Christopher K. Jones

Hello! I am recent PhD graduate from the department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of California, Riverside working in the Lyons Biogeochemistry Group. 

I am moving to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Fall 2026 to investigate the deposition and alteration of volcanic ash in the Eastern Mediterranean as a WHOI Postdoctoral Scholar working with Dr. Ann Dunlea. 

While at UCR, I was awarded the Schlanger Fellowship and the UC President's Dissertation Year Fellowship. I completed my undergraduate degree at Oklahoma State University (OSU) working on microbially mediated trace metal cycling in marine sediments in the Riedinger Lab. At OSU I was a Niblack Research Scholar, a Wentz Research Scholar, and the College of Arts and Sciences Orange Gown. 

Several of the topics I am currently interested in include: modern marine iron, sulfur, and carbon cycling, subsurface fluid flow, the impact of trace metal cycling during diagenesis on the in situ microbial community and overlying benthic communities, and the role of marine silicate weathering in the Earth's carbon cycle. In summary, I explore the biogeochemical interface between Earth's surface, its processes, and the atmosphere and biosphere.

In my free time you can find me hitting the biking trails, rock climbing, reading my latest fantasy book (or re-reading my favorites), or trying a new recipe in the kitchen!