People

Dr. Shaun Marcott (smarcott@wisc.edu) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geoscience at University of Wisconsin-Madison whose work is focused in the broad fields of paleoclimatology, glacial geology, geochemistry, and geochronology. His professional interests span a broad range of geological and climatological questions that typically encompass the last 150,000 years. He is an Earth Scientist, which is reflected in his broad research interests and education in geology, oceanography, and mathematics. He and his research group focus their efforts on developing new approaches to long standing problems in geochronology and paleoclimatology, and spend a considerable amount of time split between the WiscCosmo Lab and conducting geologic field work.

Andrew Jones is a PhD student in the Department of Geoscience studying paleoclimate. Andrew received a B.S. in Geoscience from Boston College in 2015, where he completed a senior thesis under the advisory of Jeremy Shakun. His thesis tested the freshwater routing hypothesis for abrupt climate change by applying isotope geochemistry to foraminifera to construct a paleodischarge record for the Hudson River. Presently, Andrew works in the WiscCosmo Lab on extracting Be-10 from quartz in order to study current alpine glacier extents across the spine of the American Cordilleras in comparison to their variations throughout the Holocene (the last 11,700 years).

Sally Stevens is a PhD student in the Department of Geoscience studying volcano-ice processes. Sally received a B.S. in Geology at University of California Santa Barbara in 2019, where she completed a senior thesis with Dr. Matt Rioux studying the timing of subduction initiation at the Semail ophiolite in Oman. Her interests in geochronology and geochemistry led her to complete a Master’s with Dr. Annie Bauer (University of Wisconsin Madison) in 2022, using Re-Os and Sm-Nd isotopic systems to evaluate the timing and extent of oxidative weathering in Franceville sediments associated with the end Lomagundi-Jatuli carbon isotope event in Gabon.
Currently, in the Marcott group, she is combining 40Ar/39Ar and 3He dating to constrain the glacial and eruptive histories at the Mount Bachelor Volcanic Chain in the Cascades (Oregon). She will also apply mineral chemistry and thermobarometry to estimate pre-eruptive storage conditions to understand where, and how the system has evolved through time.

Matias Romero is a PhD student in the Department of Geoscience studying past glacier change. Matias received a degree in Geology from Universidad Nacional de Cordoba (UNC), Argentina, in 2019, where he carried out a senior thesis unraveling past atmospheric circulation in the southern hemisphere by using clay minerals recovered from loess deposits. Before starting as a PhD student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Matias worked on reconstructing past ice extent and sea level response in James Ross Island, as well as in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Currently, Matias is working on understanding the fluctuations of the Patagonian Ice Sheet during the last glacial to interglacial transition by employing cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating. When not in the field or at the lab, Matias can be found biking, reading, or simply procrastibaking.

Yasmeen Orellana Salazar is a MS student in the Department of Geoscience at University of Wisconsin-Madison studying glacial geology and paleoclimatology. Yasmeen received a B.S. in Geology from University of Temuco (Chile) in 2019, where she conducted a senior thesis on understanding and constraining changes in ice extent and sea level at Cape Melville, Antarctica. Yasmeen’s MS research involves studying the glacial record of the Patagonian Ice Sheet from moraines located on the flanks of the Villarrica volcano (Chile) using cosmogenic nuclides to constraint the glacial chronology in the Southern Volcanic Zone of Central Chile.