Staff Profile
Dr Silvia Frisia
Senior Lecturer
School of Environmental and Life Sciences
EditCareer Summary
Biography
Silvia has specialised in carbonate mineralogy and geochemistry while doing her Master of Science research at Berkeley (USA). She used Transmission Electron Microscopy and stable isotope analyses to recognise multi-step dolomitisation in carbonate platforms. Subsequently, she pioneered the study of terrestrial carbonate micro-structural and micro-morphological analyses as tool to reconstruct changes in their environments of formation, and relate these changes to climate and environmental parameters. These studies became the baseline for speleothem-based palaeoclimate Subsequently, Silvia pioneered the application of synchrotron radiation micro X-Ray fluorescence spectroscopy to speleothem studies. A major breakthrough of synchrotron work was the detection of sulphate layers in stalagmites which recorded past volcanic eruptions.
The impact of Silvia's work is obviously circumscribed within the Earth Sciences community, and more specifically within carbonate and speleothem researchers. The overall impact in the specified communities is large, but small if compared to the impact of medical, ecological, economic research.
Qualifications
- Doctor of Research, University of Milan - Italy, 15/07/1991
- Master of Science, University of California, Berkeley - USA, 17/12/1983
Research
Research keywords
- C-fluxes in karst systems
- Carbonate Geochemistry
- Carbonate Mineralogy
- Geology
- Speleothems
- Synchrotron Radiation-based low temperature geochemistry
Research expertise
Carbonates: sedimentology, mineralogy and geochemistry. Fabrics, trace element composition and C isotope composition of calcite and aragonite cements formed in continental (cave deposits) and marine (pore-filling) settings. Diagenesis in carbonate platforms, with particular focus on dolomitization. Diagenesis in continental carbonates with implications for re-setting of chemical signals. Synchrotron radiation bases micr XRF spectroscopy applied to low temperature carbonate geochemistry.
Languages
Fields of Research
| Code | Description | Percentage |
|---|
| 040699 | Physical Geography And Environmental Geoscience Not Elsewhere Classified | 65 |
| 040310 | Sedimentology | 25 |
| 020499 | Condensed Matter Physics Not Elsewhere Classified | 10 |
Collaboration
Carbonate minerals petrology, geochemistry and crystallography focused on detecting and solving environmental problems.
Stratigraphy, sedimentary petrology and diagenesis of carbonate platforms.
Optical, Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy-based definition of carbonate minerals fabrics aimed at palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimate reconstructions.
C-fluxes and C-isotope exchange in Karst environments
Administrative
Administrative expertise
Not yeat an expert
Teaching
Teaching keywords
- Carbonate Geochemistry
- Geology
- Geomorphology
- Global Changes
- Sedimentary Petrology
Teaching expertise
Sedimentology and diagenesis of carbonates.
Climate and environmental changes in the past 20.000 years reconstructed from geochemical and mineralogical properties of carbonates.
Geomorphology
EditPublications
No publications.
EditGrants and Funding
Summary
| Number of grants | 27 |
|---|
| Total funding | $1,935,631 |
|---|
For project grants received where the lead institution is other than the University of Newcastle, details are shown in italics.
- Indicates that the researcher may be seeking students for this project.
Click on a grant title below to expand the full details for that specific grant.
2013 (3 grants)
Centre for Sediment Tracing and Surface Modelling$230,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
Individuazione, caratterizzazione e datazione di concrezioni antiche in Trentino (COAN3)$61,658
Funding Body: Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Silvia Frisia |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Research Project | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $61,658 | 2013 | 2013 |
| GNo:G1300786 |
PhD Scholarship for Romina Belli$2,982
Funding Body: University of Melbourne
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Silvia Frisia, Doctor Andrea Borsato, Dr Russell Drysdale |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Shared | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $2,982 | 2013 | 2013 |
| GNo:G1201258 |
2012 (4 grants)
INTCLIM2$18,000
Funding Body: Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Silvia Frisia |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Research Project | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $18,000 | 2012 | 2013 |
| GNo:G1200381 |
Sample preparation and microscopy of Plio-Pleistocene speleothems from Conturines$8,706
Funding Body: University of Innsbruck
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Silvia Frisia |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Research Grant | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $8,706 | 2012 | 2013 |
| GNo:G1201263 |
Earth System Education and Diversity: improving Earth Science literacy within underrepresented minorities$8,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Silvia Frisia |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Career Enhancement Fellowship for Academic Women | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $8,000 | 2012 | 2012 |
