Career 

Director of Postgraduate Studies, School of the Environment and Society (current).

NERC Peer Review College (2008-2011).

Senior Lecturer, Swansea University (2007).

Lecturer, University of Wales Swansea (2003).

Research Officer, University of Wales Swansea (2003).

Head of Radiocarbon Dating, CSIR Environmentek, South Africa (2000).

Visiting Scholar, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, USA (2000).

Research Officer, University of Wales Swansea (1998).

Research Assistant, Godwin Institute for Quaternary Research, University of Cambridge (1994).

Research Assistant, Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford (1991).

Synthetic Organic Chemist, Neuroscience Research Centre, Merck, Sharp and Dohme (1989).

PhD Supervision

Primary supervisor

1. Tommy Wils (awarded 2009). Isotope dendroclimatological studies on Juniperus procera from Ethiopia: towards a reconstruction of Blue Nile baseflow. Currently employed at Tilburg University, The Netherlands.
2. Rochelle Campbell (awarded 2009), Dendroclimatology in central Sweden. Currently employed at Swansea University.
3. Roderick Bale (awarded 2008). Climatic reconstruction of the last 1000 years from bristlecone pine tree rings at Blanco, White Mountains, California, USA. Currently employed at Swansea University.

Co-supervisor

1. Jamie Williams. Effect of changes in plant water use efficiency on the hydrology of a watershed (with Dr Sietse O. Los; started 2008).
2. Ewan Woodley. Reconstructing the climate of Scotland using stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in tree rings (with Dr Neil J Loader; started 2006).

Publications

Accepted

• Gagen M, McCarroll D, Loader NJ and Robertson I. Stable isotopes in dendroclimatology: moving beyond ‘potential’. In Hughes, M.K., Swetnam, T.W. and Diaz, H.F. (editors) Dendroclimatology: Progress and Prospects. Springer Verlag. ISBN: 978-1-4020-4010-8. (in press).

2010

• Tillman PK, Holzkämper S, Kuhry P, Britta A, Sannel K, Loader NJ and Robertson I. Stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in Sphagnum fuscum peat from subarctic Canada: implications for palaeoclimate studies. Chemical Geology 270, 216-226, 2010. [doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2009.12.001]
• Bale RJ, Robertson I, Leavitt SW, Loader NJ, Harlan TP, Gagen M, Young GHF, Csank AZ, Froyd CA and McCarroll D. Temporal stability in bristlecone pine tree-ring stable oxygen isotope chronologies over the last two centuries. The Holocene 20(1), 3-6, 2010. [doi: 10.1177/0959683609348867]

2009

• Robertson I. Book review. Encyclopedia of global warming and climate change Edited by S. George Philander, London : Sage Publications, 2008, 1552 pp. (3 volumes), £205 hardback. ISBN 978 1 4129 5878 3. The Holocene 19(8), 1257-1258, 2009. [doi: 10.1177/0959683609344291]
• Robertson I, Froyd CA, Gagen M, Hicks S. Climates of the past: evidence from natural and documentary archives. Journal of Quaternary Science 24(5) 411-414, 2009. [ doi: 10.1002/jqs.1300]
• McCarroll D, Gagen  MH, Loader NJ, Robertson I, Anchukaitis KJ, Los S, Young GHF, Jalkanan R, Kirchhefer, A and Waterhouse J S Correction of tree ring stable carbon isotope chronologies for changes in the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere. Geochemica et Cosmochimica Acta 73(6), 1539-1547, 2009. [ doi:10.1016/j.gca.2008.11.041]
• Wils THG, Robertson I, Eshetu Z, Sass-Klaassen UGW, Koprowski M. Periodicity of growth rings in Juniperus procera from Ethiopia inferred from crossdating and radiocarbon dating. Dendrochronologia 27, 45-58, 2009. [ doi:10.1016/j.dendro.2008.08.002]
• Butler PG, Richardson CA, Scourse JD, Witbaard R, Schöne BR, Fraser NM, Wanamaker Jr AD, Bryant CL, Harris I and Robertson I. Accurate increment identification and the spatial extent of the common signal in five Arctica islandica chronologies from the Fladen Ground, northern North Sea. Palaeoceanography 24, PA2210, 2009. [ doi: 10.1029/2008PA001715]

