Prof James Rae

Prof James Rae

Director of Impact

Professor

Phone
+44 (0)1334 46 3910
Email
jwbr@st-andrews.ac.uk

Research areas

My research focuses on reconstructing past climate change and its causes. I'm particularly interested in the cause of recent glacial-interglacial cycles, and climate changes over the Cenozoic. To study these questions I use geochemical measurements on fossils, sediments, water and ice, with a special focus on the boron isotope proxy for pH. I interpret these data with the help of a variety of numerical models. I'm also fascinated by biomineralisation processes in corals and foraminifera, and the insights that geochemistry offers into calcification and ocean acidification.You can find out more about my work at my website:

PhD supervision

  • AlyssaKovalski
  • AoifeN? Bhuachalla
  • LucindaPalmer
  • MeganPelly
  • AlexanderRain
  • MauricioSantos-Andrade
  • ZhekaiTang

Selected publications

  • Open access
    Green, R. A., Rafter, P. A., Sun, C., Gray, W. R., Rae, J. W. B., Pelly, M., Xu, C., Thirumalai, K., Southon, J. R., Pavia, F. & Hain, M. P., 6 May 2026, In: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology. 41, 5, 13 p., e2025PA005217.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  • Open access
    Rafter, P. A., Hain, M. P., Arellano‐Torres, E., Thirumalai, K., Tappa, E. J., Machain‐Castillo, M. L., Soto‐Jimenez, M., DeVries, T., Hendy, I. L., Herguera, J. C., Gray, W. R., Green, R. A., Pavia, F., Rae, J. W. B. & Southon, J. R., 1 May 2026, In: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology. 41, 5, e2025PA005265.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  • Open access
    Stoll, M. M. V., Deutsch, C. A., Jurikova, H., Rae, J. W. B., Frenzel, H., Gothmann, A. M., Alin, S. R. & Gagnon, A. C., 13 Nov 2025, In: Nature Communications. 16, 11 p., 9661.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  • Open access
    Crippa, G., Jurikova, H., Leng, M. J., Zanchi, M., Harper, E. M., Rae, J. W. B., Savickaite, K., Viaretti, M. & Angiolini, L., 1 Jun 2025, In: Limnology and Oceanography Letters. 10, 3, p. 390-402 13 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalLetterpeer-review

  • Open access
    Adloff, M., Jeltsch-Thömmes, A., Rae, J. W. B., Pöppelmeier, F., Trudgill, M., Stocker, T. F. & Joos, F., 2 Oct 2025, In: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology. 40, 10, 24 p., e2025PA005125.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  • Open access
    Innes, H., Hutchison, W., Sigl, M., Crick, L., Abbott, P. M., Bigler, M., Chellman, N. J., Davies, S. M., Kutterolf, S., McConnell, J. R., Severi, M., Sparks, R. S. J., Svensson, A., Wolff, E. W., Rae, J. W. B. & Burke, A., 22 Feb 2025, In: Communications Earth & Environment. 6, 11 p., 137.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  • Open access
    Fischer, H., Burke, A., Rae, J. W. B., Sugden, P. J., Erhardt, T., Twarloh, B., Hörhold, M., Freitag, J., Markle, B., Severi, M., Hansson, M., Savarino, J., Pryer, H., Doyle, E. & Wolff, E., 3 Jan 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Nature Geoscience. Online, 10 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  • Open access
    Tanner, T., Rae, J., Hernández-Almeida, I., Zhang, H., Jaggi, M., Dumont, M., Jurikova, H., Bernasconi, S. M. & Stoll, H., 23 Sept 2025, In: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology. 40, 9, 23 p., e2025PA005142.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  • Open access
    Zarkogiannis, S. D., Rae, J. W. B., Shipley, B. R. & Mortyn, P. G., 31 Jul 2025, In: Communications Earth & Environment. 6, p. 1-12 12 p., 605.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  • Open access
    Trudgill, M., Rae, J. W. B., Whiteford, R., Adloff, M., Crumpton-Banks, J., Van Mourik, M., Burke, A., Cuperus, M., Corsetti, F., Doherty, D., Gray, W., Greenop, R., Hong, W.-L., Lepland, A., McIntyre, A., Neiroukh, N., Rose, C. V., Ruhl, M., Saunders, D. & Siri, M. M. F. R. & 5 others, Steele, R. C. J., Stüeken, E. E., West, A. J., Ziegler, M. & Greene, S. E., 14 Jul 2025, In: Nature Communications. 16, 11 p., 6471.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review