About

I grew up in the Hudson Valley near Kingston, NY.  

My undergrad at SUNY New Paltz sparked my love of sedimentary records (thanks Dr. Rayburn!). The Environmental Geochemical Science program introduced me to multiproxy analysis to fully capture climate dynamics.

After graduation, I spent a season with Americorps working to map and remove invasive grasses at Saguaro National Park. Living in a drought prone region dependent on prediciable seasonal precipitation patterns was insightful to my later research focus.  Next, I turned to a more sustainability focused career in an environmentaly minded butcher shop. I worked with local environmental groups to address concerns and build a working sustainable framework for the industry. Ask me about our meat vending machine at Applestone!

Paleoclimate finally had me return to graduate school to work with Dr. Brenda Hall at UMaine on a variety of proxies to characterize the climate fluctuations since the last ice age.  As part of UMaine's Glacial Geology Lab I was fortunate to have lots of beautiful field experiences in Antarctica, Falkland Islands, Baxter State Park, Maine, Inyo National Forest, California, and Cherryfield, Maine (home of the blueberries!). 

I now work at Syracuse University nestled between the Great Lakes and the Finger Lakes. My current work with Dr. Tripti Bhattacharya digs a bit deeper in time to the Pliocene to understand climate dynamics in a warm interval for comparison to potential future climate change. I am also working on method development to better reconstruct paleo-carbon drawdown potential of plant communities. My personal goal is to spend my free time trying all the New York apples I have been missing and exploring as many lakes as possible.