I am a Glacial Geologist and Sedimentologist in the Department of Geology at Cal Poly Humboldt. I use sediments to learn about past climate changes - mostly in Greenland and North America. I research how the margins of the Greenland Ice Sheet and glaciers in northern California have changed since the end of last ice age (~12,000 years ago). I do this by using two methods: 1) surface exposure dating of glacial landforms (using the isotope beryllium-10) to determine the timing of ice retreat and 2) analyzing lake sediment cores to obtain continuous records of upvalley glacier fluctuations and environmental change. These data are useful for determining the response of ice sheets and glaciers to natural climate variability on long time scales.

I am also interested in science communication and enjoy having discussions with students and the general public about science and the challenges of working in remote field locations. I have been a National Science Foundation GK-12 fellow and a member of the first cohort of National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) fellows at Dartmouth.