Guadalupe Mountains Trip by SUNY Potsdam Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences Leads to Published Research
Research conducted by SUNY Potsdam faculty and students during a field excursion to New Mexico and Texas was recently published in the academic journal, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. Seen here in the field is Associate Professor Dr. Page Quinton (Photo credit: Ayisha Khalid ’24).
A group of faculty and students from SUNY Potsdam’s Department of Earth and Environmental Science traveled to New Mexico and Texas over spring break 2023 to conduct field research. Now, the results have been published in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology—an esteemed international journal for the geosciences.
The paper, co-authored by faculty members Dr. Page Quinton and Dr. Michael Rygel, along with current students Ty Paddock and Chelsea Wright, and recent graduates Anah Bogdan, Lauryn Higgins and Caroline Winstead, is titled “Carbon isotopic record of a platform-to-basin transect through the Permian Reef Complex (Guadalupian) in the Delaware Basin of Texas and New Mexico.” It will appear in the forthcoming PALAEO3 Volume 655, to be published in December 2024, and is available online now. The research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
“The research focuses on the carbon cycle and environments from the Permian (~260 million years ago) and how those environments and their chemistry compare to the Great Bahama Banks. The results have implications for how paleoclimatologist reconstruct past climates and the role that carbon dioxide plays in the Earth’s climate system,” Quinton said. This project highlights the unique opportunity our undergraduates have to participate in research and become published scientists! At SUNY Potsdam, students get the small-school experience while still gaining the research experience typically found at larger research-oriented institutions.
Over spring break 2024, Quinton and Rygel took a second group of largely first- and second-year students to this area on a travel course where they learned about the geology of the area and the kinds of research opportunities that students can have at SUNY Potsdam.