Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

In terms of my education, I grew up in eastern Kentucky and completed my undergraduate at Western Kentucky University after attending the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science. Through that program, I took my first geology course and fell in love with geochemistry. From there, I went to the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ and completed my PhD in trace metal geochemistry. Afterwards, I spent a year at the University of Massachusetts Lowell working with Dr. Richard Gaschnig during a postdoc, examining non-traditional stable isotopes related to crustal recycling.

My research generally focuses on the interactions between geology, chemistry, and biology in an attempt to understand how geochemical processes may ultimately influence ourselves and the world we interact with. Much of the work I do examines trace metals and heavy metal isotopes to attempt to track these elements through geological and biological processes and unravel the connection between them.

Visit the Metal Isotopes Lab