I research the oceanographic and sedimentary controls on the deposition and diagenesis of iron, carbon, sulfur, and trace metals in modern marine systems. As part of this work, I also study microbial communities and how they both control these cycles but are in turn affected by changing availability of these elements.
Trace element cycling, feedbacks, and controls on microbial ecology in marine sediments: American Geophysical Union Abstract and in review in the journal Geobiology
Oceanographic and sedimentary controls on marine silicate weathering and the modern carbon cycle: Goldschmidt Abstract and in preparation for submission to Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Diagenesis, subsurface brines, hydrothermal fluids, and volcano-tectonic controls on sedimentary biogeochemistry: IODP Expedition 398 Proceedings. This project is near completion following recent oxygen and strontium isotope data generation while working at Oregon State University!
My current projects is on sediments and porewaters I collected during IODP Expedition 398 to the Hellenic Arc Volcanic Field. I am investigating the cycling of trace elements in sediments deposited in this tectonically and hydrothermally active region, focusing on the interplay between brines, sapropels, reactive silicate minerals, and dynamic fluid flow regimes.
My undergraduate research at Oklahoma State University, supervised by Dr. Natascha Riedinger, focused primarily on the behavior of redox sensitive trace metals during early diagenesis in modern marine sediments. I specifically focused on molybdenum, vanadium, and arsenic due to their association with iron and manganese oxides/oxyhydroxides. To investigate how these metals were cycled, I collected sediments during two separate expeditions to the Argentine Basin and hydrothermal vents in the Scotia Sea. The sediments were processed and incubated to simulate diagnesis. My primary finding was that trace metals, such as molybdenum, can be released in relatively high concentrations into the pore-water, affecting the in situ microbial community. This work continued into my PhD at UCR and is in review in the journal Geobiology.
While at UCR, I have also been involved in collaborations and additional projects beyond my dissertation research! Most of these involve iron and sulfur cycling and implications for ancient Earth environments. I also was able to contribute to an In Press Elsevier book on the Archean Earth. Please find abstracts and the In Press versions of the two book chapters below:
Building and maintaining a habitable world and the conditions that could favor life's beginnings on Earth and beyond: Chapter PDF
Our solar system neighborhood: three diverging tales of planetary habitability and windows to Earth's past and future: Chapter PDF
Iron formation deposition and diagenesis in the Cristiana-Santorini-Kolumbo Volcanic Field: Geological Society of America Abstract