Brian Dermody writes best thesis in Environmental Sciences in 5 last years
Brian Dermody from Utrecht University received the prestigious Martinus van Marum Prize last Friday, June 17th for the thesis "Sol Invictus: Holocene Climate Change and its Impact in the Roman Mediterranean", which he wrote in 2014. The prize consists of a medal and a cheque for €12,500 and is awarded every 5 years by the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and the J.C. Ruigrok Foundation for a thesis in the field of Environmental Sciences.
Impact on past societies
Brian’s thesis addressed the impact that climate change had on past societies. To do so he carried out statistical analyses of climate reconstructions to understand the causes of climate change during the Holocene. His findings indicated that solar and orbital forcing combined to cause changes in climate during the past 10,000 years. He then focused his attention on the impact these past changes in climate had on the Roman civilisation living in the Mediterranean region.
Highly effective
To do so, he combined historical and biophysical data within a novel modelling platform that allowed him to explore the role that food trade and irrigation played in providing the Roman’s with a buffer against climate change. His results illustrated that these practices were highly effective at buffering against climate variability and greatly increased the carrying capacity of the Roman world. However, the associated population growth and urbanisation made the Roman World highly dependent on trade and irrigation, meaning they were vulnerable socio-political changes that may have undermined these practices.
Interdisciplinary approach
The jury complemented Brian for his interdisciplinary approach and efforts to understand complex feedbacks between humans and their environment. They highlighted that such approaches are important for moving the field of environmental sciences forward. "Despite this study focusing on a civilisation that existed more than a thousand years ago, the findings and approach are pertinent to understanding how we can achieve sustainable food security under anthropogenic climate change” said Dr. Stefan Dekker, prof. Dr Martin Wassen and prof. Dr. Marc Bierkens, who supervised Brian during his PhD thesis.