What do we do?

My research group uses geochemistry, microbial ecology, paleontology, and soil biogeochemistry to address a variety of questions relevant to element cycling in modern and ancient systems, the composition and structure of modern and fossil bone, and the roles that microorganisms play in bone alteration (and preservation). Our work spans various depositional settings, geologic times, and disciplines to better understand our Earth. 

The Paleontology Research Laboratory building (left) houses the Museum of Geology collections and paleontology research lab space. The geology of western South Dakota is awesome (top right), and you can drive through 2.6 billion years of Earth's history in ~30 minutes. Our state of the art building includes the paleontology prep lab, where students and members of the community can volunteer to help curate our ~500,000 specimens (bottom right).