Dr. Wanamaker is currently on assignment to the National Science Foundation as a Program Director in the Marine Geology and Geophysics Program. He will not be taking new students until fall 2025.
Research Interests of Dr. Alan Wanamaker
My research is largely dedicated to documenting and understanding past climates from the tropical regions to high latitudes. Additionally, I am interested in developing new geochemical tools and proxy records for paleoclimatic applications. For my research, I primarily utilize light stable isotopes in both biogenic and inorganic carbonates. I direct the Stable Isotope Laboratory in the Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences.
Current Research
- Climate variability and mechanisms of climate change.
- Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) dynamics.
- Dynamics of atmospheric and oceanic shifts during recent climate anomalies, especially during the Medieval Climate Anomaly, the Little Ice Age, and the transition to Modern Climate.
- Carbon dynamics, cycling, and anthropogenic impacts (e.g., ocean acidification, 13C Suess effect) on Earth systems. Radiocarbon as a tracer of ocean circulation.
- Paleohydroclimate derived from the geochemistry of speleothems.
- Isotope geochemistry/clumped isotope geochemistry and thermometry in biogenic carbonates.
- Biomineralization in carbonates, and the development of new geochemical techniques and proxies using mollusks, corals, and corallines.
- Sclerochronology and isotope geochemistry of long-lived biogenic carbonates, and the development of advanced sclerochronology techniques.
- Error Estimation Methods using Proxy Archives.