Research/Areas of Interest
Temporal & Geographic Controls on Evolution of Earth Environments: global vs regional patterns of climate and oxygen variations, atmospheric and marine oxygenation, supercontinent dynamics, natural geologic hydrogen, energy and critical mineral resources
Education
- Doctor of Philosophy, Harvard University, USA, 2017
- Bachelor of Science, University of Michigan, USA, 2010
Biography
Earth's current environments result from a delicate balance of feedbacks among the biosphere, atmosphere, oceans, and solid Earth. However, when we extend these interactions into the geologic past, key uncertainties remain regarding their scale and extent. In particular, it is unclear whether stratigraphic and geochemical datasets reflect global shifts or changing regional-to-local conditions, an essential distinction for disentangling these interactions in deep time and identifying triggers and conditions for habitability. My long-term research goal is to determine the temporal context and test global vs geographic patterns in Earth's deep history via combination of stratigraphy, geochronology and paleomagnetism. For the present day, the geological distribution of natural resources shapes state power, economic interdependence, global conflict, and patterns of inequality on the human scale. In my work, I'm particularly involved in the dynamics of how and when Earth's surface environments became oxygenated, a primary lever on habitability and the distribution of redox-sensitive resources.
Key Research goals:
1. Testing regional to global environmental redox controls in the wake of the Great Oxidation Event.
2. Revising the Paleogeographic and Temporal Framework of post-GOE ferruginous environments.
3. Characterizing Iron Formation Alteration and Modern Geologic Hydrogen Resources.
Key Research goals:
1. Testing regional to global environmental redox controls in the wake of the Great Oxidation Event.
2. Revising the Paleogeographic and Temporal Framework of post-GOE ferruginous environments.
3. Characterizing Iron Formation Alteration and Modern Geologic Hydrogen Resources.