I am a chemical sedimentologist: I study how and why chemical sediments form and lithify, with the goal of better understanding how chemical sedimentary rocks (e.g., carbonates, chert, iron formations) record chemical, physical, and biological paleoenvironmental conditions. Chemical sediments provide a key geobiological record – preserving a physical record of fossil life forms and depositional environments and a geochemical record of seawater and pore fluid chemistry. My research encompasses lab experiments, modeling, petrography, in situ geochemistry, and fieldwork, spanning modern environments to Precambrian time. My general philosophy is to use experiments and models to understand some key process, then move to a modern environment to test how well these models work in a natural system, and finally to apply what I have learned to the rock record to decipher something new about an ancient surface environment.
GEOL 1020 - Dodos, Dinos, and Deinococcus: The History of a Habitable Planet
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2019 / Spring 2021 / Fall 2022
Examines how the solid, fluid, and living Earth interact, how changes in the oceans, atmosphere and life reflect that interaction over the immensity of geologic time, and how the rock record is analyzed to reconstruct the co-evolution of Earth and life.
GEOL 3430 - Sedimentology and Stratigraphy
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2023 / Spring 2024
Introduces the study of sedimentary rocks emphasizing their origin, characteristics, and interpretation; and the principles and techniques for establishing the temporal order and spatial distribution of sedimentary layers.
GEOL 4700 - Special Geological Topics
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2022 / Fall 2023
Studies in selected geological subjects of special current interest (for undergraduates). May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours within a term.
GEOL 4723 - Field Studies in Sedimentology
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Summer 2021
Provides students experience in observing and interpreting sedimentary rocks in the field. We will visit outcrops in CO and UT spanning a range of depositional environments, including eolian, lacustrine, fluvial, and marine. Developing observational and notetaking skills will be emphasized; students will be responsible for contributing to a group field guide based on their guided field observations at each site.
GEOL 4725 - Field Based Special Topics in Geoscience
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Summer 2019
Explores selected geological subjects of special interest in a field setting. May be repeated up to 8 total credit hours. Same as GEOL 5725.
GEOL 4755 - Field Geobiology
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Fall 2021 / Fall 2022
Provides students technical fieldwork skills in the interdisciplinary field of geobiology, spanning modern environments and to ancient environments in preserved in rock record, and spanning techniques from geochemistry, environmental microbiology, and sedimentology. Same as GEOL 5755.
GEOL 5660 - Sedimentology & Geobiology of Carbonates
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2020 / Spring 2022 / Fall 2023
Carbonate sedimentary rocks are a significant component of the geobiological rock record, capturing a history of organisms and the environments they inhabit. This course will focus on how carbonate sediments are formed, deposited, and lithified and what influences the preservation and alteration of textural and geochemical signals. We will cover facies identification, interpreting depositional environment, and carbonate geochemistry, with a particular emphasis on recent advances and unanswered questions at the intersection of carbonates and geobiology, including the role of microbial carbonate precipitation and/or dissolution in the formation and degradation of stromatolites, carbonate mud, ooids, etc. Recommended prerequisite: prior coursework in Sedimentology.
GEOL 5700 - Geological Topics Seminar
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2018 / Spring 2020 / Spring 2022
Offers seminar studies in geological subjects of special current interest. Primarily for graduate students, as departmental staff and facilities permit. May be repeated up to 15 total credit hours provided that topics vary.
GEOL 5704 - Carbonates Seminar
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Fall 2019 / Fall 2020 / Spring 2022 / Spring 2023 / Spring 2024
Focuses broadly on the topic of carbonates, including sedimentology, geochemistry, and geobiology of carbonates. Each semester will have a distinct theme under these sub-topics. Students will be responsible for leading discussion on individual readings and will be able to provide input on both the theme and the individual reading selections. Upper-level GEOL majors can register with instructor approval.
GEOL 5755 - Field Geobiology
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2021 / Fall 2022
Provides students technical fieldwork skills in the interdisciplinary field of geobiology, spanning modern environments and to ancient environments in preserved in rock record, and spanning techniques from geochemistry, environmental microbiology, and sedimentology. Same as GEOL 4755.
GEOL 6310 - Sedimentary Petrology
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2021
Covers interpretation of depositional and diagenetic history of sedimentary rocks as determined from thin-section studies. Department enforced prerequisites: GEOL 3010 and GEOL 3020 and GEOL 3430 or equivalents.
