As an isotope geochemist and paleoclimatologist, I use geochemical tracers to explore how the Earth’s carbon cycle and climate system operates. By combining modern process studies, method development, and paleo-reconstructions, my research addresses the roles of ocean circulation, continental weathering, and ice sheet dynamics in the earth system. Such evidence provides an invaluable context for understanding modern and future anthropogenic changes.

Much of my research has focused on the Pleistocene and Holocene intervals, but I am also interested in earlier periods of the Cenozoic, as well as the shorter timescales of laboratory experiments and modern seasonal changes. I have expertise working with various archives (e.g. ocean sediments, foraminifera, fish teeth, deep-sea corals, speleothems) and multiple isotope systems, including radiogenic isotopes (e.g. Pb, Nd, and Sr), stable isotopes (e.g. C, O), and non-traditional stable isotopes (e.g. Li).

Recent and ongoing research areas include:

• Millennial to centennial variability in deglacial and Holocene Southern Ocean circulation and carbon cycling, from combined Nd isotopes and radiocarbon in deep-sea corals.
• Probing past ice sheet dynamics in Antarctica and implications for future sea level, using detrital sediment provenance analysis.
• Quantifying the response of chemical weathering to past climate change, based on the application of Pb and Nd isotopes in seawater archives.
  
• Understanding the controls on terrestrial weathering processes, using Li isotopes in cave waters and speleothems.