About Me
My scientific career began with fossil cephalopods in West Texas, detoured through the energy industry, and returned to academia with a new focus on geochemical tools and the evolution of Earth’s surface systems.
My research integrates fieldwork, museum collections, and laboratory analyses to reconstruct past climates, environmental change, and ecological niche structures.
I teach, mentor, and share Earth science with broader audiences through outreach.
My research primarily combines stable isotope geochemistry, paleontology, and stratigraphy to investigate how climate and life have co-evolved across dynamic intervals of Earth’s history. Currently, as a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan, I’m using triple oxygen isotope geochemistry to reconstruct the water cycle in North America’s Western Interior during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, a geologically abrupt global warming event ~56 million years ago.
I began my career studying the taxonomy and biostratigraphy of Permian ammonoids from west Texas. After earning my M.Sc., I worked as an exploration geologist in the energy industry before returning to academia for a Ph.D. in Geology at the University of Kansas, where I focused on terrestrial paleoclimate and stable isotope geochemistry. This combination of paleontology, industry practice, and paleoclimate research continues to shape the questions I pursue about Earth’s past.
My recent work has centered on two intervals of major climatic change. The first is the mid-Cretaceous greenhouse world, among the hottest intervals of the Phanerozoic and a time of rapid evolutionary radiations in terrestrial ecosystems. In the Cloverly Formation of Montana and Wyoming, I combine isotopic analyses of vertebrate fossils, sedimentary carbonates, and soil organic matter with geochronology and stratigraphy to reconstruct regional climate and ecosystems through time. The second focus is the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). I am using triple oxygen isotope geochemistry of paleosol carbonates and fossil mammal teeth to test hypotheses about shifts in water balance during the PETM, providing new insights into how continental hydroclimate responded to rapid carbon emissions and warming.
In addition to research, I am committed to teaching and outreach. I have taught introductory and advanced geoscience courses, engaging students through fieldwork, data-driven exercises, and collaborative projects. I also develop and lead public-facing science communication activities, creating hands-on, interactive Earth science demonstrations.
Outside of academia, I enjoy trail running, fly fishing, and spending time outdoors with my family.
A great day on some of my favorite southeastern Michigan trails.
My family and I visiting Yellowstone National Park while in Wyoming for fieldwork and a trail race.