Dr Tom White

Dr Tom White

Department: Life Sciences
Division: LS Invertebrates Division
Specialisms: Mollusca, curation, non-marine Gastropoda, bivalves, palaeoecology, palaeoclimatic reconstructions, climate change, river terraces, Palaeolithic archaeology, Quaternary period
  • Phone: 020 7942 6479
I am a Principal Curator of the NHM's non-insect Invertebrate collections, with responsibilities for material across many collections. In particular, I am responsible for the Bivalvia and smaller classes of Mollusca (Scaphopoda, Polyplacophora, Monoplacophora etc.) and also the Porifera collections.

My research expertise is in Mollusca and I have worked extensively on the taxonomy and systematics of South Asian molluscs. I also work collaboratively as a Quaternary malacologist, using non-marine molluscs to develop biostratigraphical models and palaeoecological / palaeoclimatic reconstructions. These are crucial for understanding climate change in the recent geological past (the Quaternary Period, spanning the last 2.6 million years), which provides a framework for understanding a diverse range of topics, from human evolution to predicting future climate patterns.
  • PhD, Zoology, University of Cambridge, UK
  • MA, Prehistory, University of Durham, UK
  • BA (Hons), Archaeology, University of Durham, UK

Highlighted publications

  • White TS, Bridgland DR, Limondin-Lozouet N, Schreve DC (2017) Fossils from Quaternary fluvial archives: Sources of biostratigraphical, biogeographical and palaeoclimatic evidence. Quaternary Science Reviews, Elsevier BV : 150 - 176. doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.04.016
  • Candy I, White TS, Elias S (2016) How warm was Britain during the Last Interglacial? A critical review of Ipswichian (MIS 5e) palaeotemperature reconstructions. Journal of Quaternary Science, (8) Wiley : 857 - 868. doi: 10.1002/jqs.2910
  • Bridgland DR, Howard AJ, White MJ, White TS (2014) Quaternary of the Trent. Oxbow Books : null - null.
  • White TS, Preece RC, Whittaker JE (2013) Molluscan and ostracod successions from Dierden's Pit, Swanscombe: insights into the fluvial history, sea-level record and human occupation of the Hoxnian Thames. Quaternary Science Reviews, Elsevier BV : 73 - 90. doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.03.007
  • Penkman KEH, Preece RC, Bridgland DR, Keen DH, Meijer T, Parfitt SA, White TS, Collins MJ (2011) A chronological framework for the British Quaternary based on Bithynia opercula. Nature, (7361) Springer Science and Business Media LLC : 446 - 449. doi: 10.1038/nature10305
  • Shipton C, Roberts P, Archer W, Armitage SJ, Bita C, Blinkhorn J, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Crowther A, Curtis R, Errico FD, Douka K, Faulkner P, Groucutt HS, Helm R, Herries AIR, Jembe S, Kourampas N, Lee-Thorp J, Marchant R, Mercader J, Marti AP, Prendergast ME, Rowson B, Tengeza A, Tibesasa R, White TS, Petraglia MD, Boivin N 78,000-year-old record of Middle and Later Stone Age innovation in an East African tropical forest. Nature Communications, (1) Springer Science and Business Media LLCdoi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04057-3