Austin Carter, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Associate at Princeton University
My background is in geochemistry and paleoclimate. I completed my Ph.D. at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego in summer 2025, where I was advised by Dr. Sarah Aarons. Since fall 2025, I have been a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Princeton University in the Higgins Research Lab.
Investigating dust, ice, and climate with chemistry
My research focuses on the chemistry, geometry, and concentration of mineral dust in polar ice. I have spent three field seasons at the Allan Hills, East Antarctica, drilling ice cores in this blue ice area. In the lab, I carefully separate the dust and measures its properties. These small, solid impurities can provide insight into how the conditions on the Earth's surface and the flow of air may have changed through time. The overarching goal of my research has been to advance our understanding of the role of dust as a recorder of past climate conditions.
Peer-Reviewed Work
Published in Nature Geoscience.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-026-01988-1
Carter, A.J., Aarons, S.M., Schnaubelt, J.C., Tabor, C.R., Higgins, J.A., Shackleton, S.A., Epifanio, J.A., Morgan, J.D., Koornneef, J.M., Davies, G.R., Gabrielli, P., Choi, A., Severinghaus, J.P., Brook, E.J., Marks Peterson, J.C., Sutter, J., Davidge, L.
Submitted to The Cryosphere.
Choi, A.†, Carter, A.J.†, Marks-Peterson J., Shackleton, S., Higgins, J., Brook, E., Kirkpatrick, L., Chalif, J., Aarons, S.M.
†These authors contributed equally to this work.
Published in Journal of Glaciology.
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2025.10081
Kirkpatrick, L., Carter, A.J., Marks Peterson, J., Shackleton, S., Fudge, T.J.
Published in PNAS.
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2502681122
Shackleton, S., Hishamunda, V., Davidge, L., Brook, E., Peterson, J., Carter, A.J., Aarons, S., Kurbatov, A., Yan, Y., Buizert, C., Steig, E., Schauer, A., Wahl, S., Morgan, J., Epifanio, J., Severinghaus, J., Bender, M., and Higgins, J.A.
Published in Nature.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10116-3
Shackleton, S., Hishamunda, V., Yan, Y., Carter, A.J., Morgan, J., Severinghaus, J., Aarons, S.M., Marks Peterson, J., Epifanio, J., Buizert, C., Brook, E., Kurbatov, A., Bender, M., Higgins, J.
Published in Nature.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-10032-y
Marks-Peterson, J., Shackleton, S., Higgins, J.A., Severinghaus, J., Yan, Y., Buizert, C., Kalk, M., Beaudette, R., Hishamunda, V., Eves, D., Carter, A.J., Kurbatov, A., Epifanio, J., Morgan, J., Nesbitt, I., Bender, M., Brook, E.
Published in PAGES Magazine, 2022.
https://doi.org/10.22498/pages.30.2.102
Wendt, K.A., Bennett, H.I., Carter, A.J., Marks-Peterson, J.C.
in prep for The Cryosphere.
Kirkpatrick, L., Chalif, J.I., Brandis, D., Carter, A.J., Choi, A., Davidge, L., Handley, M.J., Hishamunda, V., Jongebloed, U.A., Kalk, M., Korotkikh, E.V., Lowes-Bicay, H., Marks-Peterson, J., Schauer, A.J., Stoll, N., Tipton, L., Brook, E., Aarons, S., Buizert, C., Cole-Dai, J., Higgins, J., Koffman, B., Osterberg, E.C., Steig, E.J., Shackleton, S., Fudge, T.J.
Selected Awards and Honors
Awarded in 2023 for excellence in research. Selection is based on “the exceptional promise of the nominee to make a significant contribution to the advancement of science, and to the material and intellectual welfare of all people.”
Awarded a $9,000 grant in support of research to develop a novel 234U/238U folding verification technique applied to an ice core from the Allan Hills, Antarctica.
This award recognizes exemplary leadership in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the Center for Oldest Ice Exploration (COLDEX) community and beyond.