Meet The Team

I am an isotope geochemist. I have specialized in U-Pb dating of carbonates. I am currently working on U-Pb dating of fluorite. In addition to isotope analyses I value petrography and synchrotron XRF imaging to better understand U incorportion in minerals. I also work with boron isotopes in rocks, waters and plants. 

I am a geologist that is working to understand Earth’s climate system. My attention has been mostly captured by the time spanning the last glacial termination. This 10,000-year-long interval presents the most recent example of how the natural climate system can abruptly recast global water availability and temperature. I am currently mapping and dating these climate changes across the North American Cordillera. 

I'm the lab manager for the FIRST lab. In addition to running the lab I am involved in research and mentoring.  

I am a bioanthropologist and archaeological scientist. My research is focused on  understanding past human lives through the analysis of mineralized tissue samples (bone and teeth) using biogeochemistry  (calcium and strontium isotope analysis). I am also working to better understand boron isotope environmental systematics (seaweeds, soils, plants, and mammals), and to assess the potential of boron isotope analysis to be a tool for archaeological research..

I am an archaeologist interested in landscape use by humans and animals and addressing archaeological questions with isotopic analysis. My dissertation research focused on characterizing past marshland exploitation using a multi-isotope approach. I am also conducting research to examine diagenesis of strontium isotopes in faunal material from Ur. I am currently a lecturer in the Department of Anthropology.

My research focuses on the combination of U-Pb dating of carbonates with Clumped Isotope analyses in Greg Henkes lab. These analyses aim to answer questions related to Li enrichment in the McDermitt Caldera, Nevada, a period of increased rifting activity in the Turkana basin, Kenya, and broadly looking into the timing of extension within the Southwest US. 

My research focuses on using boron isotopes as a way to gauge uptake and utilization of this essential micronutrient in agronomically important legumes such as Medicago sativa (AKA alfalfa), and more recently Medicago truncatula, an ancient ancestor to alfalfa. Experiments take place in both real-world farm settings, and under controlled laboratory conditions, and seek to further expand on boron’s role in legumes and mechanisms behind its uptake, which are both poorly understood concepts. Ultimately, the goal of my research is to ascertain crop response and enhance productivity under a range of environmental boron supply.

Alex Grey is an Archaeology PhD student interested in Isotopes and human-environment dynamics. 

I am a sedimentary biogeochemist at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Science in the Wehrmann and Aller labs. My research focuses on elemental fluxes, specifically Si and Li, in the sediment of Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. I am using pore water isotope analyses of Li and Si to track forward and reverse weathering processes along the fjord system. This is interesting to me since fjords represent a key interface between glacial meltwater and the ocean, which is being altered biogeochemically by climate change.

I am an undergraduate student majoring in Geology and minoring in Coastal Environment Studies. My research focuses on carbonates from the Porcupine Shear Zone in Alaska. I hope to learn more about the history of fault development in this area.