Rate My Professor Alison Blyth

Associate Professor Alison Blyth holds a position in the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences within the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Curtin University, where she also serves as Course Lead for the Bachelor of Science. She earned her PhD in Organic Geochemistry from Newcastle University in the United Kingdom, complemented by undergraduate and master's degrees completed despite challenges posed by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Following her doctorate, Blyth undertook postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Cambridge and The Open University in the UK. In 2012, she joined Curtin University as the sole recipient of the 2011 Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE) Research Fellowship, affiliated with the Western Australian Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre under the Department of Chemistry and WA School of Mines. Her career progression led to her current roles as Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer, contributing to both research and teaching in geochemistry and earth sciences.

Blyth's research specializations encompass paleoenvironments, isotope ecology, organic proxies in speleothems such as δ13C signals, lipid biomarkers, and glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs), lignin biogeochemistry, subterranean ecosystems including stygofauna trophic interactions and carbon flows in groundwater, and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction to detect vegetation and land-use changes. Notable publications include 'Lignin biogeochemistry: from modern processes to Quaternary archives' (Quaternary Science Reviews, 2014), 'Molecular organic matter in speleothems and its potential as an environmental proxy' (Quaternary Science Reviews, 2008), 'Organic proxies in speleothems – New developments, advantages and limitations' (Quaternary Science Reviews, 2016), 'A new perspective on the δ13C signal preserved in speleothems using LC-IRMS analysis of bulk organic matter and compound specific stable isotope analysis' (2013), and 'Taxonomic review of the genus Dasycercus' (2023), with her work cited over 1,176 times. She has received the 2021 Curtin Excellence Award for Programs that Enhance Student Learning and a 2023 Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning as part of the Curtin team integrating Indigenous science and STEM education. Blyth's contributions extend to innovative teaching initiatives and collaborations revealing new extinct marsupial species through isotopic analysis of museum specimens.