Allison T. Karp
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Dissertation Defended!

1/24/2020

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Last week I successfully defended my dissertation! My Ph.D. work at Penn State has focused on improving geochemical tools for reconstructing past wildfires, and specifically, applying these methods in the Neogene. This work has improved our understanding of the relationships between fire, climate, and grassland ecology.
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Photo Credit Julia Carr
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​At the defense, I chose to talk about of my work  in Pliocene Australia. It was a very eerie feeling to give a talk on paleofire in Australia while the country was experiencing some of the most severe fires on record. Understanding how changing climate impacts fire in the Earth system has very real implications for the communities effected by these disasters.
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I am so fortunate to have the support of family, friends, and colleagues both at the defense and over the course of the last 5 years. Now time to work on getting those chapters published!
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Speaking of Stable Isotope Ecology...

3/30/2019

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PicturePhoto Credit: Jim Ehleringer
This March, I was invited to give one a talk at U Michigan's Early Career Scientists Symposium.  This amazing annual event showcases the work of students at U Michigan and early career researchers in the chosen topic. This year's theme was Stable Isotopes in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation. I spoke about   how we can use molecular markers for fire and carbon isotopes in leaf waxes to reconstruct changes in paleo-fire ecology of ancient grasslands. 

I was excited and honored to be listed alongside an amazing group of isotopists, who are doing cutting edge and innovative work on a variety of problems in ecology and evolution. The talk topics varied widely, from quantifying nitrogen fixation in modern ecosystems, to constraining butterfly and mammalian grazer evolution in the Neogene, to tracking salmon migration routes in Alaska. All of the talks were excellent and engaging. The ECSS Committee did a fantastic job organizing an engaging weekend that of without a hitch. It was wonderful to catch up with mentors, colleagues and friends in the stable isotope community that I hadn't seen recently, while learning about some fantastic science! The weekend was filled with great conversations with the other speakers, and the amazing group of scientists at U Michigan. At the end of the weekend we all marveled at the shear diversity of ways isotope systems can provide insight to questions in a wide variety of field, and how these common methods unite scientists from different backgrounds in a ways that lead to new ideas and collaborations.

I'm privileged to be part of such an innovative and inclusive community, with both supportive senior scientists, and pioneering young scientists. The weekend was a good reminder that there are isotopic solutions to many natural science problems, with the only constraints being the boundaries of our imaginations (and our analytical innovations)!

Here's the link to the ECSS website if you want to learn more about the research that was presented at the Symposium!


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Research Down Under

10/5/2018

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Karri Eucalyptus: One of the species used in our burning experiments
I just got back to PSU this week after spending time working with colleagues Australia. I was mainly in Perth, working in the WAIOGC at Curtin University. We are studying the distributions of organic molecules produced during vegetation burning, through the analysis of products of controlled burn experiments. It was a really productive time, and wonderful to meet such a collaborative group of scientists!

​I was also generously hosted by the Earth Sciences Department at the University of Adelaide. I gave a talk at their weekly seminar, and learned about some of the fantastic paleoclimate and paleoecology research that is taking place in their Department! 
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