Biogeochemistry and Organic Geochemistry

We study the biogeochemistry and geobiology of natural systems, with an emphasis on molecular products of life that can be preserved in the geological record. We focus on organic geochemistry and isotope geochemistry. This leads us to try to understand the structures and isotopic compositions of natural products, the genes and regulatory networks required for their biosynthesis , the physiological conditions that lead to their biosynthesis, and the information that they contain. We conduct both field and laboratory investigations to try to gain a better understanding of local and global biogeochemical cycles, and how these have evolved over Earth history.