Congo Basin climate and ecosystem sensitivity during the Pleistocene

Abstract

The Congo is the world’s second largest rainforest and is not only a globally important carbon sink, but also rich in biodiversity. Currently, the rainforests of the Congo are threatened by increasing dry season length and fire at the rainforest edges. With few observational and paleoclimate records from this region, it is difficult to determine how the Congo will continue to respond to changing climate. ODP Site 1075, taken near the outflow of the Congo River, provides the unique opportunity to understand the past climate and ecological variability of the Congo Basin under varying climate conditions.

Biography

I began my academic career not in Earth Science, but in ecology. During my time as an undergraduate, I pursued research in aquatic ecology, animal behavior, and paleoclimatology. In 2019, I completed my BS in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona. Following my degree, I continued biology research at various institutions studying marine mammal ecology, marine natural products chemistry, and stable isotope ecology. After several years of research, I finally merged my interests in climate, biology, and geoscience by pursuing a PhD in terrestrial paleoclimatology and paleoecology under the advisement of Dr. James Russell. For my PhD work, I use marine and terrestrial sediment cores to study biomarkers, such as leaf wax isotopes, GDGTs, and PAHs, to study past climate and ecosystem changes in equatorial Africa during the Quaternary.