Dr Tara Jonell

  • Research Associate (School of Geographical & Earth Sciences)

Research interests

Dr Tara Jonell investigates how climate change mediates erosion and influences environments and people. She combines the petrographic, geochronological, and geochemical datasets yielded from sediments with field and satellite measurements of topography to assess the evolution of sedimentary systems and landscapes. Most recently, she bridges gaps between geological and modern observations using early maps, archival inquiry and archaeological evidence.

She joined the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences in August 2021 as a Research Associate, collaborating on the 2021-2024 Leverhulme Trust project “Away from the Water: The First Energy Transition, British Textiles 1770–1890” with Prof Paul Bishop (UG GES), Dr Adam Lucas (University of Wollongong), Prof Simon Naylor (UG GES), and Dr Peter Jones (Nottingham Trent). 

She received her PhD in Geology from Louisiana State University after obtaining a MSc in Geology from New Mexico State University and BSc (with Honours) in Geology from Kent State University. Tara was a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Senior Instructor for the Louisiana State University Charles Barney Geology Field Camp before joining the University of Queensland as a Postdoctoral Researcher (2018–2021) in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2018 | 2017 | 2014
Number of items: 26.

2024

Li, G. et al. (2024) Asynchronous Holocene lake evolution in arid mid-latitude Asia is driven by glacial meltwater and variations in Westerlies and the East Asian summer monsoon. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 136(11-12), pp. 4579-4594. (doi: 10.1130/b37288.1)

Jonell, T. N. , Jones, P. , Lucas, A. and Naylor, S. (2024) Limited waterpower contributed to rise of steam power in British 'Cottonopolis'. PNAS Nexus, 3(7), pgae251. (doi: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae251)

Ao, H. et al. (2024) Orbital- and millennial-scale Asian winter monsoon variability across the Pliocene–Pleistocene glacial intensification. Nature Communications, (doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-47274-9) (PMID:38641605) (PMCID:PMC11031568) (Early Online Publication)

2023

Jonell, T. N. , Calton, I. N., Hurst, M. D. , Jones, P. , Lucas, A. R. and Naylor, S. (2023) Shaping landscapes and industry: linking historic watermill locations to bedrock river knickpoints. Scottish Geographical Journal, 139(3-4), pp. 328-345. (doi: 10.1080/14702541.2023.2205853)

Jones, P. , Jonell, T. N. , Hurst, M. D. , Lucas, A. R. and Naylor, S. (2023) Location, location, location: reassessing W.H.K. Turner’s legacy for industrial geography in Scotland and beyond. Scottish Geographical Journal, 139(1-2), pp. 205-218. (doi: 10.1080/14702541.2023.2178666)

Ao, H. et al. (2023) Northern hemisphere ice sheet expansion intensified Asian aridification and the winter monsoon across the mid-Pleistocene transition. Communications Earth and Environment, 4(1), 36. (doi: 10.1038/s43247-023-00686-9)

2022

Yang, Y., Nie, J., Miao, Y., Wan, S. and Jonell, T. N. (2022) Editorial: Tibetan Plateau uplift and environmental impacts: new progress and perspectives. Frontiers in Earth Science, 10, 1020354. (doi: 10.3389/feart.2022.1020354)

Jonell, T. N. , Giosan, L., Clift, P. D., Carter, A., Bertschneider, L., Hathorne, E. C.,, Barbarano, M., Garzanti, E., Vezzoli, G. and Naing, T. (2022) No modern Irrawaddy River until the late Miocene-Pliocene. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 584, 117516. (doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117516)

Andjić, G., Zhou, R., Jonell, T. N. and Aitchison, J. C. (2022) A single Dras‐Kohistan‐Ladakh arc revealed by volcaniclastic records. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 23(3), e2021GC010042. (doi: 10.1029/2021GC010042)

2021

Ao, H. et al. (2021) Eccentricity-paced monsoon variability on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau in the Late Oligocene high CO2 world. Science Advances, 7(51), eabk2318. (doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abk2318) (PMID:34910508) (PMCID:PMC8673770)

Clift, P. D. and Jonell, T. N. (2021) Monsoon controls on sediment generation and transport: Mass budget and provenance constraints from the Indus River catchment, delta and submarine fan over tectonic and multimillennial timescales. Earth Science Reviews, 220, 103682. (doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103682)