2008

• Lucy D, Robertson I, Aykroyd RG and Pollard AM, Estimates of uncertainty in the prediction of past climatic variables, Applied Geochemistry 23, 2961-2965, 2008. [ doi:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2008.04.008]
• Levanic T, Gricar J, Jalkanen R, Loader NJ, McCarroll D, Oven P and Robertson I. The climate sensitivity of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) in the southeastern European Alps. Trees – Structure and Function 23(1), 169-180, 2008. [ doi: 10.1007/s00468-008-0265-0]
• Robertson I, Leavitt S, Loader NJ and Buhay B, Progress in isotope dendroclimatology, Chemical Geology 252(1-2), Ex1-4, 2008.
• Gagen M, McCarroll D, Robertson I, Loader NJ and Jalkanen R, Do tree ring d¹³C series from Pinus sylvestris in northern Fennoscandia contain long-term non climatic trends? Chemical Geology 252(1-2), 42-51.
• Loader NJ, Santillo PM, Woodman-Ralph JP, Rolfe JE, Hall MA, Gagen M, Robertson I, Wilson R, Froyd CA and McCarroll D, Multiple stable isotopes from oak trees in southwestern Scotland and the potential for stable isotope dendroclimatology in maritime climatic regions. Chemical Geology 252(1-2), 62-71.

2007

• Campbell R, McCarroll D, Loader NJ, Grudd H, Robertson I and Jalkanen R. Blue intensity in Pinus sylvestris tree-rings: developing a new palaeoclimate proxy. The Holocene 17(6), 821-828, 2007.
• Robertson I, Harlan T, Loader N, Froyd C, Gagen M. 1110 - The bristlecone pine record covering the 8.2Kyr event. Quaternary International 167–168, 348, 2007.
• Wils THG, Robertson I and Eshetu Z. 0144 - The potential of Juniperus procera tree rings to reconstruct Nile river discharge and droughts in Ethiopia. Quaternary International 167–168, 451, 2007.
• Campbell RD, Robertson I, Loader N and McCarroll D. 0736 - Investigating climate over the last 1000-years in Mora, Sweden using stable isotopes in tree-rings. Quaternary International 167–168, 57, 2007.
• Campbell RD, McCarroll D, Loader N, Grudd H, Robertson I and Jalkanen R. 0745 - Blue Intensity in Pinus sylvestris: application, validation and climatic sensitivity of a new palaeoclimate proxy for tree ring research. Quaternary International 167–168, 58, 2007.
• Gagen M, McCarroll D, Loader N, Robertson I, Jalkanen R and Anchukaitis K. 1094 - Exorcising the ‘segment length curse’: summer temperature reconstruction since AD 1640 using non de-trended stable carbon isotope ratios from pine trees in northern Finland.  Quaternary International 167–168, 131, 2007.
• Hemming D, Loader N J, Marca A, Robertson I, Williams D, Wingate L and Yakir D, The future of large-scale isotope networks, Stable Isotopes as Indicators of Ecological Change edited by Dawson, T E and Siegwolf, R T W, A volume in the Terrestrial Ecology Series, Academic Press, London, 361-381, 2007.
• Loader NJ, McCarroll D, Gagen M, Robertson I, Jalkanen R, Extracting climatic information from stable isotopes in tree rings, Stable Isotopes as Indicators of Ecological Change edited by Dawson, T E and Siegwolf, R T W, A volume in the Terrestrial Ecology Series, Academic Press, London, 27-48, 2007.
• Gagen M, McCarroll D, Loader NJ, Robertson I, Jalkanen R and Anchukaitis KJ. Exorcising the ‘segment length curse’: summer temperature reconstruction since AD 1640 using non-detrended stable carbon isotope ratios from pine trees in northern Finland. The Holocene 17(4), 435-446, 2007.
• Loader NJ, McCarroll D, van der Knaap WO, Robertson I and Gagen MH, Characterising carbon isotopic variability in Sphagnum. The Holocene 17(3), 1-8, 2007.

2006

• Harlan T and Robertson I, Confirmation of the extended Bristlecone pine chronology, Quaternary Newsletter 110, 37-39, 2006.
• Robertson I, Loader NJ, Froyd CA, Zambatis N, Whyte I and Woodborne S, The potential of the Baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) as a proxy climate archive, Applied Geochemistry 21(10), 1674-1680, 2006.

2005

• Rinne KT, Boettger T, Loader NJ, Robertson I, Switsur VR and Waterhouse JS, On the purification of alpha-cellulose from resinous wood for stable isotope (H, C and O) analysis, Chemical Geology 222, 75-82, 2005.

2004

• Robertson I, Froyd, CA, Walsh RPD, Newbery DM, Woodborne S and Ong RC, The dating of dipterocarp tree rings: establishing a record of carbon cycling and climatic change in the tropics, Journal of Quaternary Science 19(7), 657-664, 2004.
• Robertson I, Loader NJ, McCarroll D, Carter AHC, Cheng L and Leavitt SW, d¹³C of tree-ring lignin as an indirect measure of climate change, Water, Air and Soil Pollution: Focus 4, 531-544, 2004.
• Waterhouse JS, Switsur VR, Barker AC, Carter AHC, Hemming DL, Loader NJ and Robertson I, Northern European trees show a progressively diminishing response to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. Quaternary Science Reviews 23(7-8), 803-810, 2004.

