My research aims to shed light on the natural and anthropogenic processes that influence the atmospheric branch of the water cycle. The motivation for this line of inquiry is to provide better constraints on how ecological systems respond to changes in water availability. The work involves reconstructions of past hydrological regimes using paleoclimate proxies to study how the climate system behaved prior to strong anthropogenic influences. In addition, satellite data and in situ observations of the water and carbon cycles are used to characterize the behavior of the system in real-time. Lastly, the research takes advantage of models of the climate and hydrological systems to help project how the water and carbon cycles will evolve in the future. Current projects are heavily focused on the use of water and carbon cycle tracers (e.g. HDO, H218 O and COS) to characterize exchanges of water carbon between the land surface and the atmosphere.
