M.W. Dee, Prof Dr

Research Interests
Radiocarbon sample preparation and measurement • Bayesian statistical modelling • Cosmogenic isotope production and astrophysical events • Chronology of early civilisations • Integrating disparate chronometric data • Origins and transference of technology
Education
- 2006 – 2009 DPhil (University of Oxford). A High-Precision Radiocarbon Chronology for Ancient Egypt Using Bayesian Statistical Modelling. Supervisor: Professor C. Bronk Ramsey
- 1992 – 1996 BSc (Hons) Chemistry, First Class (University of Wellington)
Recent Employment History
- 2013 – 2016 Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU): Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow
- 2010 – 2013 ORAU: Postdoctoral Research Assistant
- 2009 – 2010 ORAU: Postdoctoral Chemist
- 2000 – 2005 Positions outside academia, mostly in financial management, City of London (SocGén, Accenture)
Skills
- Chemical preparation of stable and radioisotope samples
- Bayesian and Classical statistical techniques
- Languages (Formal): CQL, Python, html
- Languages (Natural): English, French (advanced), Middle Egyptian (elementary)
Academic Awards and Career Highlights
- ERC Horizon 2020 Starter Grant award winner 2016
- 1st author of article in Proceedings of Royal Society A: Mathematical and Physical Sciences covered by BBC Radio and The Guardian, 2016
- 2nd author, Best Article of the Year 2014, Antiquity
- 2nd in Division by University of Oxford (nominations for Leverhulme Research Leadership Award 2016)
- ERC Horizon 2020 Starter Grant interviewee 2015 (Universe Sciences Panel)
- Junior Research Fellowship 2013-2016, St Edmund Hall, Oxford
- 1st author, Most Downloaded Article of the Year, 2013 Proceedings of Royal Society A: Mathematical and Physical Sciences. Featured in news globally, including BBC TV, BBC Radio and webpage (2nd most shared of the day); NBC News, Die Spiegel and the South China Morning Post
- Early Career Fellowship 2013-2016, Leverhulme Trust
- DPhil research published in Science. Project featured as one of three research highlights in University of Oxford’s Annual Review 2009 – 2010. Featured in news globally including the New York Times
- 1st prize Student Oral Presentations, UKAS 2007, University of Cambridge
Teaching and Supervision
- University lecturer Expermental Methods in Trace Gas Research 2018 -, and Radiocarbon Dating and Analysis, University of Groningen, 2019 -
- University teacher Professionalism in Science, University of Groningen, 2018 -
- Short-course designer and tutor: Radiocarbon Dating and Bayesian Modelling, held at University of Arizona (April 2015) and Peking University (May 2015)
- Co-supervisor of DPhil student, University of Oxford, 2014 – 2017
- Supervisor BSc (Chemistry) internship, University of Oxford, 2014
- Tutor MSc (Archaeological Science), University of Oxford, 2006 – 2016
- Tutor BSc (Chemistry), University of Wellington, 1995 – 1996
Other Responsibilities
- Appointment panel member, NERC Doctoral Training Programme, University of Oxford, 2016
- Session Chair, 22nd International Radiocarbon Conference, 2015
- Chair of Organising Committee, St Edmund Hall Research Expo, 2015
- Convener, Departmental Seminar Series, 2014 – 2016
Grant Funding Track Record
- 1st author & PI: Exact Chronology of Early Societies (ERC, 2016: €1,500,000)
- Co-author & Co-I: Predynastic Egyptian Chronologies and the Cemetery of Naqada (National Radiocarbon Facility, 2016: £5,280)
- 1st author & PI: Past Surges in Cosmic Radiation and Exact Ancient History (Fell Fund, 2015: £81,121)
- Co-author & Co-I: A Guest Star in the Woods: Detecting Supernova 185 in the Tree-ring 14C Record (Balliol Interdisciplinary Institute, 2014: £3,000)
- 1st author & PI: Fractured Land: Drought and the Fall of Old Kingdom Egypt (Leverhulme Trust, 2012: £113,068)
- 1st author: The Origins of Nationhood: A New Chronology for the Formation of the Egyptian State (Leverhulme Trust, 2009: £170,550)
Selected Invited Lectures
- Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON), 2018; Harvard University 2017; Musée Nationale de l’Histoire Naturelle, Paris; British Museum; Durham University; University of Cardiff, 2016; University of Chicago, University of California San Diego, University College London (Public), Aberystwyth University, 2015; Ashmolean Museum (Public), 2013; University of Berlin, 2011
Referees
- Professor Christopher Bronk Ramsey: ORAU, University of Oxford
- Professor Sturt Manning: Cornell Tree-ring Laboratory, Cornell University
- Professor Thomas Higham: ORAU, University of Oxford
- Professor Walter Kutschera: Isotope Research and Nuclear Physics, University of Vienna
- Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe, Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford
Last modified: | 24 January 2019 10.53 p.m. |