Areas of Expertise

Soil biogeochemistry, calcic soils, stable isotope geochemistry

Research Locations

Current Research Programs & Projects

Paleoelevation of the Western Cordillera, Peru

Dust, atmospheric CO2, and the glaciation of the Northern Hemisphere during the Pliocene

Measuring small respiration rates in cold climates: Towards in situ measurement of microbial activity in Antarctic endolith communities

The carbon cycle in unburied karst

Graduate Teaching Award (for Proposal Writing class) - Jackson School of Geosciences (2011)

NSF Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowship - National Science Foundation (2008 - 2009)

Outstanding Ph.D. student - Earth and Planetary Science Department (UNM) (2008)

Vincent C. Kelley Graduate Fellowship - Earth and Planetary Science Department (UNM) (2004 - 2007)

Outstanding M.S. student - Earth and Planetary Science Department (UNM) (2004)

Outstanding Teaching Assistant - the University of New Mexico (2004)

Frank E. Kottlowski Award - New Mexico Geological Society (2004)

Robert Wellnitz Scholarship for excellence in field research - New Mexico Geological Society (2003)

Outstanding Beginning Teaching Assistant - Earth and Planetary Science Department (UNM) (2003)

John Mason Clarke 1877 Fellowship - Amherst College (2002 - 2004)

Magna cum Laude - Amherst College (2001)

Pond Prize for Most Distinguished Thesis in Geology - Amherst College Department of Geology (2001)

Postdocs

Elizabeth Cassel, now at the University of Idaho
Liz is advancing the understanding of the paleoelevation of the western United States and the Western Cordillera in South America. She is a leader in the use of felsic volcanic glasses to determine the past elevation of Earth's land surface.

Graduate Students

Evan J Ramos , Ph.D., expected 2021 (Co-supervisor)
I am a first-year PhD student whose research focuses on the thermodynamics of high-temperature and low-temperature fluid-rock interactions, the geochemical records associated with these processes, and the refinement of earth systems models of geochemical cycling between the solid Earth, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. My Master's thesis incorporated various techniques including numerical modeling, stable isotope geochemistry, and geochronology to characterize fluid flow during the formation of skarns. The overarching goal of this research was to quantify the amount and rate of CO2 production during arc-related metamorphism to understand the influence of global arc flare-ups on Earth's climate during the Cretaceous. Currently, I am interested in paleosols and soil carbonates as archives of weathering, erosion, and climate. More specifically, I intend to refine Li isotope measurements of soil carbonates to classify weathering regimes and quantify weathering rates over geologic timescales.

Peter E Carlson , Ph.D., expected 2018 (Co-supervisor)
Stalagmites that grow near the entrances of caves are often avoided for the purposes of paleoclimate reconstruction, due to worries about fluctuating atmospheric conditions and microbiological influences interfering with calcite growth dynamics. I study how these near-entrance stalagmites might serve as high-resolution records of surface temperature. I am investigating temperatures recorded in the oxygen-isotope, trace element, and clumped-isotope compositions of a near-entrance stalagmite from Westcave Preserve in central Texas. I have also been monitoring active drip sites in Westcave since 2013 in order to characterize modern responses in drip water and calcite chemistry to changing environmental conditions.

Sol Cooperdock , M.S., expected 2017 (Supervisor)
Wildfires are potentially the most transformative disturbances that can occur in forest ecosystems and they are becoming more severe and frequent with a changing climate. As this shift occurs, it will become increasingly important to understand how and why ecosystems do or do not regenerate after wildfires. My research focuses on understanding the environmental and geochemical factors that influence soil ecosystem regeneration after stand-replacing wildfires.

John G Warden , Ph.D., expected 2015 (Supervisor)

Colin J McNeece (Committee Member)
I am a Ph.D. candidate in geological sciences at UT Austin. My research is in reactive transport modeling, a field that sits on the interface of fluid mechanics and geochemistry. My work couples theory and experiments to understand fundamental controls on transport behavior in natural settings.

