Postdoctoral Research Associates

Sergio Contreras Quintana
PhD in Oceanography, 2008, University of Concepcion, Concepcion, Chile.
advisors: Erik Brown and Joe Werne
email: scontrer at d.umn.edu

I am interested in the biogeochemical role of the ocean in the Earth System focusing on natural variability and how climate change could affect its dynamics. I take a multi-directional approach to studying past changes or perturbations of the Earth system by partaking in a wide range of studies and disciplines, such as marine organic biogeochemistry, paleoceanography and paleoclimatology.

By combining the use of molecular fossils as tracers of temperature, oxygenation, productivity and marine and terrestrial sources in sedimentary records together with bulk and compound specific stable isotopes measurements and high resolution analyses of element intensities (XRF scanning) I hope to gain a deeper understanding not only about regional climate changes, but also how the feedbacks and interactions between systems can affect the signals that we interpret.