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Associate Professor

• Fields of Study

  • Hydrogeology, paleoclimatology, and mantle geochemistry

• About

  Research

  My research goals are diversified and relate directly to a wide range of issues within hydrogeology, paleoclimatology, and mantle geochemistry. My current research addresses problems in distinct geological environments, in particular, sedimentary (e.g., Gulf Coast Basin, Michigan Basin), volcanic (e.g., Galapagos Islands), and glacial (Antarctica) at the aide of complementary tools (e.g., noble gas geochemistry, numerical modeling, geostatistical methods). The common link to all my research projects is the analysis of the whole set of stable noble gases (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe) in a diversity of fluids both at depth (e.g., groundwater, brine, gas) and at the surface (e.g., ice, snow, rain water).

  Some examples of new and on-going research projects:

  1. Investigating the nature of a noble gas mantle component in the deep brines of the Michigan Basin and its implications for mantle convection models.
  2. Investigating the behavior of noble gases at the interface unsaturated zone/water table and developing new noble gas temperature models to improve noble gas paleoclimatic reconstructions.
  3. Investigating the behavior of all noble gases in ice and sealed lakes in Antarctica through a combined analysis of concentrations and isotopic ratios to reconstruct both the sealing history of these lakes as well a to clarify some aspects of the tectonic history of this region.
  4. To obtain an in-depth and overall understanding of the hydrogeological functioning of the Galapagos Islands through noble gases in order to evaluate their aquifers’ potential as long term water suppliers and to prevent future groundwater contamination.

• Education

  • Ph.D. University of Paris, France, 1995 (Hydrogeology and Noble Gas Geochemistry)