The Biogeochemistry Laboratory conducts research on the incorporation and preservation of molecular information primarily in vertebrate calcified tissues to address questions of human response to changing climate, diet, mobility, and disease. The laboratory focuses on light isotope ratio mass spectrometry as well as biochemical approaches to protein and DNA preservation and utility to inform our knowledge of the past.
Current interests include the mechanisms of isotopic fractionation and incorporation in mammals, with a special emphasis on natural abundance hydrogen and oxygen isotopes. The relationship and impact of human diet, mobility and age on isotopic values (C, N, O and H) in a variety of tissues. In addition, the laboratory maintains a focus on human disease and the molecular preservation of disease informative molecules in the fossil record.
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