Simon Armitage graduated with a BA in Geography at the University of Oxford before moving to the University of Wales Aberystwyth to research his PhD entitled “Testing and application of luminescence techniques using sediment from the southeast African coast” under the supervision of Prof. Ann Wintle and Prof. Geoff Duller. He finished his PhD and moved back to Oxford where he was employed for four years as a postdoctoral researcher on two NERC funded projects. Simon was appointed Lecturer in Physical Geography at Royal Holloway in 2006.

Geomorphology, climate and archaeology of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula
My research focusses on long-term landscape evolution, palaeoclimatic reconstruction and human-environment interactions in prehistoric societies in African and Arabian drylands over the last ~half million years. This work is conducted using a combination of extensive fieldwork, often in remote locations and as part of an interdisciplinary team, and rigorous laboratory analysis at the Royal Holloway luminescence dating facility, which I direct. 

Luminescence dating

My main tool for geographical research is luminescence dating of sedimentary quartz and feldspar. Over the last two decades the single-aliquot regenerative dose technique has led to significant decreases in the uncertainties associated with lumienscence ages, but these improvements have led to the identification of additional sources of error which were previously of negligible importance. My research into the luminescence properties of quartz and feldspar has been driven by the requirement to enhance the credibility of ages generated as part of my ongoing interests in geomorphololgy, climate change and archaeology. This has led to research into the generation of accurate ages for sediments from challenging environments such as the deep ocean, long palaeoclimate sequences (e.g. Lakes Malawi and Bosumtwi), African/Arabian palaeolakes and palaeolithic archaeological sites.