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B.A. University of Pennsylvania (1998)
Ph.D. Yale University (2002)
General interests: Global change; paleoclimatology; carbon cycle; paleoecology; paleobotany;
plant physiology; light stable isotope geochemistry
Teaching
[Fall 2008--sabbatical leave]
Soils (Spring 2009)
Research
I explore how plants can be used to reconstruct
ancient environments, and the (paleo-) physiological underpinnings behind these plant-environment relationships. Recent and current projects include
the reconstruction of early Paleogene and middle Miocene atmospheric carbon dioxide levels from the stomatal distributions in plant leaves,
the quantification of the roles of leaf habit and carbon dioxide in maintaining ancient polar forests, and the development of
mechanistically-grounded proxies for climate and leaf ecology from the size and shape of fossil leaves. I also compile Phanerozoic carbon dioxide
records and investigate the strength of carbon dioxide-temperature coupling over multi-million-year timescales.
Follow the links on the left for further details on these projects and for publication downloads.
I am looking for enthusiastic students to carry out original research on these topics!
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