My research combines traditional and novel geochemical measurements from the sedimentary record with numerical modeling to study the interactions between climate, oceans, life, and biogeochemical cycles in Earth’s geologic past. Through a variety of analytical techniques including the isotopic and trace metal composition of sediments and microfossils, I reconstruct climatological and geochemical processes during periods of Earth History that provide geological points of comparison with our current changing climate.

News

Fall 2021: I am still actively recruiting graduate students (especially PhD) to work on geochemistry and ancient climate. If you or someone you know is looking for a fully funded, cutting-edge grad school experience in a beautiful place to live, don’t hesitate to get in touch!

September 2021: So happy to welcome my two new grad students, Chels Howard and Ollie Laub, to USU!

August 2021: Exciting news that my USU Seed grant to use the geochemistry of siliceous microfossils to study silicate weathering during the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum has been funded!

Nov 15th, 2020: If you are interested in pursuing graduate study in topics related to the evolution of Earth’s geochemistry, oceans, and climate in the geologic past, consider USU! I’m hoping to add 2 graduate students to my group next fall (both masters and PhD students considered). An incredible opportunity for aspiring PhD students is a fully-funded Presidential Doctoral Research Fellowship (PDRF) in the department of Geosciences: https://geo.usu.edu/ou-files/graduate/GEO_PDRF%20Ad_2021.pdf

August 15th, 2020: At long last, my review-ish paper on Silicate weathering as a feedback and forcing in Earth’s climate and carbon cycle is out at Earth-Science Reviews! Big shout out to co-authors Jeremy Caves Rugenstein, Dan Ibarra, and Matt Winnick for all their help along the way. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103298

June 5th, 2020: Big news! This summer I’m moving to Utah, where I’ll be starting a faculty job in the Department of Geosciences at Utah State University. I’m incredibly excited to begin research, and to teach Sedimentology/Stratigraphy in the fall. I’ll be building a lab group over coming years, so if you are a motivated student interested in the history of Earth’s oceans, climate, and biogeochemistry, drop me a line!

May 25th, 2020: Two new papers in Paleoceanography & Paleoclimatology: Michael Henehan’s boron-based reconstruction of ocean acidification and pCO2 over the MECO, for which I did some C-cycle modeling (https://doi.org/10.1029/2019PA003713), and Reinhard Kozdon’s record of hydrologic cycle change at high Southern latitudes during the PETM (I did some foram trace metal analyses): https://doi.org/10.1029/2019PA003811

February 15th, 2020: What a great week in New Zealand for IODP Expedition 371’s post-cruise meeting in Wellington. Quick field trip to the East coast of the North Island to check out the on-shore equivalents of the sediments we recovered in 2017, followed by some great discussion of cool new science. But most importantly, catching up with friends old and new from the cruise!

January 16th, 2020: Celli Hull’s paper on the K-Pg extinction (for which I contributed C-cycle modeling) is out in Science. Asteroid impact or Deccan volcanism? You be the judge. All sorts of press: New York Times, National Geographic, The Mirror, Newsweek.

October 10th, 2019: Lots of travel and speaking this month: the University of Hong Kong for the “Meeting of the Minds” Workshop October 14-15, and then Penn State’s colloquium on October 24th. Both on carbon-silica cycle coupling, including Snowball Earth events. 

March 29th, 2019: Busy week of talks coming up: Snowball silica cycling at the Northeast Geobiology meeting (Amherst, MA, March 30th) followed by twin talks on the coupling of the carbon and silica cycles throughout Earth history at Yale’s Postdoc seminar series (Wednesday April 3rd) and the University of British Columbia in sunny Vancouver (Monday April 8th)!

March 5th, 2019: New paper in Geology on the coupled carbon and silica cycle perturbation in the aftermath of the Marinoan “Snowball Earth” glaciation using my brilliantly-named PreCOSCIOUS model: https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/569039/coupled-carbon-and-silica-cycle-perturbations

March 2nd, 2019: SoCal friends, come to my talk at Caltech (part of their Environmental Science and Engineering seminar series) on Wednesday, March 13th!

Feb 14th, 2019: If you happen to be in North/Central Texas, come check out my Valentine’s day talk at UT Arlington on the coupling of the carbon and silica cycles throughout Earth history.

January 30, 2019: My paper on the association between Lower Eocene Atlantic cherts and hyperthermal events has been published online in Paleoceanography & Paleoclimatology: https://doi.org/10.1029/2018PA003503. Thanks to co-authors Sandy, Celli, Simon, and Allison for all their help along the way!

January 25th, 2019: Heading to U South Carolina to do some boron isotope intercalibration work on Howie Scher’s Neptune (and give a talk while I’m at it).

January 5th, 2019: Happy birthday me! My paper exploring the coupling of the silica and carbon cycles during proposed Neoproterozoic “Snowball Earth” events has been accepted in Geology. I’ll post a link when it’s online.

December 5th, 2018: If you’re at AGU, come on down to my session (with co-conveners Celli Hull, Andy Ridgwell, and Kate Hendry) on the Evolution of the marine silica cycle. Also check out my poster presenting a new model of the coupled carbon and silica cycles).

September 10th, 2018: Just submitted a paper using my new model called PreCOSCIOUS (The PreCambrian Ocean Silica Carbon Inorganic Ocean Underwater Sediment model). Best acronym ever? We’ll see if Geology‘s editorial staff and reviewers agree.

June 2018: Fun-filled week in Germany: first an IODP meeting in Kiel, then hanging out with Michael Henehan in Berlin and giving a talk at GFZ Potsdam, where I’ll present (for the first time) my work on the silica cycle during “Snowball Earth” events.