Natasha Leclerc

Natasha Leclerc holds dual roles as an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Archaeology at Memorial University of Newfoundland, within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Her research focuses on human-environmental interactions, coastal paleoclimate dynamics, and proxy development using trace elements and stable isotopes. She specializes in studying cryosphere feedbacks, particularly through coralline red algae (Clathromorphum compactum) as a proxy for Arctic sea ice variability.

Her work integrates sclerochronology, stable isotope analyses, and multidecadal climate oscillation studies to reconstruct historical environmental conditions. Recent publications highlight applications of aquatic taxa chemical data, dual bivalve approaches for shell midden analysis, and inter-observer reliability in proxy methodologies. She investigates seasonal settlement patterns and clam harvest pressures in coastal regions like British Columbia, linking archaeological evidence with ecological shifts.

Leclerc’s research emphasizes high-resolution marine archives to assess ecosystem resilience under climate change. Her studies of Arctic sea ice cover span centuries, leveraging algal growth increments to trace connections to the Arctic and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillations. She has contributed to methodological advancements in dendrochronology crossdating and proxy validation techniques for paleoenvironmental reconstruction.