I arrived at Ohio State as an Assistant Professor in the Fall of 2000 after a 2 yr Visiting Professor position at the University of Iowa. I have a PhD from UCLA and Bachelor’s from the University of Michigan. My research group is focused broadly on the relationship between Earth’s climate and the evolution of life throughout geologic time, with particular emphasis on the Paleozoic Era. I have conducted fieldwork on 7 continents involving measuring sedimentary successions and sampling for isotope stratigraphy in Neoproterozoic, Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian and Triassic sequences. By combining interpretations of the origin of lithologic transitions and faunal turnover with geochemical evidence for environmental change, our group seeks to understand the drivers of major transitions in Earth history.
My teaching has included general education courses (Introduction to Geology, Earth History), undergraduate majors courses (Sedimentology/Stratigraphy, Sequence Stratigraphy, Field Camp), field based courses (Appalachian Basin Stratigraphy, Guadalupe Mountains-Big Bend, Basin and Range-Death Valley, Bahamian Carbonates-San Salvador), graduate level courses (Carbonate geology, Geologic carbon cycle), and Seminars (Permian-Triassic boundary, Stratigraphic Paleobiology, Paleoclimatology).
EDUCATION
Ph.D., 1996, Geology. University of California, Los Angeles
B.S., 1991, Geology. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
ACADEMIC POSITIONS
Professor, School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University. 2011 – present
Director, School of Earth Sciences, 2017-2021
Associate Professor. School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University. 2006-2011
Assistant Professor. School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University. 2000-2006
Visiting Assistant Professor. Department of Geoscience, University of Iowa. 1998-2000
PUBLICATIONS