I use geochemical tracers to study soil weathering, mineral reactions, trace element behavior, atmospheric inputs, and nutrient cycling. Soils are complex, heterogeneous, open systems (sometimes described as “black boxes” in earth surface models) and better tools are needed to understand their functioning, particularly under conditions of land-use change and climate change, over both human and geologic timescales.
My PhD training in isotope geochemistry and biogeochemistry came from the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences department at Cornell University, and also via the Cornell IGERT program in Biogeochemistry and Environmental Biocomplexity.
I am currently a Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, funded by the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council to investigate the use of uranium-series disequilibria to decipher controls on soil formation.
Beginning in July of 2009, I will be an Assistant Professor in the Crop and Soil Science Department at Oregon State University. I am looking for students (Ph.D. or M.S., applying fall 2009 to start in 2010) who have strong interests in soil chemistry, biogeochemistry, weathering, or isotope geochemistry.
