Topics Piquing my Interest

I am currently a third year PhD student at the University of California, Riverside working with Dr. Timothy Lyons. My current projects are iron, sulfur, and trace element chemistry of Effingham Inlet, a euxinic fjord on Vancouver Island, and an upcoming project through my involvement in IODP Expedition 398 to the Hellenic Arc Volcanic Field. I will be investigating the cycling of trace elements in sediments deposited in this tectonically and hydrothermally active region, focusing on the interplay between sapropels, reactive silicate minerals, and possibly dynamic fluid flow regimes. Lastly, I have been working on a silicate weathering project, but focusing instead on how silicate minerals are weathering in marine systems and the controls this presents on the carbon and other elemental cycles.

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, possibly affecting the in situ microbial community. This work is ongoing in the Riedinger Lab at OSU and through collaborators at Oregon State University and Texas A&M University-Galveston and is being prepared for publication presently.