| GNo:G1100998 |
Petrography of Conturines Stalagmites$6,000
Funding Body: University of Innsbruck
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Silvia Frisia |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Research Grant | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $6,000 | 2012 | 2013 |
| GNo:G1101191 |
2011 (6 grants)
When the ice melts: a new perspective on the causes of Quaternary glacial terminations$620,000
Funding Body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Russell Drysdale, Dr John Hellstrom, Dr Jonathan Woodhead, Dr Roland Maas, Doctor Silvia Frisia, Dr Giovanni Zanchetta, Professor Anthony Fallick, Dr Mathieu Daeron, Professor Gerrit Lohmann, Professor Maureen Raymo, Dr Maria Sanchez Goni, Dr Christoph Spotl, Dr Eric Wolff |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Discovery Projects | Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $620,000 | 2011 | 2014 |
| GNo:G1000208 |
A state-of-the-art mass spectrometer to analyse carbonate isotopic records of Australia's climate, soil and groundwater history$20,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Silvia Frisia, Doctor Russell Drysdale, Professor Andy Baker |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Equipment Grant | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $20,000 | 2011 | 2011 |
| GNo:G1000481 |
INTCLIM$16,575
Funding Body: Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Silvia Frisia |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Research Project | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $16,575 | 2011 | 2012 |
| GNo:G1100362 |
Emerging Research Leaders Program 2011$15,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Silvia Frisia |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Emerging Research Leaders Program | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $15,000 | 2011 | 2011 |
| GNo:G1101049 |
When the ice melts: a new perspective on the causes of Quaternary glacial terminations$10,000
Funding Body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
| Project Team |
|---|
| Dr Russell Drysdale, Doctor Silvia Frisia |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Discovery Projects | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $10,000 | 2011 | 2013 |
| GNo:G1100225 |
Late Neogene Speleothems from the Nullarbor: a micro XRF investigation of the role of sea level change influence on pre-Glacial mode climates for the Australian continent$7,600
Funding Body: Australian Synchrotron
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Silvia Frisia, Dr Bence Paul |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $7,600 | 2011 | 2011 |
| GNo:G1000960 |
2010 (5 grants)
Radiocarbon activities in soil particle-size fractions at different depths: insight on C dynamics in two NSW forest soils$31,554
Funding Body: AINSE (Australian Institute of Nuclear Science & Engineering)
Ancient weather stations of Australia charting a continents descent into aridity and its ecological consequences$30,860
Funding Body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Silvia Frisia, Dr Jonathan Woodhead |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Discovery Projects | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $30,860 | 2010 | 2012 |
| GNo:G0190121 |
New perspectives on the long-term forcing of Earth's climate from a precisely dated 0.4 to 1.2 Ma speleothem record$20,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Russell Drysdale, Dr John Hellstrom, Dr Jonathan Woodhead, Dr Roland Maas, Doctor Silvia Frisia, Dr Giovanni Zanchetta, Professor Anthony Fallick, Professor Gerrit Lohmann, Professor Maureen Raymo, Dr Maria Sanchez Goni, Dr Christoph Spotl, Dr Hubert Vonhof, Dr Mathieu Daeron, Dr Eric Wolff |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Near Miss Grant | Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $20,000 | 2010 | 2010 |
| GNo:G0900211 |
Karst CO2 fluxes, hydrology & capture of environmental changes: Long term monitoring at Wombeyan Caves NSW$13,000
Funding Body: NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Silvia Frisia |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Project Grant | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $13,000 | 2010 | 2011 |
| GNo:G1000092 |
DAPHNE$3,900
Funding Body: Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Silvia Frisia |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $3,900 | 2010 | 2010 |
| GNo:G0190255 |
2009 (4 grants)
Electron Microscopes for Nanometer-scale Imaging/Microanalysis in the Materials, Biological, Physical, Engineering and Chemical Sciences$650,000
Funding Body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
| Project Team |
|---|
| Professor Erich Kisi, Professor Scott Donne, Doctor Vicki Keast, Associate Professor Alan Brichta, Professor Robert Melchers, Conjoint Professor Christina Offler, Professor John O'Connor, Professor Reza Moheimani, Emeritus Professor John Patrick, Professor Dirk Van Helden, Professor Bruce King, Professor Geoffrey Evans, Professor Hugh Dunstan, Doctor Geoffrey MacFarlane, Associate Professor Yong-Ling Ruan, Doctor Severine Roselli, Doctor Minjie Lin, Professor Christopher Grof, Doctor Silvia Frisia, Doctor Rebecca Lim, Doctor Heber Sugo, Doctor Jennifer Forrester, Doctor Olivier Buzzi, Doctor Andrew Fleming, Professor Erica Wanless, Doctor Clovia Holdsworth, Doctor Russell Drysdale, Professor Stephen Fityus, Associate Professor David McCurdy, Doctor De Zhu |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Linkage Infrastructure Equipment & Facilities (LIEF) | Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $650,000 | 2009 | 2009 |
