Ph.D. student (Robert Thunell advisor)
Marine Sediments Research Laboratory
Department of Geological Sciences

University of South Carolina
701 Sumter Street, EWS 6th FL
Columbia, SC 29208

Phone: 803.777.8845
mmcconnell@geol.sc.edu

CURRICULUM VITAE

Research Interests: Paleoclimatology, paleoceanography,
climate proxies, rapid climate change

The development and application of accurate climate proxies is critical for understanding and improving climate predictability. My dissertation follows along two major themes in paleoclimatology including the calibration of climate proxies and the application of those proxies to the sediment record in order to identify the timing and magnitude of climate variability in the past. My proposed research will use a multi-proxy approach from both sediment trap and sediment core samples (MD03-2621) from the Cariaco Basin, Venezuela to assess tropical climate changes during marine isotope stage (MIS) 3. The reconstruction has potentially important implications for assessing the interaction of high and low latitudes during millennial scale climate variability, as well as aiding our understanding of past changes in the tropical hydrological cycle.

My Masters research utilized modern sediment trap samples to calibrate the Mg/Ca paleothermometer to better assess its capability of accurately measuring small changes in modern-day ocean temperatures. The field of paleoclimatology is engaging to me because of its interdisciplinary nature and its timeliness in exploring the implications of global and regional climate change.
 

Sea Education Association

Support Office For Aerogeophysical Research