2003

• Loader NJ, Robertson I and McCarroll D, Comparison of stable carbon isotope ratios in the whole wood, cellulose and lignin of oak tree-rings. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 196, 395-407, 2003.
• Woodborne SW, February E and Robertson I, The use of d¹³C to define the riparian zone in commercially afforested catchments, Water Research Commission, Gezina, South Africa, 1218/1/03, 1-58, 2003.
• Robertson I, and Lee-Thorp, J, National PAGE: South Africa, PAGES News 11(1), 5, 2003.

2002

• Robertson I, d¹³C of tree-ring lignin as an indirect measure of climate change, Quaternary Newsletter 98, 54-56, 2002.
• Waterhouse JS, Switsur VR, Barker AC, Carter, AHC and Robertson I, Oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios in tree rings: how well do models predict observed values? Earth and Planetary Science Letters 201, 421-430, 2002.
• Loader NJ, Robertson I, Lücke A and Helle G, An initial preparation of holocellulose from a standard increment core for carbon isotope analysis, Swansea Geographer 37, 1-9, 2002.
• Robertson I and Woodborne SW, Carbon isotopes confirm the competitive advantages of Prosopis over Acacia erioloba. In Study of Environmental Change using Isotope Techniques, IAEA-CSP-13/P, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, pp. 433-434, 2002.

2001 (and earlier)

• Robertson I, Switsur VR, Carter AHC, Barker AC, and Waterhouse JS, Oxygen isotope ratios of oak in east England: implications for reconstructing the isotopic composition of precipitation. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 191/2, 21-31, 2001.
• Aykroyd RG, Lucy D, Pollard AM, Carter AHC, Robertson I, Temporal variability in the strength of proxy-climate correlations. Geophysical Research Letters 28(8): 1559-1562, 2001.
• Robertson I, Contributor towards The Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Environmental Change, edited by Matthews, J A, Arnold Publishers, London, 2001.
• Robertson I, Lucy D, Baxter L, Pollard AM, Aykroyd RG, Barker AC, Carter AHC, Switsur VR and Waterhouse JS, A kernel-based Bayesian approach to climatic reconstruction, The Holocene 9(4), 525-530, 1999.
• Robertson I, Tree response to environmental change, Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1998.
• Saurer M, Robertson I, Siegwolf R and Leuenberger M, Oxygen isotope analysis of cellulose: An inter-laboratory comparison, Analytical Chemistry 70(10), 2074-2080, 1998.
• Carter AHC and Robertson I, Relative humidity – a dataset for east England, 1920-1995, Weather 53(6), 181-189, 1998.
• Robertson I and Waterhouse JS, Trees of knowledge, Chemistry in Britain 34(1), 27-30, 1998.
• Robertson I, Switsur VR, Carter AHC, Barker AC, Waterhouse JS, Briffa KR and Jones PD, Signal strength and climate relationships in the ¹³C/¹²C ratios of tree ring cellulose from oak in east England, Journal of Geophysical Research 102(D16), 19507-19516, 1997.
• Robertson I, Rolfe J, Switsur VR, Carter AHC, Hall MA, Barker AC, and Waterhouse JS, Signal strength and climate relationships in the ¹³C/¹²C ratios of tree ring cellulose from oak in southwest Finland, Geophysical Research Letters 24(12), 1487-1490, 1997.
• Loader NJ, Robertson I, Barker AC, Switsur VR and Waterhouse JS, A modified method for the batch processing of small wholewood samples to alpha-cellulose, Chemical Geology 136, 313-317, 1997.
• Robertson I, Pollard AM, Heaton THE and Pilcher JR, Seasonal changes in the isotopic composition of oak cellulose. In Tree Rings, Environment and Humanity: Proceedings of the International Conference, Tucson, Arizona, 17-21 May 1994, edited by Dean JS, Meko DM and  Swetnam TW, 617-628, Radiocarbon, Tucson, Arizona,  1996.
• Robertson I, Field EM, Heaton THE, Pilcher JR, Pollard M, Switsur VR and Waterhouse JS, Isotope coherence in oak cellulose. In Problems of Stable Isotopes in Tree-rings, Lake Sediments and Peat-bogs as Climatic Evidence for the Holocene, edited by Frenzel, B. and Weiss, M.M., Paläoklimaforshung 15, ESF Strasbourg, pp. 129-141, 1995.
• Robertson I, Intra-Ring Isotopic Variability in Quercus petraea, Unpublished MPhil Thesis, University of Bradford, 1994.
• Robertson I, The Synthesis of 2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-Octaethyl-5,10,15,20-Tetraphenylporphyrin. Unpublished BSc Thesis, Nottingham Polytechnic, 1991.