Andjic, G., Zhou, R., Jonell, T. N. and Aitchison, J. C. (2021) Dissimilar Age and Provenance of the Nindam and Jurutze Volcaniclastic Formations, Zanskar Gorge, Ladakh (India). EGU General Assembly 2021, 19-30 Apr 2021. (doi: 10.5194/egusphere-egu21-7181)

Clift, P. and Jonell, T. (2021) Himalayan-Tibetan Erosion is not the Cause of Neogene Global Cooling. EGU General Assembly 2021, 19-30 Apr 2021. (doi: 10.5194/egusphere-egu21-1232)

2020

Jonell, T. N. , Aitchison, J. C., Li, G., Shulmeister, J., Zhou, R. and Zhang, H. (2020) Revisiting growth and decline of late Quaternary mega-lakes across the south-central Tibetan Plateau. Quaternary Science Reviews, 248, 106475. (doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106475)

Clift, P. D., Calvès, G. and Jonell, T. N. (2020) Evidence for simple volcanic rifting not complex subduction initiation in the Laxmi Basin. Nature Communications, 11, 2733. (doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-16569-y) (PMID:32483227) (PMCID:PMC7264180)

Li, G. et al. (2020) Paleoclimatic changes and modulation of East Asian summer monsoon by high-latitude forcing over the last 130,000 years as revealed by independently dated loess-paleosol sequences on the NE Tibetan Plateau. Quaternary Science Reviews, 237, 106283. (doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106283)

Jonell, T. N. , Clift, P. D. and Bloethe, J. H. (2020) Climatic Controls on Continental Erosion and Sediment Transport (CLAST2019). GSA Today, 30, pp. 38-39.

Dailey, S. K. et al. (2020) Large-scale mass wasting on the Miocene continental margin of western India. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 132(1-2), pp. 85-112. (doi: 10.1130/B35158.1)

2018

Jonell, T. N. , Li, Y., Blusztajn, J., Giosan, L. and Clift, P. D. (2018) Signal or noise? Isolating grain size effects on Nd and Sr isotope variability in Indus delta sediment provenance. Chemical Geology, 485, pp. 56-73. (doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2018.03.036)

Jonell, T. N. , Owen, L. A., Carter, A., Schwenniger, J.-L. and Clift, P. D. (2018) Quantifying episodic erosion and transient storage on the western margin of the Tibetan Plateau, upper Indus River. Quaternary Research, 89(1), pp. 281-306. (doi: 10.1017/qua.2017.92)

2017

Xu, G., Liu, J., Hu, G., Jonell, T. N. and Chen, L. (2017) Distribution and source of organic matter in surface sediment from the muddy deposit along the Zhejiang coast, East China Sea. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 123(1-2), pp. 395-399. (doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.08.053)

Amato, J. M., Mack, G. H., Jonell, T. N. , Seager, W. R. and Upchurch, G. R. (2017) Onset of the Laramide orogeny and associated magmatism in southern New Mexico based on U-Pb geochronology. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 129(9-10), pp. 1209-1226. (doi: 10.1130/B31629.1)

Jonell, T. N. , Clift, P. D., Hoang, L. V., Hoang, T., Carter, A., Wittmann, H., Böning, P., Pahnke, K. and Rittenour, T. (2017) Controls on erosion patterns and sediment transport in a monsoonal, tectonically quiescent drainage, Song Gianh, central Vietnam. Basin Research, 29(S1), pp. 659-683. (doi: 10.1111/bre.12199)

Clift, P. D., Zheng, H., Carter, A., Böning, P., Jonell, T. N. , Schorr, H., Shan, X., Pahnke, K., Wei, X. and Rittenour, T. (2017) Controls on erosion in the western Tarim Basin: Implications for the uplift of northwest Tibet and the Pamir. Geosphere, 13(5), pp. 1747-1765. (doi: 10.1130/GES01378.1)

Jonell, T. N. , Carter, A., Böning, P., Pahnke, K. and Clift, P. D. (2017) Climatic and glacial impact on erosion patterns and sediment provenance in the Himalayan rain shadow, Zanskar River, NW India. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 129(7-8), pp. 820-836. (doi: 10.1130/B31573.1)

2014

Clift, P. D., Carter, A. and Jonell, T. N. (2014) U-Pb dating of detrital zircon grains in the Paleocene Stumpata Formation, Tethyan Himalaya, Zanskar, India. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 82, pp. 80-89. (doi: 10.1016/j.jseaes.2013.12.014)

This list was generated on Tue Apr 22 00:54:35 2025 BST.
Jump to: Articles | Conference or Workshop Item
Number of items: 26.

