Ph.D., Stony Brook University, 1977

My research deals with environments on the early Earth (bombardment history; composition of atmosphere during the Hadean era), and how those environments influenced the emergence of sustainable life on this planet. This work dealing with the bombardment history involves chemical isotopic analyses of impact-produced glasses collected during the Apollo missions to the Moon.

Information about the composition of the volcanic gasses that entered the Archean/Hadean atmosphere relies on the chemical behavior of transition elements (e.g., Cr, V) as recorded by the whole-rock compositions of basaltic-to-komatiitic rocks erupted on the Earth through time.

In addition, an emerging area of research deals with Jurassic environments as recorded in the geochemical compositions of sedimentary rocks in the Hartford Basin (Connecticut).