Extinction Research
End Devonian Mass Extinctions
The study of ancient extinctions is exciting because for some events the causal mechanisms are not well constrained. The mysteries of the Late Devonian mass extinctions have taken me from the high desert of Utah and Nevada to the exotic field locales of central New York State and Ohio. Some of what I find most rewarding is that I am able work with amazing collaborators, from Appalachian State University, Williams College, the Droser lab at UCR, and many others towards better understanding the complexities of large scale biotic turnover.
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Microplastic research
Plastic is ubiquitous in our world, but we are still learning how to quantify and characterize how and where it is concentrated. I have been working with students to capture and quantify microplastics from tap water, beach sands, and even rain water and atmospheric fall out using fluorescence. The pictures above are from a project that looked for a correlation the abundance of microplastics with beach renourishment practices along the Carolina coast.
DianaBoyerLab 