Stable Isotope Paleo Environments Research Group

The Stable Isotope Paleo Environments Research Group (SIPERG) is committed to conducting cutting-edge research relating to climate change and global environmental change. We develop high-resolution records from the global ocean and land to pursue fundamental research questions that involve the coupling of the marine and terrestrial environments.

Our group is committed to building and supporting a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment to ensure the learning and success of all members.

Why study past environments?

We try to understand how the atmosphere and oceans behaved in the past. By doing this, we can document the natural range of variability in these systems. This allows us to better understand the impacts global change might bring due to increased anthropogenic forcing.

Geochemical tools for reconstructing past climates and environments

There are many methods to investigate past climates and environments. Of these methods, stable isotope geochemistry is perhaps one of the most powerful and reliable tools. We specialize in stable carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen isotopes from water, soils, and carbonates to infer past environmental conditions.

What is sclerochronology?

Sclerochronology is considered by many to be the aquatic equivalent of dendrochronology. This powerful method is helping to unlock high-resolution marine archives (e.g., corals, corallines, mollusks, otoliths) for paleoclimate and paleoecology studies. Sclerochronological techniques are commonly used in freshwater environments as well.