The Organic Molecular and Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry Group of Dr. Michael Hren (paleoclimate.geosciences.uconn.edu) at the University of Connecticut is seeking a Postdoctoral Scientist to work on a multi-year NSF-funded project on organic molecular and geochemical records of Late Quaternary Western U.S. fire and climate. The successful candidate will join a team of scientists from multiple U.S. institutions and will participate in the development of monitoring, sampling and organic molecular analyses of speleothems and cave deposits from across of the Sierra Nevada of California.

The candidate will participate in field sampling in and around caves in the Sierra Nevada, will develop new analytical methods and procedures for organic molecular analysis of trace organics, will take a lead role in preparing and analyzing samples for compound specific stable isotopes and GC/MS, and will meet virtually and in-person with team members at regular intervals. The successful candidate will have prior hands-on experience with stable isotope instrumentation and an interest in developing new analytical techniques, the ability to successfully work independently and as part of a research team, the ability to conduct field sampling in remote, mountainous regions and a commitment to mentoring graduate and undergraduate students in the field/lab. This position may include but does not require sampling in underground cave systems.

The UConn Stable Isotope and Organic Molecular Biogeochemistry Laboratory hosts a range of equipment for conventional and compound-specific stable isotope analyses including two MAT 253 Mass Spectrometers with GC- Isolink, EA and TC/EA, GC-FID and GC/MS/MS. More information on the laboratory and Department of Earth Sciences can be found at paleoclimate.geosciences.uconn.edu and www.earth.uconn.edu.

To Apply:

Applicants are asked to upload the following to UConn Careers (www.jobs.uconn.edu): 1) A cover letter describing your qualifications for this position, 2) a resume/CV, and 3) contact information for three professional references. Contact Michael Hren hren at UConn.edu for additional information about the position. Review of applications will begin November 15, 2022 and will continue until the position is filled. Start date is flexible but winter/spring 2023 is preferred. Employment of the successful candidate will be contingent upon the successful completion of a pre-employment criminal background check. (Search #496953)
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Chris Sparacio (’24 PhD) and Michael Hren met up with fellow UConn Professor Will Ouimet to collect a new drill core from an alluvial fan in the White Mountains. This was a unique field sampling expedition and COVID-19 required social distancing measures, but it was a great chance to get into the field for some amazing coring and beautiful fall foliage.

 

We’re happy to offer a warm welcome to Baylee McGinnis, a new M.S. starting in Fall 2020. Baylee graduated from Smith College in the Spring of 2020 and spent the summer working in Washington State. She will be working on a new project looking at the links between ecosystem and hydrologic change across the Eocene-Oligocene boundary and ancient fluvial networks

This fall the Hren research group will be adding to its numbers with a new graduate student, Katherine Truong. Katherine is geosciences student hailing from Henrietta, New York (a suburb of the city of Rochester in Western New York). She graduated from SUNY Geneseo with a B.A. in Geological Sciences, and is coming to UCONN to pursue a Masters Degree in Geological Science. Katherine discovered a love for geology through her first geology course at Geneseo and has since studied abroad in Athens Greece and Puerto Rico. Welcome Katherine!

Undergraduate geosciences student Greg Harris has been awarded 2 travel grants for summer 2014. The first is the UCONN Summer Undergraduate Research Fund (SURF) . Greg will travel to Nevada and collect samples to look at the paleoclimate change in that region. Greg’s second travel grant comes from the Keck Geology Consortium. The Consortium is a multi-university research opportunity in Colorado. Greg will be working under Will Ouimet (UCONN) studying the effect of forest fires and fire frequency in the Fourmile Catchment, Front Range, Colorado. He and 6 other undergraduate students (supervised by three project leaders, Ouimet included) will collect and analyze samples from the region and determine the importance of fire in the critical zone, the geomorphic significance  of catastrophic floods in channel and flood plain evolution and the variable effects of the September 2013 floods from the upper to lower Fourmile basin. Greg, currently a junior,  will use these research projects a basis for his senior honors thesis next year.

Kellyn Patros, undergraduate chemistry student in the Hren Group, recently graduated from UCONN. At the chemistry department luncheon, Kellyn was awarded the  Roland Ward Thesis Award. Her thesis, titled “Climate and precipitation patterns in NE Spain during the past 65 Million years: A compound-specific stable isotope record”, was selected among 5 other highly qualified chemistry department candidates. She will receive a $500 scholarship and a plaque to be displayed in the department. In August Kellyn will depart from the Hren group to pursue her PhD in Physical Chemistry at Indiana University. Congratulations Kellyn!