Paula Reimer
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Paula Jo Reimer is a radiocarbon and archaeological scientist. Reimer is the former director of the 14Chrono Centre for Climate, the Environment, and Chronology at
Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...
.


Biography

Reimer has a BSc in Physics (1974) and MSc in Biophysics (1976) from
Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...
. She was awarded her PhD in Geological Sciences, working with Minze Stuiver, from
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
in 1998. She worked at the Quaternary Isotope Lab at Washington from 1977 to 1998, after which she moved to Queen's University Belfast for a
Postdoctoral fellowship A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...
in 1998–2001. This was followed by a second postdoctoral fellowship at the
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Livermore, California, United States. Originally established in 1952, the laboratory now i ...
from 2001 to 2004. In 2004, she became director of the 14Chrono Centre at Queen's until her retirement in 2023. Paula's research has focussed around improving
radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for Chronological dating, determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of carbon-14, radiocarbon, a radioactive Isotop ...
and
calibration In measurement technology and metrology, calibration is the comparison of measurement values delivered by a device under test with those of a calibration standard of known accuracy. Such a standard could be another measurement device of known ...
, with a particular focus on understanding carbon cycling and radiocarbon reservoirs. Alongside Minze Stuiver, she developed the first internationally-agreed radiocarbon age calibration curve (IntCal98) and provided the first freely-available software package (CALIB) to calibrate radiocarbon dates. From 2002-2020, Paula chaired the International Radiocarbon Calibration (INTCAL) Working Group.
INTCAL Radiocarbon dating measurements produce ages in "radiocarbon years", which must be converted to calendar ages by a process called calibration. Calibration is needed because the atmospheric / ratio, which is a key element in calculating radiocarbo ...
provide (regular-updated) internationally-agreed radiocarbon calibration curves for the Northern and Southern Hemispheric Atmosphere (denoted IntCalXX and SHCalXX), and the global surface oceans (MarineXX), where XX denotes the year in which the update was provided. These calibration curves enable consistent and comparable radiocarbon dating across the life and environmental sciences. During Paula's tenure as chair, she oversaw the production of IntCal04, IntCal09, IntCal13, and IntCal20. The advances provided by these curves have extended
radiocarbon calibration Radiocarbon dating measurements produce ages in "radiocarbon years", which must be converted to calendar ages by a process called calibration. Calibration is needed because the atmospheric / ratio, which is a key element in calculating radiocarbo ...
to the technique’s limit 55,000 years ago.


Awards

Reimer was awarded the
Lyell Medal The Lyell Medal is a prestigious annual scientific medal given by the Geological Society of London, equal in status to the Murchison Medal. This medal is awarded based on one Earth Scientist's exceptional contribution of research to the scientific ...
from
The Geological Society The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe, with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...
in 2013. She was elected to the
Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...
in 2014. In December 2020, Reimer was voted the 2021 'Archaeologist of the Year' in the annual
Current Archaeology ''Current Archaeology'' is a British monthly archaeology magazine. Summary ''Current Archaeology'' describes itself as the "United Kingdom's best selling archaeology magazine", a claim substantiated by British Archaeological Jobs and Resources o ...
awards. In 2021 Reimer was the recipient of the Pomerance Award for Scientific Contributions to Archaeology from the
Archaeological Institute of America The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is North America, North America's oldest learned society and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. AIA professionals have carried out archaeological fieldwork around the world and ...
in recognition of her "distinguished record of contributions to the advancement of archaeological science". Reimer was the recipient of the James Croll Medal from the Quaternary Research Association in January 2022. In July 2022, she was appointed as Honorary Officer of the
Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(OBE), for "services to Radiocarbon Dating, Calibration and Chronology". In 2024, Paula was awarded the Rip Rapp Archaeological Geology Award of
The Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitch ...
for outstanding contributions to the interdisciplinary field of archaeological geology.


Selected (key) publications

A full list of Reimer's publications can be foun
here
*Reimer P.J., Austin W.E.N., Bard E., Bayliss A., Blackwell P.G., Bronk Ramsey C., Butzin M., Cheng H., Edwards R.L., Friedrich M., Grootes P.M., Guilderson T.P., Hajdas I., Heaton T.J., Hogg A.G., Hughen K.A., Kromer B., Manning S.W., Muscheler R., Palmer J.G., Pearson C., van der Plicht J., Reimer R.W., Richards D.A., Scott E.M., Southon J.R., Turney C.S.M, Wacker L., Adolphi F., Büntgen U., Capano M., Fahrni S.M., Fogtmann-Schulz A., Friedrich R., Köhler P., Kudsk S., Miyake F., Olsen J., Reinig F., Sakamoto M., Sookdeo A., Talamo S. 2020. "The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve (0–55 cal kBP)". ''Radiocarbon'' * Reimer PJ ''et al.'' 2013. IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves 0–50,000 years cal BP. ''Radiocarbon'' 55(4):1869–1887 *Reimer PJ ''et al.'' 2009. IntCal09 and Marine09 radiocarbon age calibration curves, 0–50,000 years cal BP. ''Radiocarbon'' 51(4):1111–50 *Reimer PJ ''et al.'' 2004 IntCal04 terrestrial radiocarbon age calibration, 0-26 cal kyr BP. ''Radiocarbon'' 46(3):1029–1058 *Stuiver M and Reimer PJ 1993 Extended 14C Data Base and Revised CALIB 3.0 14C Age Calibration Program ''Radiocarbon'' 35(1):215–230 *Stuiver M, Reimer PJ ''et al.'' 1998 INTCAL98 Radiocarbon Age Calibration, 24,000–0 cal BP. ''Radiocarbon'' 40(3):1041–1083 *Heaton TJ ''et al.'' Radiocarbon: A key tracer for studying Earth’s dynamo, climate system, carbon cycle, and Sun ''
Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
(invited review)''


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reimer, Paula Living people Members of the Royal Irish Academy Academics of Queen's University Belfast American women archaeologists Women climatologists Lyell Medal winners Iowa State University alumni University of Washington Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women Honorary officers of the Order of the British Empire