Encyclopedia of Scientific Dating Methods

Author Biography

William Jack Rink is Professor of Earth Sciences at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He has a B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Geology from Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA. His research encompasses both fundamental studies of radiation exposure dating methods and applications of electron spin resonance, uranium series dating, and luminescence dating of archaeological sites in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Africa, South America, and North America, and geochronology of near-shore and ancient coastal geomorphologic features. He was elected to the New York City Explorer’s Club in 2005. Jeroen W. Thompson is Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences at McMaster University. He holds a B.Sc. in Physics and a B.Sc. in Anthropology (Michigan State University), as well as a M.Sc. in Physics (University of Connecticut) and a Ph.D. in Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences (McMaster University). His research is highly interdisciplinary, including diverse applications of radiation dosimetry and detection that span laboratory and field work. In particular, he has applied electron paramagnetic resonance and optically-stimulated luminescence dosimetry both forensic dosimetry and geochronology. He is currently a research management consultant, with specific focus on radiation and environmental sciences.