Bryce K. Belanger

I am a geochemist and paleoclimatologist, currently a PhD candidate at Vanderbilt University in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. I received my undergraduate degree in Geology from Middlebury College in 2019. My research focuses on reconstructing past climate change using speleothems, which are mineral deposits that form in caves over time. 

In my research I use geochemical techniques to better understand how precipitation changed during warm periods in earth’s past. I conduct field work in Wyoming, Utah, California, Kentucky, Tennessee, Curaçao, and the Philippines. My work in Wyoming seeks to understand the evolution of modern climate patterns (like El Niño) and the effect that these patterns have on rainfall, snowfall, and drought in water-stressed regions like the western United States. 

I am also passionate about developing new geochemical recorders of past climate in speleothems using experimental techniques, most recently traveling to the University of Waikato in New Zealand to further investigate the “triple oxygen isotope” proxy in speleothems.