Yale Institute for
Biospheric Studies
Research
Centers
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Board
Please
visit their
websites for a complete description of their work and their contact
information.
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The Center
also includes the expertise of the participating board members, their
laboratory members, center personnel and users. The idea was to
bring
together scientists with stable isotope expertise that
represent a broad spectrum of environmental science
disciplines.
This group includes:
Danny
Rye
(director),
Karl
Turekian,
Mark
Pagani
and
Ruth
Blake from
the Department of Geology and Geophysics,
David Post
from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Gaboury
Benoit and
Peter Raymond
from the School of Forestry and Evironmental
Studies, and
Gerard Olack (manager).
They give us representation from
geochemistry,
bio-geochemistry,
paleo-ecology, ecology, microbiology, and forestry. We also
will
have close ties to anthropology,
engineering and chemistry.
Below
is a brief description of their research interests with regards to
stable isotope analyses. Please visit their web pages for a more
complete description of their work.
| ESCSIS Board Members and participating
departments
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Department
of Geology and Geophysics |
Dr.
Danny Rye,
Director
|
Carbonates,
silicates, hydrous minerals
Isotope
geochemistry related to ore deposits, metamorphic rocks, and
paleoenvironments. The general research approach is to
carry outintegrated studies that include stable isotope, radiogenic
isotope, petrologic,mineralogical, chemical, and field data. The field
data provides geologicconstraints. The stable isotope data (the
isotopes of oxygen, carbon, hydrogen,sulfur, and nitrogen) are used to
trace the fluid behavior. The radiogenicisotopes are used to trace the
source of metals. The petrologic, mineralogical,and chemical data are
used to put constraints on the temperature and pressurehistory of the
rocks and fluids. The petrologic, chemical, and radiogenicisotope data
are used to quantify the elemental mobility that took place in
ahydrothermal or metamorphic system. |
Dr.
Ruth
Blake |
Phosphates
and sulfates, St. Lucia
For the
past several years a primary focus of my research has been the
characterization and interpretation of O isotope fractionations in the
PO4-water system during biogeochemical cycling of P in natural waters
and sediments. A major area of current research surrounds
characterization and "ground-truthing" of 18O/16O ratios ( 18O)
signatures of phosphates in mid-ocean ridge (MOR) hydrothermal Fe-oxide
deposits, with the goal of identifying reliable 18Op biosignatures and
isotopic tracers of microbial activity and P cycling at MOR's, in
Earth's deep biosphere, Mars and beyond. Many of the activities in my
laboratory are devoted to development of methods for extraction and O
isotopic analysis of PO4 (18O/16O and 17O/16O) in a range of geologic,
biologic and extraterrestrial materials including deep-sea sediments,
ancient rocks; biomass, and Martian soil analogue materials. A second
area of major research is the O and S isotope behavior of sulfate
during microbial S cycling in marine sediments (D'Hondt et al., 2004;
Blake et al., 2005, Boettcher et al., 2005). |
Dr.
Mark
Pagani |
Compound
specific, specifically plant waxes--new and old
Paleoclimatology,
paleoceanography, evolution of atmospheric carbon dioxide, organic
geochemistry, biogeochemistry. My research primarily applies isotopic
compositions and abundances of organic molecules (biomarkers), and
records of stable isotope- and trace-element compositions of
species-specific foraminifera to constrain the physical and
environmental conditions of ancient oceans, terrestrial systems, and
the atmosphere. My current interest and work is focused on
understanding the factors driving Cenozoic climates. |
Dr.
Karl
Turekian |
"A
single data point and a good idea..."...will keep a post-doc very
busy...
The
use of radioactive and radiogenic nuclides in deciphering the
environmental history of Earth. Also, studies on oxygen isotope
signatures preserved in seawater phosphate and
phosphatic deposits such as fish debris provide information on the
sites
of enzymatic equilibration in the water column, and consequently
paleothermometry of ancient marine fish habitats. |
|
center affiliates |
| Dr. Hagit Affek |
isotopologing |
| Dr. Zhengrong Wang |
fluorinating |
| |
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Department
of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology |
Dr.
David Post |
Food
web, Bahamas and local
We study a
variety of questions, typically within a food-web framework, in lakes,
streams, and estuaries. Although we primarily work in aquatic systems,
we also study interactions and processes that link aquatic and
terrestrial ecosystems. The research on food-chain
length was made possible by recent advances in stable isotope analysis.
In addition to using stable isotopes to document food web structure, we
are using stable isotope techniques to evaluate the flux of carbon into
and through lake food webs. we plan to develop and apply compound
specific stable isotope techniques to help better resolve food web
structure in an effort to critically test a number of basic questions
in food web ecology. |
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School
of Forestry and Environmental Studies |
Dr.
Gaboury Benoit |
Watershed
studies, preferably in Hawaii
My research
investigates the sources,
distribution, speciation, transport, behavior, and fate of trace metals
in freshwater environments. This work emphasizes field
investigations
in order to encompass and examine the full range of
environmentally-relevant
processes that influence metal cycling at a range of temporal and
spatial
scales. All components of watersheds are investigated, from soils
and rivers, to lakes and sediments, but the water column is studied
most
because this is where our understanding is currently weakest. As
the ultimate recipient of metals exported from terrestrial watersheds,
estuaries are included, but freshwater environments are emphasized,
since
they have received much less attention in the past. Understanding
metal behavior is important not only because of their biological
significance
(as possible toxicants or micronutrients), but also because they can
serve
to trace a range of environmentally important processes, thereby
revealing
information about how ecosystems function. This work helps to
close
a serious data gap, since contamination artifacts (caused by inadequate
use of clean techniques) have compromised most of the past (pre-1990)
data
record on trace metals in fresh waters. |
Dr.
Peter Raymond |
Hudson
River,
DIC and DOC
My main
research emphasis is on the carbon budget of natural systems. I utilize
the stable (13C) and radio (14C)
isotopes of carbon to elucidate the sources and sinks of organic and
inorganic carbon, in order to understand the role of rivers, estuaries
and coastal systems in regional and global carbon budgets. This
research provides fundamental information on the residence time and
turnover times of riverine, terrestrial, and oceanic organic matter
pools. |
|
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Yale
Institute of Biospheric Studies |
| ESCSIS Staff |
| Dr.
Gerard Olack |
Protein Folding |
|
contact:
escsis<at>geology.yale<dot>edu |
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