Ann Grace Wintle is a British geophysicist and is the pioneer of

luminescence dating Luminescence dating refers to a group of methods of determining how long ago mineral grains were last exposed to sunlight or sufficient heating. It is useful to geologists and archaeologists who want to know when such an event occurred. It uses var ...

, by increasing the precision of existing methods and maximum age of fossil the method is able to reliably date. She also set up the NERC luminescence dating facility in

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...

, Wales.

Early life and education

Wintle was born in 1948 in Hampshire. She studied physics at the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

in 1969, however she also had a fondness for archaeology, which she credits her mother and Sir Mortimer Wheeler’s TV and radio programmes. She combined both of these interests in her PhD from the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Career and research

After completing her studies, she completed a post-doc at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and then spent two years at Simon Fraser University. In 1979, she moved to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, and in 1987 was a lecturer at Royal Holloway, then left for

. In 2000, she spent time at

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

in Sweden as a guest professor. Wintle is an Emeritus Professor at

Aberystwyth University , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences. Her work focuses on luminescence dating, a field at the intersection of archaeology, geology and physics. She studies and applies techniques to date samples from sedimentary deposits containing minerals such as quartz or feldspars. This process is used in archaeology, to date traces of human activity or fossils, and in geology, to trace changes in climate conditions.

Awards and honours

Wintle is an Honorary Member of the Quaternary Research Association and a Senior Fellow of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research in

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. In 2008, she won the Institute of Physics Edward Appleton Medal and Prize for ''her outstanding contribution in the development and application of luminescence properties of minerals as a geological dating tool applicable to the past one million years''. In 2015, she was awarded the Liu Tungsheng Distinguished Career Medal For Distinguished Service To The International Community In Quaternary Science. In 2018, she received the James Croll Medal from the Quaternary Research Association. She has received Honorary Doctorates from the University of Uppsala in 2001, the

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment of ...

, Australia, in 2016 as well as the

in 2019. She is recognised for her contributions to the development of the field of luminescence dating, for her collaborative work in establishing luminescence dating research laboratories around the world, and for her mentorship.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wintle, Ann Living people British geophysicists Alumni of the University of Sussex Alumni of the University of Oxford 1948 births