July 2025

Several members of ESG and colleagues Preston Kemeny (WHOI), Sebastian Muñoz (Brown), and Kly Suquino (Rice) returned to East River to undertake another sampling campaign as part of our Department of Energy-funded research on clay mineral formation and organic carbon cycling in alpine watersheds. With a larger team, we extended our efforts to nearby watersheds, including Cement Creek and the Paradise Basin Divide, to further investigate how lithologic composition and structure modulates secondary mineral formation.

June 2025

Evan, with colleagues Dan Ibarra (Brown) and Gavin Piccione (Brown), has published a new paper in Geophysical Research Letters on the use of lithium and uranium isotope measurements in characterizing how rock properties factor in their breakdown at the Earth's surface. We think that pairing these isotope systems together can be useful in studies of modern watersheds and of the recent past (< 1 million years) to understand the weathering sensitivity of given rocks to tectonic and climatic change.

June 2025

An interview with Claire through the ARCS Foundation highlights her ongoing research aims, which focus on mechanisms of rock-derived organic carbon breakdown during soil formation. The Pittsburgh Chapter of the ARCS Foundation is providing Claire with financial support to conduct research in Colorado and possibly locations in our backyard here in southwest PA. 

July 2024

Claire and Evan, with close collaborators Mark Torres (Rice) and Sebastian Muñoz (Brown), spent two successful weeks along the East River near Crested Butte, CO collecting river sediment and water. We are trying to understand how alpine watersheds store and release carbon against the backdrop of a warming climate, with particular attention given to the role of clay minerals and floodplain dynamics in regulating carbon transfer.

A special thanks to the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory for logistical support and resources, the DOE for financial support, and to all the wet wet mud.