Prospective Students

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.

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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.