Tracing ecological changes during the early Cretaceous using thin section analysis
About 120 million years ago, marine ecosystems had to adapt to major environmental changes that resulted in oceanic anoxia. The objectives of this project are to (1) trace changes in the ecology of these ecosystems based on thin sections analysis, and (2) identify what environmental parameter forces the ecosystems to adapt based on the review of existing geochemical dataset. Students will have hands-on experience in the fields of microscopic analysis of rock samples, data analysis using the language R, and presentation of scientific results.
- Faculty: Alexis Godet
- Department: Earth and Planetary Sciences
- Open Positions: 3
- Mode: Hybrid
- Hours per week: 4-5
Requirements and Responsibilities:
Needed Skills: No prerequisites. Basic computer skills would help students to perform well; more advanced skills (manipulating JMicroVision, coding in R) will be taught during the experience.
Student Responsibilities: Undergraduate fellows will work in collaboration with graduate students and me. Undergraduate fellows will conduct point counting analysis of thin sections (thin slice of rock that permits the identification of fossils under the microscope). Once 250 grains are identified in each thin section (20-25 thin sections per student), data will be exported and cleaned in Excel, before their statistical analysis in R. Students will take an active role in all the steps of the research, and will benefit from the my mentoring and that of my graduate students.
