Dan is an Australian Research Council (ARC) Australian Research Fellow. He is a Geoscientist with more than a decade of experience in the study of Southeast Asian environments and environmental change, having worked extensively in Thailand and Cambodia.
His current research utilises microscopic botanical remains (pollen from higher plants, spores from ferns and allies, in addition to several classes of algae) to identify patterns of land use over time, with a particular emphasis on issues surrounding the demise and abandonment of Angkor.
Dan is also investigating the long-term evolution of the Tonle Sap lake and its associated wetland ecosystems, and is collaborating with other researchers on the provision of high-resolution proxy records of monsoon variability for continental Southeast Asia.
Current Projects:
Palaeo-environment and palaeo-ecology of Angkor. Palynology, biogeography, climate change, sedimentology.
Selected Publications:
Penny, D., Pottier, C., Kummu, M., Fletcher, R., Zoppi, U., Barbetti, M., Tous, S. (2007) Hydrological history of the West Baray, Angkor, revealed through palynological analysis of sediments from the West Mebon. Bulletin de l’�cole Française d’Extrême-Orient 92: 497-521.
Penny, D., Hua, Q., Pottier, C., Fletcher, R., Barbetti, M. (2007). The use of AMS 14C dating to explore issues of occupation and demise at the medieval city of Angkor, Cambodia. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B 259: 338-394.
Kummu, M., Penny, D., Sarkkula, J., Koponen, J. (in press) Sediment – curse or blessing for Tonle Sap lake? In Varis, O., Kummu, M., Keskinen, M., (Eds) Modern Myths of the Mekong, Ambio.
Lustig, T., Fletcher, R., Kummu, M., Pottier, C., Penny, D. (in press) Traditional cultures lived in harmony with nature: lessons from Angkor. In Varis, O., Kummu, M., Keskinen, M., (eds) Modern Myths of the Mekong, Ambio.
Fletcher, R.J., Penny, D., Barbetti, M., Pottier, C., Heng. T., Khieu, C., Tous, S. (2006) The Greater Angkor Project 2005-2009: Issues and Program. In Bacus, E.A., Glover, I.C. and Pigott, V.C. (Eds) Uncovering Southeast Asia's Past: selected papers from the 10th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists. NUS Press, Singapore: 347-354.
Carter, E.A., Privat, K.L., Penny, D. (2006) Vibrational spectroscopy for materials analysis. Materials Australia 39(5): 22-25.
Penny, D., Pottier, C., Fletcher, R., Barbetti, M., Fink, D., Hua, Q. (2006) Vegetation and land-use at Angkor, Cambodia: a dated pollen sequence from the Bakong temple moat. Antiquity 80(309): 519-614.
Penny, D. (2006) The Holocene history and development of the Tonle Sap, Cambodia. Quaternary Science Reviews 25: 310-322.
Penny, D., Cook, G. & Im, S.S. (2005) Long-term rates of sediment accumulation in the Tonle Sap lake, Cambodia: a threat to ecosystem health? Journal of Paleolimnology 33(1): 95-103.
Penny, D. & Kealhofer, L. (2005) Microfossil evidence of land-use intensification in north Thailand. Journal of Archaeological Science 32: 69-82.
White, J.C., Penny, D., Maloney, B. & Kealhofer, L. (2004). Vegetation changes from the Terminal Pleistocene through the Holocene from three areas of archaeological significance in Thailand. Quaternary International 113: 111-132.
Fletcher, R.J., Barbetti, M., Evans, D., Than, H., Sorithy, I., Chan, K., Penny, D., Pottier, C. & Somaneath, T. (2003) Redefining Angkor: structure and environment in the largest, low density urban complex of the pre-industrial world. Udaya, 4: 107-121.
Bishop, P, Penny, D., Stark, M. and Scott, M. (2003) A 3.5ka record of paleoenvironments and human occupation at Angkor Borei, Mekong delta, southern Cambodia. Geoarchaeology 18(3): 359-393.
Kershaw, A.P, Penny, D., van der Kaars, S., Anshuri, G. and Thamotherampillai, A. (2001) Palaeoecological evidence for vegetation and climate in lowland Southeast Asia at the Last Glacial Maximum. In Metcalf, I., Smith, J.M.B., Morwood, M., Davidson, I. and Hewison, K. (Eds.) Faunal and floral migrations and evolution in Southeast Asia – Australasia. A.A. Balkema. 227-236.
Penny, D. (2001) A 40,000 year palynological record from north-east Thailand; implications for biogeography and palaeo-environmental reconstruction. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 171: 97-128.
van der Kaars, S,. Penny, D., Fluin, J., Tibby, J. & Dam, R. (2001) A Late Quaternary palaeoecological record from Rawa Danau, West Java, Indonesia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 171; 185-212.
Penny, D. (1999) Pollen grains in the sands of time; Lake sediments contribute to the archaeology of Thailand. Expedition, Volume 14(3); 32-36.
Penny, D. (1999) Palaeoenvironmental analysis of the Sakon Nakhon basin, north-east Thailand; palynological perspectives on climate change and human occupation. Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association, 18, Vol. 2: 139-149.
Kealhofer, L. & Penny, D. (1998) 14,000 years of vegetation change in Northeast Thailand. Review of Palaeobotany & Palynology Vol. 103; 83-93.
Penny, D., Grindrod, J., & Bishop, P. (1996) Holocene palaeoenvironmental reconstruction based on microfossil analysis of a lake sediment core, Nong Han Kumphawapi, Udon Thani, Northeast Thailand. Asian Perspectives, Vol. 35, No.2; 209-228
Contact:
School of Geosciences, Madsen Bld. F09, University of Sydney, 2006, NSW, Australia.
TEL: +61 2 9351 6464
FAX: +61 2 9351 3644
Written by Mitch Hendrickson on Thursday, 25 August 2005. Last Updated by Martin King on Wednesday, 31 March 2010
