Geosciences

  • Kunes, Moriah

    Geosciences

    Kunes’ research aims to better understand the role of nitrogen cycling within the coral holobiont under normal and stressed conditions. My work uses 15N tracer experiments to determine where nitrogen is translocated within the coral holobiont and how surrounding environmental conditions may influence which nutritional mode, (photosynthesis vs. heterotrophy), corals use to acquire nitrogen. I’m hoping my studies will give insight into the health of the coral-algal partnership which is essential for coral survival. Kunes is advised by Bess Ward, the William J. Sinclair Professor of Geosciences and The High Meadows Environmental Institute

  • Wyatt, Abigale (‘21 - ‘23)

    Geosciences
    Headshot of Abigale Wyatt

    Wyatt focuses on biogeochemical oceanography with her research utilizing coupled physical and biogeochemical models to study the biological processes in the upper ocean that sequester carbon away from the atmosphere. In particular, she aims to understand ecosystem shifts in response to climate variability and the subsequent changes in biological carbon export. Her adviser is Laure Resplandy, assistant professor of geosciences and the High Meadows Environmental Institute.

  • Vecchi, Gabriel

    Geosciences
    Headshot of Gabriel Vecchi

    Vecchi is the director of HMEI and a professor of geosciences and the High Meadows Environmental institute whose research focuses on climate science and extreme weather events, hurricanes, mechanisms of precipitation variability and change, ocean-atmosphere interaction, and detection and attribution. He is co-director the Cooperative Institute for Modeling the Earth System, a collaboration between Princeton and the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. Vecchi also is director of HMEI’s Climate and Energy Challenge.

  • Tracey, John (‘19 - ‘21)

    Geosciences
    Headshot of John Tracey

    Tracey studies the biochemistry of the marine nitrogen cycle.  His research focuses on anammox bacteria that produce toxic intermediates to power their cells, deploy fatty acids to guard against these toxins, and evolutionarily date to near the root of the tree of life. Some anammox bacteria have small protein compartments, dubbed encapsulins, that might enclose some of the toxin producing enzymes central to the anammox metabolism.  Through this research, Tracey seeks to elucidate the function of encapsulins using in-vitro experiments.

  • Murphy, Jack (‘18 - ‘20)

    Geosciences

    Based in geosciences, Murphy examines the history of the geologic carbon cycle and the evolution of Earth’s climate on geologic timescales. He is advised by John Higgins, associate professor of geosciences.

  • Luxem, Katja (‘18 - ‘20)

    Geosciences

    Luxem works in the geosciences department’s Microbial Biogeochemistry Lab studying how microorganisms produce nitrogen fertilizer. Her adviser is François Morel, the Albert G. Blanke, Jr., Professor of Geosciences and the Princeton Environmental Institute, Emeritus, and Senior Scholar

  • Ai, Xuyuan (Ellen) (‘18 - ‘20)

    Geosciences

    Ai is based in the Department of Geosciences, where she studies the changes in biogeochemical conditions in the Southern Ocean through glacial-interglacial climate cycles during the past 450,000 years, with a focus on surface-nutrient consumption by phytoplankton. She is advised by Daniel Sigman, the Dusenbury Professor of Geological and Geophysical Sciences and professor of geosciences.

  • Tromp, Jeroen (‘09 - ‘11)

    Geosciences

    Tromp’s primary research areas are in Theoretical & Computational Seismology. Research topics include: surface waves, free oscillations, and body waves, seismic tomography, numerical simulations of 3-D wave propagation, and seismic hazard assessment. In collaboration with the late Princeton Geosciences faculty member Tony Dahlen he published the book, Theoretical Global Seismology.

  • Sigman, Daniel (‘08 - ‘11)

    Geosciences

    Sigman studies the cycles of biologically important elements and their interaction with changing environmental conditions through the course of Earth history. His current research activities include the development of stable isotope methods by which to track the marine nitrogen cycle, today and in the past, and the construction of simple geochemical models for paleoceanographic and Earth history studies.

    Much of his work to date has focused on the oscillation between ice ages and interglacial periods that has dominated Earth’s climate for the last two million years. These cyclic climatic changes provide an important test case for the interaction between physical and biological processes in setting environmental conditions on Earth. Of particular interest are the causes and effects of past changes in atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide.