Function and Responsibilities:

I am a Guest Researcher at GFZ and an Associate Professor in Sedimentology at Southern Illinois University in the US. My expertise is in siliciclastic diagenesis.

Career:

Current

Guest Researcher GFZ,  8/25 - present

Associate Professor in Sedimentology, School of Earth Systems and Sustainability, Southern Illinois University, 7/2019 - present

Director, SIU Field Camp, 2020 - present

Associate Editor, Journal of Sedimentary Research, 2021- present

Geologic Society of America Membership and Fellowship Committee, Member-At-Large, January 2025 to present

Past

Undergraduate Advisor, Geology Program, 2021- present

Contributor and editor, spheroids/ structural biosignatures, Life Detection Knowledge Base, 2022-2023.

Assistant Professor in Sedimentology, Department of Geology, Southern Illinois University, 8/2013 -7/2019

 Lecturer, Colorado Mesa University, Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, 2012/2013

 Energy and Geoscience Institute at the University of Utah, summer 2011. Field Geologist.

 Research Assistant (to B.J. McPherson), 2011-2013

 Field Geologist, Energy and Geoscience Institute at the University of Utah, summer 2010: CO2 sequestration project; Atlas III project; Brian McPherson, supervisor

 Teaching Assistant, University of Utah, Fall 2010, Spring 2011

 Graduate Fellow, Fall 2009 – Spring, 2010

 Research Assistant (to M. Chan), Fall 2006 – Spring 2008

Education:

Ph.D. in Geology, University of Utah, 2013, Dr. Marjorie A. Chan, advisor,

Dissertation: Biogeochemical Signatures in Iron (Oxyhydr)oxide Diagenetic Precipitates: Chemical, Mineralogical and Textural Markers

M.S. in Geology, University of Utah, 2009, Dr. Marjorie A. Chan, advisor

Thesis: Characterization of Navajo Sandstone Hydrous Ferric Oxide Concretions

 B.S. in Geology, Mesa State College, summa cum laude, 2006

 A.S., Colorado Mountain College, 2004

Awards:

Smithsonian Magazine, Sept. 2020: The 70 Million-Year-Old History of the Mississippi River by Dean Klinkenberg, article about my recent research.

SIU College of Science Early Career Excellence Award, 2018

2015 Editors' Citation for Excellence in Refereeing for JGR-Planets, AGU, 2015