My research focuses on tectonics, sedimentary geology, and geochronology. Currently I am investigating the >70 million year-long stratigraphic record of orogenesis in the Altiplano region of the central Andes. These strata are a valuable resource for understanding long-term convergent margin processes and causes of mountain building; however, many questions remain about the tectonic-geodynamic setting in which they were deposited, partially due to significant gaps in age constraints. I am using volcanic and detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology to establish the depositional history and sediment sources of major stratigraphic sections in southwestern Bolivia, filling a gap between existing studies to produce a clearer regional picture of how subsidence progressed through space and time. I am also using elevation-influenced stable isotopes in hydrated volcanic glass to better understand the surface uplift history of this region for another perspective on the tectonic and geodynamic processes that have been at work. Finally, I am working to develop more efficient mineral separation techniques for dense minerals like zircon and garnet that are used in a wide variety of geoscience studies. Prior to coming to UBC, my research was in structural geology and extensional tectonics of the southwestern U.S.
Steeply dipping synorogenic strata in the Altiplano of Bolivia.
