About me
I am a computational and experimental Geochemist at Terramera in Vancouver, Canada, investigating the behavior of carbon in agricultural soils using ab initio simulations combined with experimental spectroscopy, with the hopes of advancing our knowledge of environmental soil carbon measurements and mitigating climate change through soil carbon sequestration.
I received my Bachelor's degree in geology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with research in computational mineral physics and thermoluminescence dating, and my PhD in geophysics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) with research in computational and experimental mineral physics. Through X-ray diffraction and synchrotron Mössbauer spectroscopy, I examined the physical and elastic properties of lower-mantle crystalline and amorphouse phases. Concurrently, I implemented density functional theory to examine the stability of high-pressure iron-bearing carbonates, providing insight into the Earth's deep carbon cycle. While working on my PhD at Caltech, I also taught Earth Materials at Occidental College and co-mentored undergraduate students in the fields of mineralogy and mineral physics.
After completing my PhD at Caltech, I was a postdoctoral researcher at the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) de Lyon in France for four years, working on the chemistry and thermodynamics of volatile-bearing Bulk Silicate Earth (BSE) melt using ab initio molecular dynamics simulations to improve our understanding of the early Earth's magma ocean, particularly the behavior of life-essential volatiles like carbon and hydrogen, just after the giant Moon-forming impact.
​