My lab in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Minnesota is dedicated to better understanding the geochemical world around us. We focus on sampling water, microbial communities, plant and animal biomass, soil, sinter deposits, and rocks to answer questions about how life interacts with and influences it's environment. We strive to explore every field site with the holistic approach used by scientific explorers in the 19th century, while capitalizing on the analytical prowess of the 21st. We are interested in systems with dramatic geochemical and/or physical gradients, including hot springs, meromictic lakes, glaciers, acid mine drainage, and zones of active serpentinization, and in elucidating how biological signals from these systems are recorded in the rock record.
Research sites I have known and loved...short description at the bottom.
(All photo credits: Jeff R. Havig.
(All photo credits: Jeff R. Havig.