Welcome to our lab!
Jessica Oster
B.A. Oberlin College
Ph.D. University of California, Davis 2010
Associate Professor, Earth and Environmental Sciences.
Graduate Students
Aida Zyba (Ph.D. Student)
B.S. Washington University
In 2022, I graduated with my Bachelor's degree in Environmental Earth Science from Washington University in St. Louis while also assisting with paleoclimate research involving lake sediments from South America. I am currently interested in exploring the climate record of White Moon Cave in California as well as integrating novel fire proxies to assess the karst system's paleoclimate-fire relationship.
Erica Scarpitti (Ph.D. Student)
B.S. The Ohio State University
I am interested in using speleothem records to assess paleoclimate-fire relationships in California across multiple timescales and climate states. This will involve identifying the climate, fire, and environmental signals preserved in stalagmites and integrating these records with other proxies. Prior to joining Dr. Oster's Paleoclimate Lab, I published an article in the Journal of Anatomy focused on vertebrate paleontology and paleoecology. I graduated from Ohio State in 2021 with a B.S. in Earth Science and minors in Sexuality Studies and Environmental Science.
Bryce Belanger (Ph.D. Student)
B.S. Middlebury College
M.S. Vanderbilt University 2022
I graduated from Middlebury College in 2019, where I majored Geology and conducted research focused on reconstructing past climate using dated lake shorelines. Currently, I am working to build a climate history for Titan Cave in northern Wyoming, looking specifically at hydroclimate dynamics during the late-Holocene. In the past, I worked as a research assistant at Mammoth Cave National Park, where I helped expand an extensive database of cave and karst features in the park.
Cameron de Wet (Ph.D. 2023)
B.S. Bowdoin College
M.S. Vanderbilt University 2019
now a postdoc at UC Davis
Read Cameron’s papers in GRL: Semi-Quantitative Estimates of Rainfall Variability during the 8.2kyr Event in California using Speleothem Calcium Isotope Ratios
and Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology: North American hydroclimate during past warms states: A proxy compilation-model comparison for the Last Interglacial and the mid-Holocene
Elli Ronay M.S. 2018
B.S. Rice University
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
read Elli Ronay’s paper in Scientific Reports: Sensitivity of speleothem records in the Indian Summer Monsoon region to dry season infiltration
Izzy Weisman M.S. 2017
B.A. Hamilton College
Oxygen and carbon isotope variations in precipitation and speleothem calcite from a northern California cave: Implications for paleoclimate reconstructions during the Late Pleistocene
*published in Quaternary Science Reviews
Nick Hermann M.S. 2016
B.A. University of St. Thomas
Spatial Patterns and Driving Mechanisms of Mid-Holocene Hydroclimate in Western North America*
*published in Journal of Quaternary Science
Chris Myers M.S. 2014
B.A. Plymouth State University
Northeast Indian stalagmite records Pacific decadal climate change: Implications for moisture transport and drought in India*
*published in Geophysical Research Letters
Postdocs
Isaiah Bolden
B.S. Bowdoin College
Ph.D. University of Washington 2020
Academic Pathways Postdoctoral Fellow.
Now a faculty member at Georgia Tech
Undergraduate Students
Vanderbilt School for Science and Math (SSMV)