Articles

Li, G. et al. (2024) Asynchronous Holocene lake evolution in arid mid-latitude Asia is driven by glacial meltwater and variations in Westerlies and the East Asian summer monsoon. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 136(11-12), pp. 4579-4594. (doi: 10.1130/b37288.1)

Jonell, T. N. , Jones, P. , Lucas, A. and Naylor, S. (2024) Limited waterpower contributed to rise of steam power in British 'Cottonopolis'. PNAS Nexus, 3(7), pgae251. (doi: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae251)

Ao, H. et al. (2024) Orbital- and millennial-scale Asian winter monsoon variability across the Pliocene–Pleistocene glacial intensification. Nature Communications, (doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-47274-9) (PMID:38641605) (PMCID:PMC11031568) (Early Online Publication)

Jonell, T. N. , Calton, I. N., Hurst, M. D. , Jones, P. , Lucas, A. R. and Naylor, S. (2023) Shaping landscapes and industry: linking historic watermill locations to bedrock river knickpoints. Scottish Geographical Journal, 139(3-4), pp. 328-345. (doi: 10.1080/14702541.2023.2205853)

Jones, P. , Jonell, T. N. , Hurst, M. D. , Lucas, A. R. and Naylor, S. (2023) Location, location, location: reassessing W.H.K. Turner’s legacy for industrial geography in Scotland and beyond. Scottish Geographical Journal, 139(1-2), pp. 205-218. (doi: 10.1080/14702541.2023.2178666)

Ao, H. et al. (2023) Northern hemisphere ice sheet expansion intensified Asian aridification and the winter monsoon across the mid-Pleistocene transition. Communications Earth and Environment, 4(1), 36. (doi: 10.1038/s43247-023-00686-9)

Yang, Y., Nie, J., Miao, Y., Wan, S. and Jonell, T. N. (2022) Editorial: Tibetan Plateau uplift and environmental impacts: new progress and perspectives. Frontiers in Earth Science, 10, 1020354. (doi: 10.3389/feart.2022.1020354)

Jonell, T. N. , Giosan, L., Clift, P. D., Carter, A., Bertschneider, L., Hathorne, E. C.,, Barbarano, M., Garzanti, E., Vezzoli, G. and Naing, T. (2022) No modern Irrawaddy River until the late Miocene-Pliocene. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 584, 117516. (doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117516)

Andjić, G., Zhou, R., Jonell, T. N. and Aitchison, J. C. (2022) A single Dras‐Kohistan‐Ladakh arc revealed by volcaniclastic records. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 23(3), e2021GC010042. (doi: 10.1029/2021GC010042)

Ao, H. et al. (2021) Eccentricity-paced monsoon variability on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau in the Late Oligocene high CO2 world. Science Advances, 7(51), eabk2318. (doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abk2318) (PMID:34910508) (PMCID:PMC8673770)

Clift, P. D. and Jonell, T. N. (2021) Monsoon controls on sediment generation and transport: Mass budget and provenance constraints from the Indus River catchment, delta and submarine fan over tectonic and multimillennial timescales. Earth Science Reviews, 220, 103682. (doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103682)

Jonell, T. N. , Aitchison, J. C., Li, G., Shulmeister, J., Zhou, R. and Zhang, H. (2020) Revisiting growth and decline of late Quaternary mega-lakes across the south-central Tibetan Plateau. Quaternary Science Reviews, 248, 106475. (doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106475)

Clift, P. D., Calvès, G. and Jonell, T. N. (2020) Evidence for simple volcanic rifting not complex subduction initiation in the Laxmi Basin. Nature Communications, 11, 2733. (doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-16569-y) (PMID:32483227) (PMCID:PMC7264180)

Li, G. et al. (2020) Paleoclimatic changes and modulation of East Asian summer monsoon by high-latitude forcing over the last 130,000 years as revealed by independently dated loess-paleosol sequences on the NE Tibetan Plateau. Quaternary Science Reviews, 237, 106283. (doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106283)

Jonell, T. N. , Clift, P. D. and Bloethe, J. H. (2020) Climatic Controls on Continental Erosion and Sediment Transport (CLAST2019). GSA Today, 30, pp. 38-39.

