RESEARCH INTERESTS

I am a paleoclimatologist and oceanographer.  My primary research focus is understanding the impacts and variability of North Atlantic surface currents and rapid climate changes of the recent past (Late Holocene).  Trained in the methods of sclerochronology, I measure the physical and chemical properties within the shells of marine bivalves as proxies for past environmental variability.  I am also interested in improving geochemical and statistical techniques applied to paleoclimate proxies in general, focusing on physical growth, radiocarbon, and stable carbon and oxygen isotope methods.  

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BACKGROUND

I received a B.A. degree in Geology with a minor in Environmental Studies from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. I earned a Ph.D. in Geology with a co-major in Environmental Science from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Following my PhD, I served as a Science Communications intern for the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography in Washington, D.C.  I then completed a postdoctoral appointment at NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research in Bergen, Norway. I am currently a Research Geologist with the USGS St Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (Florida, USA).