I became enamored with the geological sciences as an undergraduate - I found (and still find!) the complexity of the Earth fascinating.
During my dissertation, I sought to resolve how orogenic systems (mountain ranges!) grow and deform on million year time scales. To that end, my research encompassed thermochronology (how long since this material was a certain temperature / at a certain depth in the crust?), geochronology (how long since this material crystallized?), tectonics (mountain building), geomorphology (earth surface processes), and modern detrital sedimentology (sand and other material carried by rivers). After many years on adventures into the mountains and running experiments in the lab, I found that beneath all the excitement of the geosciences, my real passion is for puzzles - I love taking apart complex systems (whether it's a laser, the interaction between climate and tectonics, or something else!) and refining my knowledge of those systems through carefully engineered problem solving, statistical analysis, and modeling. Scroll down to check out some of the research I've been working on in the last few years! |
Energy Research
Residential Demand Response
How do you reduce demand on the grid during the peak load hours of a summer afternoon to prevent brown/black outs? Public utility company programs that have this goal in mind will often provide customers with smart thermostats that can be remotely controlled to increase the set point of the thermostat for a specific duration (usually +2 degrees for 2 hours) on the hottest days of the summer. Evaluating these programs takes heavy lifting of millions of rows of residential electric consumption data for tens of thousands of treatment and control homes.
To learn about how we do this or how to optimize these types of programs, check out the papers linked below.
Behavioral Programs
Trimming behavioral program costs by delivering Home Energy Reports (HERs) to customers electronically has become increasingly popular. But how impactful is an electronic HER (eHER) compared to a traditional, mailed HER (pHER)? Moreover, are the differences in realized electric savings worth the carbon offset of sending an email versus a paper print out? In a poster presented at IEPEC 2022, I explored trends in relative savings between five treatment cohorts from two different utilities receiving different combinations of traditional paper HERs, emailed HERs, and a mix of both. I also compared proportional savings with each delivery method’s estimated carbon footprint to explore the overarching impact of HERs program delivery methods. Ultimately, cohorts receiving pHERs out-perform those receiving eHERs in energy savings; however, the ratio of energy savings to carbon footprint for an eHERs delivery is nearly five times better than for pHER programs.
Geoscience Research
Laser ablation double dating (LADD) |
Exploring the Utility of LADD for Dating Detrital Apatite |
An in situ method for U/Pb + (U-Th)/He double dating. Click below to be linked to my original technique paper demonstrating the method by dating zircon and titanite from the Fish Canyon Tuff.
|
Click below to read about the application of LADD for dating apatite crystals as well as significant considerations relevant to the application of this technique.
|
Understanding the Exhumation of the Sierra NevadaCheck out my dissertation to read about how the principle mode of a detrital distribution may enable robust calculations of regional exhumation and how paired detrital U/Pb and (U-Th)/He apatite dates, detrital 40Ar/39Ar hornblende dates, and paired detrital U/Pb and (U-Th)/He zircon dates can be used to constrain modeled T-t paths for fluvial catchment areas.
Data collected and modeled through this research suggest variability in the cooling history of the southeastern flank of the Sierran continental arc over the Cretaceous to middle Cenozoic interval. |