Dailey, S. K. et al. (2020) Large-scale mass wasting on the Miocene continental margin of western India. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 132(1-2), pp. 85-112. (doi: 10.1130/B35158.1)

Jonell, T. N. , Li, Y., Blusztajn, J., Giosan, L. and Clift, P. D. (2018) Signal or noise? Isolating grain size effects on Nd and Sr isotope variability in Indus delta sediment provenance. Chemical Geology, 485, pp. 56-73. (doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2018.03.036)

Jonell, T. N. , Owen, L. A., Carter, A., Schwenniger, J.-L. and Clift, P. D. (2018) Quantifying episodic erosion and transient storage on the western margin of the Tibetan Plateau, upper Indus River. Quaternary Research, 89(1), pp. 281-306. (doi: 10.1017/qua.2017.92)

Xu, G., Liu, J., Hu, G., Jonell, T. N. and Chen, L. (2017) Distribution and source of organic matter in surface sediment from the muddy deposit along the Zhejiang coast, East China Sea. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 123(1-2), pp. 395-399. (doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.08.053)

Amato, J. M., Mack, G. H., Jonell, T. N. , Seager, W. R. and Upchurch, G. R. (2017) Onset of the Laramide orogeny and associated magmatism in southern New Mexico based on U-Pb geochronology. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 129(9-10), pp. 1209-1226. (doi: 10.1130/B31629.1)

Jonell, T. N. , Clift, P. D., Hoang, L. V., Hoang, T., Carter, A., Wittmann, H., Böning, P., Pahnke, K. and Rittenour, T. (2017) Controls on erosion patterns and sediment transport in a monsoonal, tectonically quiescent drainage, Song Gianh, central Vietnam. Basin Research, 29(S1), pp. 659-683. (doi: 10.1111/bre.12199)

Clift, P. D., Zheng, H., Carter, A., Böning, P., Jonell, T. N. , Schorr, H., Shan, X., Pahnke, K., Wei, X. and Rittenour, T. (2017) Controls on erosion in the western Tarim Basin: Implications for the uplift of northwest Tibet and the Pamir. Geosphere, 13(5), pp. 1747-1765. (doi: 10.1130/GES01378.1)

Jonell, T. N. , Carter, A., Böning, P., Pahnke, K. and Clift, P. D. (2017) Climatic and glacial impact on erosion patterns and sediment provenance in the Himalayan rain shadow, Zanskar River, NW India. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 129(7-8), pp. 820-836. (doi: 10.1130/B31573.1)

Clift, P. D., Carter, A. and Jonell, T. N. (2014) U-Pb dating of detrital zircon grains in the Paleocene Stumpata Formation, Tethyan Himalaya, Zanskar, India. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 82, pp. 80-89. (doi: 10.1016/j.jseaes.2013.12.014)

Conference or Workshop Item

Andjic, G., Zhou, R., Jonell, T. N. and Aitchison, J. C. (2021) Dissimilar Age and Provenance of the Nindam and Jurutze Volcaniclastic Formations, Zanskar Gorge, Ladakh (India). EGU General Assembly 2021, 19-30 Apr 2021. (doi: 10.5194/egusphere-egu21-7181)

Clift, P. and Jonell, T. (2021) Himalayan-Tibetan Erosion is not the Cause of Neogene Global Cooling. EGU General Assembly 2021, 19-30 Apr 2021. (doi: 10.5194/egusphere-egu21-1232)

This list was generated on Tue Apr 22 00:54:35 2025 BST.

