My research uses trace elements and their isotope systems to track a wide range of processes on Earth in order to better understand the dynamic interactions between the oceans and atmosphere during episodes of major climate change. I investigate these processes across a wide range of timescales, from the “super-greenhouse” warming events operating in “deep-time”, to the more recent “glacial-interglacial” climate changes of the Quaternary, to the rapidly shifting modern environment that is impacted by anthropogenic change. My research spans the high-latitude regions of the Southern Ocean to the low-latitudes of the equatorial Pacific Ocean. I am especially interested in the stable isotope tracers of “bioactive” metals, such iron, zinc and cadmium, and of “redox-sensitive” metals, such as uranium and molybdenum, with an emphasis on technique development using MC-ICPMS and ultra-clean laboratory methods.
