2025 Internship Project Overview

During this internship, I contributed to a paleoclimate research project investigating nutrient conditions in the Antarctic marine margin during past warm periods (Marine Isotope Stage 11 interglacial, ca. 424,000–374,000 years before present). The study aimed to understand how nutrient cycling and primary productivity responded to warmer climates with CO2 levels comparable to projections for the future. My role centered on laboratory work with microfossil diatoms, a dominant phytoplankton group in the Antarctic that produce silica shells. I was responsible for sample preparation, which included separating diatom microfossils from deep-sea sediments and performing cleaning procedures to remove contaminants. Following preparation, I assisted in experiments dissolving diatom silica to extract organic matter for carbon isotopic analysis using nano-EA IRMS. These isotopic measurements will help reconstruct past nutrient supply and consumption, providing insights into Antarctic ecosystem responses to climate change.

 

ORGANIZATION/RESEARCH GROUP

Sigman Research Laboratory, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University

LOCATION

Princeton, New Jersey

 

Interns

Rachel Chen ’28
Major: Civil and Environmental Engineering
Minor(s): Architecture and Engineering
"I was able to work in a real laboratory alongside professionals, gain important laboratory skills, and conduct data analysis. It was fascinating to see how looking back into history and paleoclimatology can be so important for our future. It was a tremendous pleasure to work with my mentors."

Click to view the end-of-project presentation

 

Daniel Sigman
Dusenbury Professor of Geological and Geophysical Sciences, Professor of Geosciences

 

Mentors

  • Ellen Ai, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Geosciences