I am currently an NSF EAR postdoc at Yale University. My research focuses on using innovative stable isotope techniques to look at the interactions between the land, ocean, and atmosphere. Currently, I use triple oxygen isotope values of carbonates, silicates, and water to answer questions about paleoclimate and paleoenvironments. 

Research Questions:

1. How can we better quantify and understand changes in O2 and CO2 cycling in the biogeochemical record?
2. How has previous climate states affected life and what does that mean for current populations during anthropogenic driven climate change?
3. How well do we understand when rocks preserve paleoclimate information?

Research Themes

Marine Climate Proxies

Ammonite fossil inside a carbonate concretion from the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway

Geochemical records agree that sea surface temperatures (SSTs) fluctuate over time; however, the magnitude of fluctuation varies between proxies. Some biologically precipitated minerals suggest that SSTs could have exceeded 40 °C. This temperature is difficult to reconcile with the fact that modern, multicellular marine life generally does not live about ~35 °C. This leads to questions regarding the habitability and adaptability of marine organisms to increasing SSTs both in the past and future. 
Projects:

• Reconstruct temperature of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway using triple oxygen and clumped carbonate values
• Reconstruct temperature and preservation history of Phanerozoic chert and fossilized wood
• Reconstruct the temperature and preservation history of the Shuram carbon isotope excursion
  
• Investigate and predict changes in biodiversity after marine heatwave events

Terrestrial Climate Proxies

The oxygen isotope composition of meteoric water is more variable than marine water, limiting the ability to use traditional oxygen isotope thermometry in continental settings. However, understanding how continental climate has changed in the past is imperative to understanding population and environmental response to climate perturbations. A large portion of my research direction will focus on expanding existing and developing new continental climate proxies to understand past hydrological changes such as evaporation, humidity, and precipitation patterns.
Projects:

• Use grass phytoliths to reconstruct paleo-humidity of grasslands
• Investigate how bioapatite of teeth can be used to look at heat stress of an animal

Antelope in the Grand River National Grassland. Photo credit: SDPB

Quantifying Diagenesis and Fluid-Rock Interactions

Concretion from Western Interior Seaway with multiple carbonate phases

Both of the themes above rely on the rock record preserving initial precipitation conditions for accurate paleoclimate interpretations. Identifying when a signal is diagenetic vs. pristine can be difficult. A better understanding of the triple oxygen isotope composition of pore waters will allow triple oxygen isotope values to be a critical tracer of fluid-rock interaction. Analyzing more than carbonate phase in a sample can help 'see-through' the diagenesis and provides information on initial precipitation conditions.
Projects:

• Analyze down core pore fluid triple oxygen isotope values from marine sediments
• Investigate how the triple oxygen isotope composition of Bahama Platform carbonates change in the presence of different diagenetic fluids.