I grew up in upstate New York and went to college in Massachusetts before moving west to California for graduate school. I still head west every summer to continue my research, bringing students with me to the mountains of California, Oregon, Washington, and southern British Columbia. My research addresses two major questions: (1) what can the information contained in sedimentary rocks and the basins in which these rocks formed tell us about what was happening on Earth?; and (2) can we determine how ancient sedimentary basins formed and evolved?
Because petroleum, natural gas, and coal formed in ancient sedimentary basins, researching these questions is critical for targeting energy resource exploration. Also, the success of current efforts to capture carbon and store it underground depends on a detailed understanding of the layering and structure below the surface. Finally, these are fundamental research questions because sedimentary basins are essential to understanding the formation and destruction of past mountains and ocean basins, changing climates, and the evolution of life. My research focus is on sedimentary basins in the Cordilleran mountain belt of the western United States and Canada.