Isla S. Castañeda

Research Interests: 

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at UMass Amherst. Previously, I was a post-doc in the Department of Marine Organic Biogeochemistry at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ). I received my PhD from the University of Minnesota (Large Lakes Observatory), my master’s degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder (INSTAAR) and my bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University (Department of Earth Sciences). My main research interests lie in on utilizing molecular (organic geochemical) and isotopic proxies to examine past environments. My research interests include: paleoclimate, paleoceanography, organic biogeochemistry, geobiology, paleolimnology and limnology, stable isotope geochemistry, biogeochemical cycles, anthropogenic impacts on the environment, climate variability and hominin evolution. I am also interested in developing and improving proxies for reconstructing past environmental conditions. For more information, please see the UMass Amherst Biogeochemistry Laboratory website.