MS Grad Chels Howard Applies Geochemistry to the Past and Present

USU Geosciences graduate student Chels Howard is a shining example of how a Masters degree in the geosciences can lead to an enriching career in the public sector. An enthusiastic baseball fan from the Pacific Northwest, Chels came to us from Eastern Washington University, joined the first group of graduate students advised by recently hired Dr. Don Penman in 2021, and made our department a better place.

Chels’s MS research used the geochemistry of ancient microfossils preserved in deep-sea sediment cores to reconstruct an ancient episode of climate change known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). During this event, ocean and land-surface temperatures rapidly increased by about 5 °C, drawing comparisons to our currently changing climate. Their samples came from a site in the Tropical Atlantic – a region that climate models indicate is very sensitive to hydrologic change during warming. To constrain changing temperature and hydrology, Chels measured the magnesium content and oxygen isotopes of foraminifera (marine microfossils) and compared results to recent climate model simulations of the PETM. The excellent agreement bolsters our confidence in the skill of climate models. The results of Chels’s research are currently under review at the journal Paleoceanography & Paleoclimatology.

Chels still practices geochemistry, but with different intentions. Immediately after graduation last December, they started work at the New Mexico Environment Department as a Project Manager in the Groundwater Quality Bureau. Working with data from several of New Mexico’s Superfund sites, Chels uses analytical geochemistry to quantify the extent of contamination and verify remediation efforts. Keep up the great work Chels!