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

New paper out this week in Scientific Reports including work from current Hren Lab postdoc Yvette Eley on molecular and isotopic evidence for millet processing in pottery vessels

Carl Heron, Shinya Shoda, Adrià Breu Barcons, Janusz Czebreszuk, Yvette Eley, Marise Gorton, Wiebke Kirleis, Jutta Kneisel, Alexandre Lucquin, Johannes Müller, Yastami Nishida, Joon-ho Son & Oliver E. Craig. (2016) “First molecular and isotopic evidence of millet processing in prehistoric pottery vessels”. Scientific Reports 6, Article number: 38767

http://www.nature.com/articles/srep38767

This month’s Nature Geoscience features a new article from Michael Hren on carbon cycle and climate feedbacks in the Paleozoic.  You can read the full text here.

Montañez, I. P., McElwain, J. C., Poulsen, C. J., White, J. D., DiMichele, W. A., Wilson, J. P., Griggs, G., & Hren, M. T. (2016). Climate, pCO2 and terrestrial carbon cycle linkages during late Palaeozoic glacial-interglacial cycles. Nature Geoscience 9:824-828

The upcoming Geological Society of America Annual Meeting (25-28 September) will see seven oral presentations and one poster from the Hren Lab and affiliated researchers:

Hren, Michael T., William B. Ouimet, D. P. Dethier, Kathleen Clancy, Chad Fagan, and Gregory Harris. “POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS PRESERVE SEDIMENTARY RECORDS OF WILDFIRE IN DIVERSE ECOSYSTEMS”

Truong, Katherine, Michael T. Hren and Yvette Eley. “CLIMATE, VEGETATION, AND STABLE ISOTOPES OF MODERN AND SEDIMENTARY N-ALKANES IN SEMI-ARID AND GRASSLAND ENVIRONMENTS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INTERIOR”

Eley, Yvette and Michael T. Hren. “CLIMATIC AND HYDROLOGIC CHANGE DURING THE EOCENE-OLIGOCENE TRANSITION IN THE NORTH AMERICAN INTERIOR”

Brittingham, Alex, Michael T. Hren, Andrew W. Kandel, Ellery Frahm, Boris Gasparyan, and Gideon Hartman. “CLIMATE IMPACT ON HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN THE UPPER PALEOLITHIC OF THE ARMENIAN HIGHLANDS”

Auerbach, David, Michael T. Hren, and Astrid Pacini. “A GLOBAL TERRESTRIAL CLIMATE SHIFT AT THE EOCENE-OLIGOCENE TRANSITION: EVIDENCE FROM MID-LATITUDE SOUTH AMERICA”

Loughney, Katharine, Michael T. Hren, and Selena Y. Smith. “PALEOENVIRONMENTAL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE BARSTOW FORMATION, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, THROUGH THE MIDDLE MIOCENE CLIMATIC OPTIMUM”

Beard, Andrew J., Andrew M. Bush, Anjali M. Fernandez, Patrick R. Getty, and Michael T. Hren. “STRATIGRAPHIC REVISION AND FACIES ANALYSES OF THE FRASNIAN-FAMENNIAN BOUNDARY INTERVAL (UPPER DEVONIAN) IN NEW YORK AND PENNSYLVANIA”

Wilson, Johnathan P., Isabel P. Montanez, Joseph D. White, Jennifer C. McElwain, William A. Dimichele, Christopher J. Poulsen, and Michael T. Hren. “STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION IN DYNAMIC CARBONIFEROUS TROPICAL FORESTS: A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON PALEOZOIC PLANT FUNCTION AND PHYSIOLOGICAL FORCING OF CLIMATE”

The Hren Lab has joined Twitter, you can stay up to date with projects and research by following us at @Hren_Lab.

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!