People

Clara Blättler

Clara joined the University of Chicago in 2018 as an assistant professor. She works on geochemical problems related to the carbon cycle, Earth history, chemical oceanography, and geobiology. Although most of her research takes place in inorganic geochemistry laboratories, she has carried out field work both on land and at sea. She clearly enjoys sitting on chairs made of carbonate.

Malu Carvalho Ferreira

Malu is a postdoctoral scientist who joined the University of Chicago in 2023. Malu has a broad interest in oceanography, paleoclimate, and geochemistry, but mostly she is interested in the links between the ocean and the climate. During her master studies in oceanography (at FURG, Brazil), she investigated the modern distribution of deep-water masses in the Atlantic Ocean. More recently, Malu did her PhD in Bristol (UK) focusing on investigating the oceanic variability during the last glacial and deglacial interval. For this purpose, she applied geochemical proxies (U-Th dating, radiocarbon, and Li/Mg paleothermometry) to cold-water corals to reconstruct seawater signatures. The results of this study indicate that the intermediate ocean has maintained a close link with the atmosphere, and that it responds promptly to perturbations in the oceanic circulation. Now, Malu plans to expand the timescale of her research and to investigate new geochemical proxies used to constrain diagenetic processes in carbonates.

Jordan Todes

Jordan is a graduate student who joined the University of Chicago in 2020. He received his bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University, and subsequently was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Warsaw. His interests are broadly centered about the impact of evolutionary, environmental, and tectonic drivers on the stratigraphic record. Outside of Hinds, he likes exploring the outdoors, local coffee shops, and reading.

Chiza Mwinde

Chiza is a graduate student who joined the University of Chicago in Autumn 2020. Broadly, she is interested in using geochemical signatures in sedimentary deposits to tackle problems related to paleoclimate and Earth history. She received her bachelor’s degree in Geosciences from Smith College. When she is not pipetting samples in the lab, Chiza can be found exploring pastry shops, drawing, or learning something new.

Ian Hutchison

Ian is a graduate student who joined the University of Chicago in 2024. He has a broad range of interests which he explores using the tools of geochemistry, field study, and petrology. He hopes to be able to tease apart and investigate source and process signatures relating to our understanding of Earth History and volatile cycles. He received his bachelor’s degree in Earth Sciences from Washington University in St. Louis and consequently worked on experimental petrology problems in the ESPM Lab there. When found in the wild, he may be playing soccer, enjoying some live music, cooking, or most likely running around with his puppy.

Olivia Greipp

Olivia is an undergraduate student majoring in Geophysical Sciences and Physical Chemistry. She is developing an interest in using chemistry and the geologic world. She has previously volunteered in a meteoritics lab and is excited to explore a new avenue of geochemistry.

Previous members:

Preston Kemeny

Preston is a TC Chamberlain postdoctoral fellow who joined the University of Chicago in 2022. A stable isotope geochemist and modeler, he studies the biogeochemical reactions and physical processes regulating the carbon, alkalinity, and electron fluxes that keep Earth habitable, both today and throughout the geologic past. Preston's PhD at Caltech focused on the role of sulfide oxidation in the relationship between chemical weathering and climate and he worked on glacial-interglacial nitrogen dynamics during his undergraduate years at Princeton. Peruse Preston's page of published papers and proceeding projects!

lab member 2022-2025; now scientist at WHOI

Lauren Bergeron

Lauren is a graduate student who joined the University of Chicago in Autumn 2022. She received her bachelor's degree in Geology and History from Albion College. Her undergraduate research was centered on utilizing authigenic minerals and invertebrate fossils to reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions of high productivity marine systems in both the Cretaceous of Madagascar and the Permian of eastern Idaho. In her graduate tenure, she is broadly interested in combining sequence stratigraphy, geochemistry, and taphonomy to assess biotic responses to environmental change in marine systems.

lab member 2022-2025

Adera Craig

Adera is an undergraduate student majoring in Environmental Science, Biology, and Environment, Geography, & Urbanization (CEGU). She is broadly interested in historical ecology of post-industrial regions, aquatic environmental chemistry, and biogeography. Her thesis explores the correlation between industrial landfill in the Southeast side of Chicago and the temporality of heavy metal concentration in fish tissue. In her other research on campus, she studies the phylogenetic and biogeographic dietary trends of coral reef fish. When she is not fishing for specimens, she enjoys playing trombone, writing, and exploring Chicago.

lab member 2024-2025

Kly Suquino

Kly is an Instructional Assistant in the department after having recently graduated from the undergraduate program in the geophysical sciences. His senior thesis focused on measuring the major ion composition and dissolved calcium isotope ratios in river water from the Little Deschutes catchment in Central Oregon. In turn, he evaluated fractionation during clay formation and the distinction between silicate and carbonate weathering within the watershed to learn about complications to the carbon cycle. In his free time, he enjoys finding the perfect coffee-to-mood ratio, basketball, photography, and outdoor exploration.

lab member 2023-2024; now graduate student at Rice

Andrew McGallian

Andrew is an undergraduate student who is helping out with laboratory analyses this summer. He is quickly becoming an expert at trace-element analyses on the iCAP ICP-MS instrument.

lab member summer 2023

Roger Bryant

Roger is a postdoctoral scholar who joined the University of Chicago in 2019. He has been obsessed with rocks and minerals since he started his Bachelor's at the University of St. Andrews, in 2010. His subsequent PhD research at Washington University in St. Louis focused largely on sulfur isotopes in sedimentary iron sulfides, but he is now excited to contribute to the demystification of geochemical signatures in carbonates. View his personal website here.

lab member 2019-2022; now faculty at Purdue

Dan Razionale

Dan joined the University of Chicago in 2019 as the laboratory manager and technician for the group. He has experience operating several ICP spectrometers and other instrumentation that the group uses to generate geochemical data. He received a B.Sc. in Marine Geophysics from Eckerd College where he researched the longevity of geochemical effects of the Deepwater Horizon Blowout Event. When he’s not operating instruments in the lab, you can normally find him exploring outside, rock climbing, or playing games.

lab member 2019-2022; now graduate student at MIT

Vespera Luo

Vespera is an undergraduate student at the University of Chicago majoring in geophysics, with a focus in geochemistry. She has broad interests in chemical oceanography, the carbon cycle, and all kinds of rocks. She considers herself a street park/national park connoisseur, and she is very judgmental about novels and food. Please reach out if you want to know the best dim sum or Tiramisu in town!

lab member 2022; now graduate student at Stanford

Tara Kalia

Tara is an undergraduate student at the University of Chicago majoring in chemistry. She has previously worked in an organic chemistry lab but is now excited to explore geochemistry and analytical chemistry. When she’s not studying or working in the lab, she enjoys hiking, reading, gardening, and whittling.

lab member 2022; now graduate student at UW

Kalena Genesis

Kalena is an undergraduate student at the University of Chicago majoring in the geophysical sciences with a focus in geochemistry. After signing up for a field course in her first year, she became interested in learning more about geological sciences. Kalena has previously done research in freshwater ecology and paleobiology, and she is excited to begin geochemical research on carbonates. In her free time, she enjoys watercolor painting, drawing, writing poetry, and running.

lab member 2019-2020, 2022; now graduate student at U of Hawai'i

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