Valery Terwilliger

I am interested in reconstructing palaeoenvironmental changes and in whether these changes influence the rise and fall of complex civilizations.  I have conducted studies to improve knowledge of physical, biological, and biogeochemical influences on stable isotopic compositions of elements in biological matter and in water. These studies include stable isotopic analyses of carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen of bulk as well as fractions and specific compounds of biological matter.  Recently, I have been focusing on Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite civilisations in northern Ethiopia.  The stable isotopic methods that I use for this work include analyses of carbon and nitrogen and of hydrogen in specific lipid compounds derived from plants (≥ C₂₆) in soil organic matter. I am one of the founders of the Palaeoenvironmental Study group working with the Eastern Tigray Archaeological Program (ETAP).

Brief Curriculum Vitae

Professional Preparation:

• McDaniel College, Biology: BA, cum laude, 1977
• University of Florida, Forestry: MS, 1980-82
• University of California Los Angeles, Geography: PhD, 1984-88
• Hebrew University (Israel), Posdoctoral Research Earth Sciences Institute: 1989-1990
• University of California Santa Barbara, Posdoctoral Research Dept of Geological Sciences (stable isotopes biogechemistry): 1989-1991

Appointments:

• Adjunct Professor, Archaeology: Simon Fraser University, 2019-present
• Adjunct Professor, Geography: University of Kansas, 1998-2008
• AssistantProfessor, Geography: University of Kansas, 1991-1998

Visiting Appointments:

• Visitin Researcher, EDGE Institute: University of California, Riverside, 2017-2019
• Visiting Professor, Natural Sciences: Universy of California, Merced, 2016
• Senior Science Fellow: Le STUDIUM L'Institute des Sciences de la Terre Orléans, 2011-2013
• Visiting Researcher: Université François Rabelais, Tours, 2008-2010
• Senior Science Fellow: Smithsonian Environmental Research Centre, 2002-2004
• Visiting Scholar: Carnegie Institution of Washington, 2002-2004, 2010
• Visiting Scholar (sabbatical): Columbia University Biosphere 2 Centre, 1999-2000

Selected Publications:

Jacob, J., N. Bossard, T. Bariac, V. Terwilliger, P. Biron, P. Richard, C. Le Milbeau, E. Vergès, 2021. Hydrogen isotopic fractionations during syntheses of lipid biomarkers in the seeds of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) under controlled environmental conditions Organic Geochemistry doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2021.104221 .

Berdagué, P., P. Lesot, J. Jacob, V. J. Terwilliger, and C. Le Milbeau.  2016. Contribution of NAD 2D-NMR in liquid crystals to the determination of hydrogen isotope profile of methyl groups in miliacin.  Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 137:337-351.

Ghashghaie J, F.W. Badeck, C. Girardin, C. Huignard, Z. Aydinlis, C. Fonteny, C. Fresneau, M. Lamothe-Sibold, P. Streb, V. J. Terwilliger.  2016. Changes and their possible causes in δ¹³C of dark-respired CO₂ and its putative bulk and soluble sources during maize ontogeny. Journal of Experimental Botany.  67:2603-2615.

Terwilliger V. J., Z. Eshetu, J. R. Disnar, J. Jacob J, W. P. Adderley, Y. Huang, M. Alexandre, M. L. Fogel. 2013. Environmental changes and the rise and fall of civilizations in the northern Horn of Africa: an approach combining δD analyses of land-plant derived fatty acids with multiple proxies in soil.  Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 111:140-161.

Bossard N, J. J. Jacob, C. Le Milbeau, J. Sauze, V. J. Terwilliger, B. Poissonnier, E. Verges. 2013.  Distribution of miliacin (olean-18-en-3β-ol methyl ether) and related compounds in broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) and other reputed sources: Implications for the use of sedimentary miliacin as a tracer of millet Organic Geochemistry 63:48-55.

Daniau A. L., ... V. Terwilliger, (60 authors). 2012. Predictability of biomass burning in response to climate changes.  Global Biogeochemical Cycles  26: GB4007, doi:10.1029/2011GB004249.

Terwilliger, V. J., Z. Eshetu, M. Alexandre, Y. Huang, M. Umer, and T. Gebru.  2011.  Local variation in climate and land use during the time of the major kingdoms of the Tigray Plateau of Ethiopia and Eritrea.  Catena 85: 130-143.

Gebru, T., Z. Eshetu, Y. Huang, T. Woldemariam, N. Strong, M. Umer, M. DiBlasi and V. J. Terwilliger.  2009.  Holocene palaeovegetation of the Tigray Plateau in northern Ethiopia from charcoal and stable organic carbon isotopic analyses of gully sediments.  Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, and Palaeoecology 282: 67-80.

Terwilliger, V. J., Z. Eshetu, A. Colman, T. Bekele, A. Gezahgne, and M. L. Fogel.  2008. Reconstructing palaeoenvironment from δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values of soil organic matter: a calibration from arid and wetter elevation transects in Ethiopia. Geoderma 147: 197-210.

Terwilliger, V. J., J. L. Betancourt, S. W. Leavitt, P. K. Van de Water.  2002. Leaf cellulose δD and δ¹⁸O trends with elevation differ in direction among co-occurring, semi-arid plant species. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 66:3887-3900.

Terwilliger, V. J., K. Kitajima, D. J. Le Roux-Swarthout, S. S. Mulkey, and S. J. Wright. 2001. Intrinsic water-use efficiency and heterotrophic investment in tropical leaf growth of two Neotropical pioneer tree species as estimated from δ¹³C values. New Phytologist 152:267-281.

Terwilliger, V. J. and M. J. DeNiro.  1995.  Hydrogen isotope fractionation in wood-producing avocado seedlings: Biological constraints to paleoclimatic interpretations of δD values in tree ring cellulose nitrate.  Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 59:5199-5207.

Graduate Students Sponsored:

• PhD:Debbie Le Roux-Swarthout, Eunmi Chang Park; Zhang
• MS: Tsige Gebru, Mekonnen Getahun, Jack Livingston, Joseph Terry (4 total)

Post-doctoral Researchers Sponsored:

• Jun (Alex) Huang, Nikki Strong (2 total)