What do you do?
I investigate marine records of climate change, utilizing corals and microfossils, to understand environmental change (primarily from recent geologic times, late Quaternary to modern). Using these records, I try to reconstruct past environments, climate, and ocean circulation. I use geochemistry and knowledge of species shifts to do this.

Why should the general public be interested in what you do?
Studying climate change is very relevant, particularly now that we are concerned about human impacts on our climate system. To understand what effects humans might have, first we need to have a good knowledge of the "background state" of the climate system.

Why does it interest you?
Climate science, and geology in general, is like a good mystery. Whenever we find the resolution to one question, there are always many more curiosities that pop up. It is easy to be excited about geology, climate, and the oceans.

What major advances/discoveries have occurred in your research field over the last 10 years?
As a community, we have learned that the climate system can shift very quickly from a stable state (warm or cold) to the opposite. We have also learned that the whole integrated Earth System is involved in regulating climate (ocean, atmosphere, land, ice, and external factors like the sun). We now know that in order to understand and study our climate, we need to address questions from an interdisciplinary, integrated perspective.