Education

CSI Brown Bag Seminar

Spring 2022 Schedule

The Spring 2022 CSI Seminar will be held in PAIS 1010 and online, via Zoom, and will be moderated by Dr. Seth Newsome (newsome@unm.edu)

All seminars begin at noon on the date listed below. Room 1010 is located in PAIS 1st floor, next to (south of) the main entrance.

January 31^st: Zachary Sharp (UNM, Earth and Planetary Sciences): Applications of triple oxygen isotopes of CO₂ in natural sciences

February 7^th: Oliver Shipley (UNM, Biology): Link community assembly with consumer body condition – an amino acid isotope approach

February 14^th: Emma Elliott Smith (Smithsonian Institution): Archaeological and Stable Isotope Data Reveal Patterns of Fishing Across the Food Web on California’s Channel Islands

February 28^th: Anthony Gargano (UNM, Earth and Planetary Sciences): Salt in the solar system

March 7^th: Asta Rand (Memorial University of Newfoundland): Multi-isotopic (C, N, & S) insights into Maya subsistence practices and migration

March 21^st: Alexi Besser (UNM, Biology):  Microbial biofilms mediate terrestrial to aquatic food web linkages in the Middle Rio Grande

March 28^th: Catherine Peshek (UNM, Earth and Planetary Sciences): Records of Ancient Oceanic Crust: A Triple Oxygen Isotope Study of Mantle Eclogite

April 4^th: Gregor Hamilton (UNM, Biology): Crawdads in the Gila: Using nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen isotopes to understand the role of an invasive omnivore in a naive system.

April 11^th: Keith Prufer (UNM, Anthropology):  Using ancient DNA and multi-isotopic methods to reconstruct Holocene population dynamics and dietary shifts in neotropical foragers and farmers

April 18^th: Erick Cano (UNM, Earth and Planetary Sciences): Triple oxygen isotopes in lunar soils, meteorites, and rocks

April 25^th: Nico Lübcker (UNM, Biology): Triple Oxygen Isotopes as Proxies for Water Flux and Metabolic Rate in Animals

May 2^nd: Nadia Neff (UNM, Anthropology): Untangling carbohydrate and protein source contributions in the diets of a neotropical foraging-to-farming population using carbon stable isotope analysis of amino acids

May 9^th: David Burtt (Stony Brook University): The Immediate Aftermath - Contextualizing the Products of Meteorite Impacts with Clumped Isotopes

Training Programs and Courses

• Graduate Student Assistantships: 2 graduate assistantships per semester (one in Earth & Planetary Sciences and another in Biology) are offered to train graduate students in the daily operation of instrumentation, instrument maintenance, QA/QC protocols and data reduction.
• Courses: targeted to motivated undergraduates, graduates and postdoctoral researchers interested in learning more about the application of stable isotope analysis in the planetary, life and medical sciences. The laboratory experience will include full access and training on how to operate and maintain isotope ratio mass spectrometers.
  
  • Stable Isotope Geochemistry (EPS 405): The aim of this course is to provide students with a basic understanding of stable isotope geochemistry, and it’s application in the geosciences. In particular, lectures will focus on applications to paleoclimate reconstruction, metamorphic and igneous petrology, atmospheric science and meteoritics.
  • Elemental Ecology (BIO 402/502): This aim of this course is to provide students with a basic understanding of the application of stable isotope measurements in ecology and environmental science. Lectures will address the theory underlying the application of stable isotopes at natural abundance levels as tracers and integrators of important ecological and environmental processes.
    • Class website: http://sethnewsome.org/ee.html
  • ​Stable Isotope Seminar (ANTH 502, BIOL 402/502, EPS 400): The CSI brown bag seminar is offered as a one credit course in the Anthropology, Biology, and Earth and Planetary Sciences departments.