Sedimentology and ichnology, from the field to the rock record
Our research investigates how physical, chemical, and biological processes shape sediments, and how the traces of life within them help reconstruct environments past and present.
Environmental & coastal sedimentology
We study how sediment is transported, deposited, and preserved across dynamic coastal systems, including estuaries, tidal flats, and the fluvio-tidal transition zone where rivers meet the sea. This work establishes modern analogs that improve how we interpret similar deposits in the ancient record.
Neoichnology & animal-sediment relationships
Trace fossils record the behaviour of organisms in response to their environment. By observing how modern animals burrow, feed, and move through sediment, and the stresses that limit them, we build a framework for reading biogenic structures in both modern settings and the rock record.
Paleoenvironmental reconstruction & facies models
Combining sedimentology, ichnology, and an array of analytical proxies, we reconstruct ancient depositional environments and refine the facies models used to interpret them, with study areas spanning Canada, Argentina, Portugal, and beyond.
Analytical methods & climate change
A growing focus of the lab is the response of coastal sedimentary systems to climate change, supported by a broad analytical toolkit applied to sediment, core, and water samples from key study sites.
Grain size
X-ray sedimentation and sieving to resolve full particle-size distributions.
Geochemistry
CaCO3, XRD, and XRF characterization of sediment composition.
Core imaging
CT and X-ray core scanning, plus systematic core logging.
Microscopy
Optical microscopy, SEM, hyperspectral imagery, and diatom analysis.
Water quality
Multi-parameter measurement of pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, turbidity.
Experimental
Aquarium and flume experiments replicating sedimentary processes.