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Brett James Tipple

Ph.D. Candidate, Organic Geochemistry,

Yale University

M.Phil, Organic Geochemistry, Yale University, 2005

B.S., Geological Sciences, Indiana University, 2003

Research Interests

My research focuses on understanding terrestrial plants response to climate through plant-specific biomarkers and isotopic signatures. My work encompasses a variety of temporal and spatial scales from modern ground-truthing studies to paleo-applications. My dissertation is composed of three diverse components, all of which are united by the use of leaf-wax compounds. The first component is an Eocene to present δ¹³C n-alkane record developed from DSDP/ODP sediments, to study the long-term climate impacts on the terrestrial biosphere, particularly the origin of C₄ photosynthesis. Second, I designed a variety of modern studies to assess the environments impact on δ¹³C and δD n-alkane signatures. For this undertaking, I collected materials from over 500 trees spanning three geographic transects, one along the East Coast and another two across Northern California. And finally, I developed a concentrated analysis of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) to study terrestrial plants isotopic response to a short-live, extreme climate event. I collected and extracted six P/E boundary sections spanning a latitudinal transect across Northern Spain, Italy, and Tunisia to assess plant community dynamic in response to the PETM. From this, terrestrial plants δ¹³C and δD isotopic signatures are used to assess variations in carbon isotopic response to the CIE and latitudinal responses to changes in the hydrologic cycle.