Sustainability Leadership Fellowship Cohort: 2015-2016

Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Chemistry

Research Summary: The complexity of large- and small-scale processes controlling global climate makes predicting future trends extremely difficult. My research aims to better understand some of the small-scale processes involved in carbon cycling, a major factor in global climate change. I examine how iron interacts with organic carbon compounds created by the decomposition of plants, animals, and microbes. These interactions can contribute to carbon sequestration in soil and water and may be sensitive to temperature changes. Thus, it is important to understand the interactions between iron and carbon compounds and how these might contribute to the acceleration or deceleration of climate change.