My research interests are guided by the recognition that, over the last two centuries, human civilization has become a geological force. We are inducing planetary environmental conditions like those that Earth has not experienced for millions of years. Following the precepts that the present is a guide to the past, albeit an imperfect one, and the past is one of our best maps to the future, I seek to understand different past states of the Earth system and the transitions between them, in order to test models of future global change. I also work to quantify human impact on the global climate and the potential of different policies and technologies to mitigate these impacts.

Prior to joining the Rutgers faculty, I served as a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Office of Policy and International Affairs. My work at DOE focused in part on strengthening the interface between Earth science and climate policy -- for instance, developing approaches for incorporating climate change impacts into policy and regulatory analysis -- and in part on delivering international policy solutions to promote energy efficiency through fora such as the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM). At DOE, I played a leading role in the development and launch of the CEM's appliance and equipment efficiency effort, the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment initiative.

Prior to this fellowship, I was a Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy postdoctoral research fellow in Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs and its Department of Geosciences. I received my Ph.D. in geobiology from Caltech in 2007 and my S.B. in geophysical sciences from the University of Chicago in 2002.