RESEARCH AREAS

Biogeochemistry

This research focuses on quantifying modern and ancient biogeochemical processes in both terrestrial and marine environments. Study areas include the coastal zones of Panama, Saint Lucia, and Connecticut and soils, groundwaters, rivers, and lakes located in Michigan and Ontario, Canada. Ku, Greenwood

Systematics and biogeography of fresh water fishes of Latin America; morphological evolution; conservation of aquatic ecosystems. Chernoff

Fossil Plants and Ancient Climates

We develop plant-based methods and apply them to fossils to help us better understand the ecology and climate (temperature, CO2 concentration) of ancient terrestrial ecosystems. Royer

Geoscience Education

We are working to improve teaching and learning about the Earth and Environment to ensure an educated society and recruit and retain a diverse community of future scientists. OConnell, Resor

Long Island Sound Studies

Focus on the coastal salt marshes of Long Island Sound, using the variation in geochemisty and fauna to reconstrcut the ecology, environment and sea level rise through time.  Inventory of marsh vegetaion using remote sensing. Gilmore

Paleoclimatology

Analyses of Ocean Drilling Program cores of the Atlantic, Antarctic and Pacific allow reconstruction of Cenozoic climatic history. O'Connell

Ancient earth-ocean interactions, paleoceanography and paleoenvironmental reconstructions, quantitative paleoecology, and marine micropaleontology. Bryant

Planetary Science

Fundamental geologic and mineralogical mapping of the planets, notably Venus and Mars.  Visible/Near Infrared spectroscopy of analogue materials.  Hydrogen, sulfur and oxygen isotope ratios of minerals constrain element reservoirs in meteorite parent bodies, Mars and the Moon.  Gilmore, Greenwood

Structural Geology and Tectonophysics

We study faults, folds, and metamorphic fabrics through mapping at the thin section, outcrop, and regional scales, aided by 3D imaging, numerical modeling, and geochronology to better understand rock deformation, rheology and tectonic history. Resor