Susan Pit
About Me
I am a Ph.D. student in the Paytan Biogeochemistry lab at UC Santa Cruz. I have a BSc from Utrecht University College with majors in Chemistry and Earth & Environment, and an MSc from Utrecht University in Marine Sciences.
My research interests are broad within the field of geochemistry; anything from groundwater contamination from mining runoff to carbon cycling in intermittent streams will pique my interest. Currently, I’m studying subsurface carbon cycling and trace metal propagation in Elkhorn Slough.
I am passionate about fostering a diverse and inclusive research environment, and am active in the student-led GEODES (Geoscientists Encouraging Openness & Diversity in the Earth Sciences) organization in my department.
Installing our new eddy covariance tower in the Elkhorn Slough
Testing our new eddy covariance tower in the lab at UC Berkeley
Dry season fieldwork in October 2022 to collect sediment cores
News
July 2023
I presented my work on subsurface carbon cycling in wetlands at the Goldschmidt 2023 conference in Lyon.
March 2023
We did our first big wet season fieldwork in the Elkhorn Slough, to complete an annual cycle with our dry season fieldwork in October 2022.
February 2023
My bachelors thesis work on using trace metals as a redox proxy was published!
October 2022
We did our first big dry season fieldwork in the Elkhorn Slough, collecting many sediment cores for analysis.
September 2022
I officially started my PhD position at UC Santa Cruz. Go Banana Slugs!
I participated in the NICO research cruise in 2018.
December 2021
UCSC News center published an article about our project in the Elkhorn Slough.
December 2021
I will be presenting preliminary trace metal concentration data at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2021 in New Orleans.
November 2021
We installed our first eddy covariance tower in a restored marshland area in the Elkhorn Slough.
Presentations and Publications
Pit, S., Paytan, A., Chuang, P. C., Hermosillo, N., Galindo-Eguiarte, V., & Osleger, L. Subsurface carbon dynamics in diverse coastal wetland settings at the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. Goldschmidt Conference; 2023 July; Lyon, France.
Vollebregt A., van Helmond N. A., Pit S., Kraal P., & Slomp C. P. (2023). Trace metals as a redox proxy in Arabian Sea sediments in and below the oxygen minimum zone. Chemical Geology, 121300.
Pit S., Cui, X., Paytan A., Jeppesen R., & Haskins J. Trace Metal Concentrations and Hydrochemical Indicators in the Elkhorn Slough Estuary. AGU Fall Meeting; 2021 December; New Orleans LA.
Wood M.M., Tatzel M., Pit S., Kolevica A., Eisenhauer A., Ridgwell A., Hain M., Paytan A. Stable and radiogenic strontium isotopes in seawater over the Late Quaternary. Goldschmidt Conference; 2020 June; virtual conference.
Pit S. M., & Paytan A. Stable and radiogenic Sr isotopes in the ocean across the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum event as recorded in marine barite. AGU Fall Meeting; 2019 December; San Francisco CA.
Dirksen J.P., Pit S.M., Slom, C.P., Meijer P. Transient model analysis of salinity and oxygen dynamics in the Holocene Black Sea. Nederlands Aardwetenschappelijk Congres; 2019 March; Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Teaching and Outreach
Courses I have TAed:
Introduction to Environmental Processes, UC Santa Cruz (2023)
Geochemical processes of the Earth's surface, Utrecht University (2018)
Outreach is one of the most rewarding aspects of working in science. I have participated and contributed to the following events and programs: