Research

We are working on projects in applying clumped isotopes to terrestrial settings, like estimating warm month temps and seasonality from paleosols, comparing independent clumped and paleobotanical temps from carbonates surrounding lacustrine-preserved floral assemblages, or evaluating fault fluid temperatures/compositions.

See Kelson et al. (2018; Paleoceanog.), Bernasconi et al. (2021; G3), Heitmann et al. (2021; FrES), or Riegel et al. (2022; FrES)

We are continuing our work on terrestrial records of the early Eocene, including new high-latitude climate and ecology records, as well as developing high resolution lacustrine and new carbon-cycle models to describe the causes and impacts of the EECO.

See Hyland & Sheldon (2013; P3), Hyland et al. (2013; GSAB), Hyland et al. (2017; GSAB), or Hyland et al. (2018; Clim. Past)

NSF Award #1813703

We are expanding projects developing terrestrial records of other greenhouse periods, such as the Late Cretaceous and the mid-Paleocene biotic event (MPBE), and comparing them to available paleontological and marine records to provide context and serve as modern analogue.

See Hyland et al. (2015; P3), Hyland & Sheldon (2017; P3), Burgener et al. (2019; P3), or Burgener et al. (2021; GSAB)

NSF Award #1925973

We are working on a range of applications for phytoliths as descriptors of vegetation, climate, and environmental conditions, from recent land-use changes and restoration strategies to paleoecological and topographic reconstructions in deep time.

See Hyland et al. (2013; P3), Hyland (2014; LL), or Cardenal et al. (in prep.) 

We are continuing our work on multiple projects to understand the rise of the grassland biome and the climatic and environmental conditions of the Miocene-Pliocene transition that lead to these shifts in both North and South America.

See Cotton et al. (2014; EPSL), Smiley et al. (2018; P3), or Hyland et al. (2018; GSAB)

NSF Award #1854209

We are continuing our work on paleosol-based environmental description and geochemical proxies, including developing new climofunctions, comparing proxy reconstructions, and expanding applications for both magnetic and portable XRF technologies.

See Hyland et al. (2015; GSAB) or Hyland & Sheldon (2016; Sedimentology)

We are starting a new project examining the characteristics of carbonate concretions and their role in the exceptional preservation of fossil materials, and the possibility that microbially-mediated rapid mineralization can serve as an atmospheric carbon sequestration tool in the modern.

NSF Award #1934844

We are starting a new project correlating glacial-interglacial sequences across the central United States, focusing on developing high resolution records of terrestrial climate and ecological change from paleosols and carbonates preserved across this dynamic interval.

We are pursuing new projects on understanding the environmental history of understudied regions, providing ecological and climatic context while prospecting for important new paleontological finds in Saudi Arabia, Kenya, and Thailand.

See Tucker et al. (2022; P3)