Office Location: 232 Bryand Global Science Center, University of Maine, Orono, ME.
Biographical Statement: As a small child growing up surrounded by the Appalachian Mountains, I quickly developed a curiosity for how the planet works. This evolved with age into a passion for geology and an undergraduate degree in geosciences from Virginia Tech. During my master’s degree at the University of Alberta, I created a model for the solubility of minerals in saline aqueous fluids in the crust and upper mantle, under the advisement of Matthew Steele-MacInnis. With goals of being a lab manager, I am now pursuing a PhD at the University of Maine, advised by Karl Kreutz.
Research Area: Recently, I have become interested in inductively coupled mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and the potential this method has assist in answering many outstanding geologic questions. My work is focused on the precise identification, dating, and characterization of past geologic and anthropogenic events in crustal rocks and ice cores. In crustal rocks, I am interested in developing and improving geologic based methods applied to radiogenic dating series. Advancements in the last few years now allows for in-line chemistry to occur within a reaction cell, permitting the elimination of isotopic interferences in-situ and precise dating of beta decay chain methods (i.e. Rb-Sr) in environments previously impossible without difficult wet chemistry. Using ice cores from Mt. Hunter, I am examining the historical record of pollution (particularly lead) through time from both Asian and North American sources.