Grants

2024

  • Workshop grant support, British Society for the History of Science
  • Conference travel support, SAGES Small Grants Scheme

2023

  • Research Enabling Fund, UG School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, ‘Illuminating the secret histories of Scottish Rivers’
  • Conference travel support, UG School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, AGU Fall Meeting

2019

  • Travel support, 15 early career researchers and three mid-career female keynotes, 2019 Geological Society of America Penrose Conference entitled ‘CLAST2019: Climatic controls on continental erosion and sediment transport’, US National Science Foundation Geomorphology and Land-use Dynamics Program, the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Program, the Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology Program, the Tectonics Program, and the Paleoperspectives on Climate Change Program.  Grant awarded to the US-based co-proponent to administer, USD$32,000
  • Conference support, Geological Society of America Penrose Conference ‘CLAST2019: Climatic controls on continental erosion and sediment transport, The Geological Society of America Foundation, USD$15,000

2015

  • Primary investigator, Farouk El-Baz Student Research Grant, Quaternary Science Division, Geological Society of America, ‘River terraces suggest summer monsoonal precipitation controls sediment storage even in the Himalayan rain shadow’, USD$2,500
  • Primary investigator, Student Research Grant, Geological Society of America, “River terraces suggest summer monsoonal precipitation controls sediment storage even in the Himalayan rain shadow”, USD$1,148

Supervision

2022-present: 

  • College of Science and Engineering Thesis Mentor Programme (4 students)

2020

  • Jing Liu, UQ Honours, Project title: Links between tectonics and landscape evolution in New Caledonia (co-advised with Dr. Renjie Zhou, UQ)

2019

  • Sangay Pelzang, UQ Senior Research Project, Project title: Remote Sensing of Spatio-Temporal Environmental Change of Gangtey-Phobjikha Wetland, Bhutan (1990–2018)

2018

  • Bethany Kolb, ULL Honors Student Contract, Project title: Paleontological Volunteer at Lafayette Science Museum, Lafayette, Louisiana

2016–2017

  • Kingslee Vinson, LSU EnvironMentors, Project title: The effect of natural materials on storm runoff chemistry

2015–2016

  • Cedric Taylor, LSU EnvironMentors, Project title: Feeding Mentha piperita (chocolate mint) 10% benzoyl peroxide facial products

Teaching

2023

  • UG GEOG2001 (guest instructor) 
  • UG EARTH4090: Landscape Dynamics (guest instructor) 

2021

  • UG EARTH4090: Landscape Dynamics (guest instructor) 
  • UQ ERTH3110: Marine Geoscience (guest instructor) 

2019–2020

  • UQ ERTH2005: Earth Materials (guest instructor) 

2017–2018

  • ULL GEOL106: Earth History
  • ULL GEOL225: Introduction to Earth Science

2017

  • LSU GEOL3666: Senior Geology Field Camp

2016

  • LSU WGS1001: Evolution of Sex and Gender
  • LSU GEOL1001: Physical Geology

2012–2016 (as graduate instructor)

  • LSU GEOL3666: Senior Geology Field Camp
  • LSU GEOL3041: Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology
  • LSU GEOL2081: Mineralogy
  • LSU GEOL3071: Structural Geology
  • LSU GEOL1001: Physical Geology

2010–2012 (as graduate instructor)

  • NMSU GEOL335V: Natural Hazards
  • NMSU GEOL1110G: Physical Geology

Professional activities & recognition

Prizes, awards & distinctions

  • 2019: Travel support, 15 early career researchers and three mid-career female keynotes, 2019 Geological Society of America Penrose Conference ‘CLAST2019: Climatic controls on continental erosion and sediment transport’ (US National Science Foundation)
  • 2019: Conference support, Geological Society of America Penrose Conference ‘CLAST2019: Climatic controls on continental erosion and sediment transport (Geological Society of America)
  • 2015-2016: Farouk El-Baz Student Research Grant (Geological Society of America)
  • 2015-2016: Student Research Grant (Geological Society of America)
  • 2024: Small Grant Scheme (SAGES)
  • 2024: Research Enabling Fund (UG School of Geographical and Earth Sciences)

Editorial boards

  • 2018 - 2024: Frontiers in Earth Science, Sedimentology and Stratigraphy Review Editor
  • 2024 - present: JGR Earth Surface Associate Editor

Selected international presentations

  • 2021: Invited Speaker (Louisiana State University)
  • 2020: Invited Speaker (The University of Queensland)
  • 2019: Invited Speaker (University of Lausanne)
  • 2018: Invited Speaker (Lanzhou University)

Jonell_smiling