Kiara Gomez (Committee Member)
I am generally interested in the applications of biological markers (biomarkers) to address questions in geology and petroleum engineering. My current PhD research focuses on using paleoclimate molecular proxies, such as plant leaf wax biomarkers (GDGT) and stable oxygen and hydrogen isotopes to understand tropical South American hydroclimate and its dynamics since the LGM.

Lacey Pyle, M.S., 2012 (Supervisor)

Kyle Meyer, M.S., 2012 (Supervisor)

Junyeon Yoon (Supervisor)

Nate Meyer, M.S. (Supervisor)

Interpreting the 13C values of speleothem calcite, Lanzhou University, Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems, (2015)

Miocene Atmospheric CO2, Lanzhou University, Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems, (2015)

The down profile increase in the 13C values of soil organic matter, University of Waikato, Department of Earth Science, (2015)

Toward interpreting the carbon isotope composition of cave calcite, University of California, Irvine, (2015)

Toward interpreting the carbon isotope composition of speleothem calcite, University of New Mexico, (2013)

Soil carbonate and atmospheric CO2, University of Texas Arlington, (2013)

Calibrating the paleosol carbonate CO2 barometer, Royal Society of London, Kavli Royal Society International Centre (2011)

Seasonality of soil carbonate formation: Implications for reconstructing paleoelevations and paleoatmospheric CO2, the University of Washington, Seattle, WA (2011)

Modern soils and ancient atmospheric CO2: calibrating the paleosol carbonate CO2 barometer, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX (2010)

Modern soils and ancient atmospheric CO2: calibrating the paleosol carbonate CO2 barometer, the University of Hawaii, (2010)

Modern soils and ancient atmospheric CO2: calibrating the paleosol carbonate CO2 barometer, Baylor University, Waco, TX (2010)

The stable isotope composition of CO2 in soils and caves: investigating processes in the critical zone, the University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, (2009)

The stable isotope composition of CO2 in soils and caves: investigating processes in the critical zone, University of Texas at Austin, Department of Geological Sciences, (2009)

Extreme conditions of pedogenic carbonate formation: Implications for reconstructing paleoenvironments, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY (2008)

Extreme conditions of pedogenic carbonate formation: Implications for reconstructing paleoenvironments, the University of Houston, (2008)

Extreme conditions of pedogenic carbonate formation: Implications for reconstructing paleoenvironments, the University of Texas at Austin, (2008)

Calibrating pedogenic carbonate as a paleoenvironmental indicator, Los Alamos National Laboratory, (2008)

Improved understanding of soil carbonate formation reveals sensitivity of Earth’s climate to atmospheric CO2, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM (2008)

Year	Semester	Course
2018	Spring	GEO 394	Rsch In Geological Sciences
2018	Spring	GEO 291	Asian Monsoon
2018	Spring	GEO 191	Proposal Writing
2017	Fall	GEO 394	Rsch In Geological Sciences
2017	Fall	GEO 401	Physical Geology
2017	Spring	GEO 394	Rsch In Geological Sciences
2017	Spring	GEO 191	Proposal Writing
2017	Spring	GEO 388H	Environmental Isotope Geochem
2017	Spring	GEO 376E	Environmental Isotope Geochem
2016	Fall	GEO 394	Rsch In Geological Sciences
2016	Fall	GEO 401	Physical Geology
2016	Spring	GEO 394	Rsch In Stbl Isotp Biogeochem
2016	Spring	GEO 191	Proposal Writing
2015	Fall	GEO 394	Rsch In Geological Sciences
2015	Fall	GEO 401	Physical Geology
2015	Spring	GEO 394	Rsch In Stbl Isotp Biogeochem
2015	Spring	GEO 191	Proposal Writing
2015	Spring	GEO 388H	Environmental Isotope Geochem
2015	Spring	GEO 376E	Environmental Isotope Geochem
2014	Fall	GEO 394	Rsch In Stbl Isotp Biogeochem
2014	Fall	GEO 401	Physical Geology
2014	Spring	GEO 394	Rsch In Stbl Isotp Biogeochem
2014	Spring	GEO 191	Proposal Writing