David PesciA paper co-authored by Ellen Thomas, research professor of earth and enviornmental sciences, titled "Trends, rhythms, and aberrations in global climate 65 Ma to present," published in Science, 292, in 2001, has been identified by Thomson Reuters Scientific's Essential Science Indicators as one of the most highly cited papers in field of geosciences, and has been designated as a "Current Classic" for October 2008. For more information go to: http://sciencewatch.com/dr/cc/08-octcc/'Article.
Olivia DrakeEllen Thomas, research professor of earth and enviornmental sciences, is the author of "Research Focus: Descent into the Icehouse," published in Geology, 36: 191-192, 2008. She is the co-author of "Depth-dependency of the Paleocene-Eocene Carbon Isotope Excursion: paired benthic and terrestrial biomarker records (ODP Leg 208, Walvis Ridge)," published in Geochem., Geophys., Geosyst, 9 (10): Q10008, 2008; and "Effects of Oligocene climatic events on the foraminiferal record from Fuente Caldera section (Spain, western Tethys)," published in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 269: 94-102. doi: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.08.006, in press.
In January, Hannah Hastings '08 and Andrea Pain '08 collected seagrass from the ocean floor to study nutrient content in a dinoflagellate-rich ecosystem off the southwest coast of Puerto Rico. The seniors returned to Wesleyan and analyzed their samples for carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus levels. They discovered a high ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus compared to the normal ratio in the ocean. "We discovered that high dinoflagellate concentrations are directly associated with elevated nitrogen to phosphorus ratios," Pain said during Part I of the Earth and Environmental Science Departments Senior Seminar Research Project colloquium March 6. Part II of the…
Dana Royer, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences, studies fossilized plants and plant physiology. He started at Wesleyan July 1. Posted 07/13/05 Dana Royer has joined the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department as an assistant professor on July 1.His professional interests include global change; paleoclimatology, paleoecology, carbon cycles, paleobotany; plant physiology and stable isotope geochemistry. I study fossil plants in order to infer something about the paleoclimates in which they lived, as well as their paleoecologies, he says. I also study modern systems to learn more about the biological basis of these plant-environment relationships. After spending a semester studying…