Assistant professor
Yale University, Dept. of Geology & Geophysics
210 Whitney Ave.
PO Box 208109
New Haven, CT 06520-8109
phone: 203-432-3761
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I am an environmental geochemist whose primary research interests focus on global climate change and biosphere-atmosphere interactions. Understanding climate change requires detailed quantification of the changes occurring in the atmosphere as well as understanding of the response of the climate system to such atmospheric changes. My research uses stable isotopes in order to study both directions; I measure the isotopic composition of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and study emissions from vegetation of volatile hydrocarbons that indirectly influence greenhouse gases, on one hand, and I develop a new tool for studying paleo-temperatures, on the other hand. Most of my current research focuses on developing and applying a new isotopic tracer, 'clumped isotopes', that measures the natural abundance of 13C-18O bonds in CO2 and in carbonate minerals. I develop the use of 'clumped isotopes' it in atmospheric CO2, as a carbon cycle tracer, to quantify sources and sinks of atmospheric CO2. In carbonates it is used as a temperature proxy in paleo-climate research. My work combines aspects of proxy development, aiming at characterizing the parameters controlling carbonate 'clumped isotopes' thermometry, together with applying it to reconstruct past temperatures using CaCO3 of both marine and terrestrial sources.