Active Research Projects

Currently, I get to study the geology of my home: southern California. I am primarily an igneous and metamorphic petrologist with an interest in high-temperature geochemistry, tectonics, and planetary science. I also have experience with sedimentary petrology and deformation microstructures. Past and present field sites include Santa Catalina Island, California; Sierra Nevada, Owen's Valley, and White Mountains, California; and the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming.

Volatiles in Subduction Zones

Understanding the role that fluids and volatiles play in crust formation is critical if we want to better understand subduction zone hazards like volcanic eruptions and seismicity. I am working to quantify the halogen (F, Cl, Br, I) content of the continental crust (Sierra Nevada, CA) as well as the nitrogen content of subduction zone mélanges (San Simeon, CA; Syros, Greece; New Caledonia). Results from these studies will tell us more about the subsurface geological processes that affect surface processes and people globally.

Catalina Island Exhumation

The uplift and formation of Catalina Island is hypothesized to coincide with the reorganization of major faults in southern California, including the San Andreas Fault. With (U-Th)/He thermochronology of apatite and zircon from rocks of Catalina Island, the age and rate of exhumation of the island can be determined and the proposed hypothesis tested.