Research Interests:

I am interested in developing biogenic opal as a proxy for
paleoclimate and paleoproductivity. Diatomaceous opal has been shown to have large concentrations of various trace elements above their typical concetrations in seawater. I hope to use these excess concentrations to tease out the implications of changes in biogeochemical cycles through time. My current focus on this project is developing and refining the essential first step towards this goal: a clean, safe, and efficient procedure for isolating opal from other
sedimentary facies.