The objective of my research is to characterize the evolution of surficial environments over Earth history, and the impact of such evolution on the emergence and evolution of life. Ultimately, I want to understand how and why the Earth has evolved as it has, and the extent to which biological evolution is determined by geological processes, and/or is a determining factor for geological processes over Earth history.

I am trained as a stable isotope geochemist, and specialize in studying high-temperature geochemical reactions between rocks and fluids, such as in geothermal systems, ore-forming processes and metasomatic alteration associated with metamorphism. These types of reactions can tell us about Earth's geologic and biologic evolution because they trace the interaction between the hydrosphere (a primary requisite for life, continental crust, and plate tectonics) and the other major chemical reservoirs of Earth: biosphere, atmosphere, lithosphere and mantle.