| GNo:G0189120 |
Electron Microscopes for Nanometer-scale Imaging/Microanalysis in the Materials, Biological, Physical, Engineering and Chemical Sciences$70,000
Funding Body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
| Project Team |
|---|
| Professor Erich Kisi, Professor Scott Donne, Doctor Vicki Keast, Associate Professor Alan Brichta, Professor Robert Melchers, Conjoint Professor Christina Offler, Professor John O'Connor, Professor Reza Moheimani, Emeritus Professor John Patrick, Professor Dirk Van Helden, Professor Bruce King, Professor Geoffrey Evans, Professor Hugh Dunstan, Doctor Geoffrey MacFarlane, Associate Professor Yong-Ling Ruan, Doctor Severine Roselli, Doctor Minjie Lin, Professor Christopher Grof, Doctor Silvia Frisia, Doctor Rebecca Lim, Doctor Heber Sugo, Doctor Jennifer Forrester, Doctor Olivier Buzzi, Doctor Andrew Fleming, Professor Erica Wanless, Doctor Clovia Holdsworth, Doctor Russell Drysdale, Professor Stephen Fityus, Associate Professor David McCurdy, Doctor De Zhu |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Linkage Infrastructure Equipment & Facilities (LIEF) Partner funding | Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $70,000 | 2009 | 2009 |
| GNo:G0190441 |
New frontiers in palaeoclimatology: the first precisely dated record of Earth's climate history between 0.4 - 1.2 million years ago$20,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Russell Drysdale, Dr John Hellstrom, Dr Jonathan Woodhead, Dr Roland Maas, Doctor Silvia Frisia, Dr Giovanni Zanchetta, Professor Anthony Fallick, Professor Gerrit Lohmann, Professor Maureen Raymo, Dr Maria Sanchez Goni, Dr Hubert Vonhof, Dr Eric Wolff |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Near Miss Grant | Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $20,000 | 2009 | 2009 |
| GNo:G0189822 |
S in tropical speleothems as a proxy for volcanic explosivity and a toll for refined geochronology: a microXRF and micro XANES investigations$8,000
Funding Body: Australian Synchrotron
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Silvia Frisia, Mr Michael Griffiths |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $8,000 | 2009 | 2009 |
| GNo:G0190249 |
2008 (3 grants)
14C analyses of organic and inorganic fractions in cave calcareous tufa: implication for 13C significance in speleothems$43,945
Funding Body: AINSE (Australian Institute of Nuclear Science & Engineering)
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Silvia Frisia, Dr David Fink |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Postgraduate Research Award (PGRA) | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $43,945 | 2008 | 2012 |
| GNo:G0188980 |
Factors controlling micromorphology and geochemistry of environmentally important carbonates with focus on relationships between organic matter and mineral surface$7,500
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Silvia Frisia |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| New Staff Grant | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $7,500 | 2008 | 2008 |
| GNo:G0188578 |
AOFSPR Summer School, Cheiron School 2008 travel Sept 29-Oct8, 2008$2,000
Funding Body: Australian Synchrotron
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Silvia Frisia |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Travel Grant | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $2,000 | 2008 | 2008 |
| GNo:G0189500 |
2007 (2 grants)
Exploring new frontiers in palaeoclimatology: reconstructing Northern Hemisphere palaeotemperatures over the last million years from Italian cave deposits$5,519
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Russell Drysdale, Doctor Silvia Frisia |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Pilot Grant | Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $5,519 | 2007 | 2007 |
| GNo:G0187864 |
Exploring new frontiers in palaeoclimatology: reconstructing Northern Hemisphere palaeotemperatures over the last million years from Italian cave deposits$4,832
Funding Body: University of Newcastle - Faculty of Science & IT
| Project Team |
|---|
| Doctor Russell Drysdale, Doctor Silvia Frisia |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Pilot Grant | Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $4,832 | 2007 | 2007 |
| GNo:G0188359 |
EditResearch Supervision
| Number of current supervisions | 1 |
|---|
| Total current UoN PhD EFTSL | 0.25 |
|---|
For supervisions undertaken at an institution other that the University of Newcastle, details are shown in italics, and the institution name is listed below the program name.
Current Supervision
| Commenced | Proposed
Completion | Program | Supervisor Type | Research Title |
|---|
| 2010 | 2013 | PhD (Environmental Eng) | Co-Supervisor | Carbon Isotopes and Chemistry in Soil Particle-Size fractions at Different Depths: Insight on C Dynamics in Two NSW Forest Soils |
Past Supervision
| Year | Program | Supervisor Type | Research Title |
|---|
| 2013 | PhD (Environmental Sc) | Principal Supervisor | Replicate Paleoclimate Multi-Proxy Data Series from Different Speleothems from N. Italy: Reproducibility of the Data and New Methodologies |
