosols on tephras, and he is currently leading research using
liquefied ash layers in lakes to evaluate prehistoric earthquake history in the Hamilton lowlands. David, Team Leader of Earth sciences in the School of Science until 2020, served for
several years as Chair of Earth and Ocean Sciences, and has co-led tephra studies globally as
an officer of the International Focus Group on Tephrochronology and Volcanism for 16 years,
including four as President. He represented New Zealand on the International Council,
International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA), for 12 years. David is a recipient
of the NZSSS Norman Taylor Memorial Lecture Award and the Mackay Hammer Award
of the Geoscience Society of New Zealand. He is a Fellow of NZSSS, INQUA, and the Royal
Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi and a life member of NZSSS and INTV.
xx
About the Authors
description work for Soil Bureau DSIR (Hamilton) in the Matamata County survey (1977–
1978), and sledged and mapped in the Britannia Range in Antarctica (1978–1979). David’s
masterate thesis was in pedology, the study of soils in the landscape, and his Ph.D. was in
tephrochronology, the characterisation or ‘fingerprinting’ of volcanic-ash layers—tephras—
and their use in dating geological, climatic, and archaeological events. He has combined
pedology and tephrochronology (‘tephra’ providing the nexus) in his teaching and
wide-ranging research interests at Waikato University for *40 years. David’s research topics
include the origins and unique properties of tephra-derived soils and paleosols, dating tephras
and evaluating volcanic eruption histories and hazards, explaining why altered-tephra deposits
may collapse as landslides, climatic change over millennia, and the timing of Polynesian
settlement of New Zealand. His team was the first to develop a method to extract and purify
DNA from ancient buried paleosols on tephras, and he is currently leading research using
liquefied ash layers in lakes to evaluate prehistoric earthquake history in the Hamilton lowlands. David, Team Leader of Earth sciences in the School of Science until 2020, served for
several years as Chair of Earth and Ocean Sciences, and has co-led tephra studies globally as
an officer of the International Focus Group on Tephrochronology and Volcanism for 16 years,
including four as President. He represented New Zealand on the International Council,
International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA), for 12 years. David is a recipient
of the NZSSS Norman Taylor Memorial Lecture Award and the Mackay Hammer Award
of the Geoscience Society of New Zealand. He is a Fellow of NZSSS, INQUA, and the Royal
Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi and a life member of NZSSS and INTV.
xx
About the Authors