Professor
Paleoclimatology, Paleoceanography, Geochemistry
Office: Webb 1114
Phone: (805) 893-8665

E-mail: lea@geol.ucsb.edu

Research Interests

My principal research interests lie in the fields of paleoclimate, paleoceanography and geochemistry. The goal of my research is to use the chemical and isotopic record encoded in the marine archive to study past oceans and climates over time scales of centuries to hundreds of thousands of years. An over-arching goal of this research is to elucidate the mechanisms for global climate change on both millennial and orbital time scales. I am particularly interested in climate change in the tropical oceans and the relationship between climate change and the biogeochemical cycle of carbon dioxide. The trace element and isotopic composition of foraminifera and corals preserved in the geological record provides the window into past ocean climate and composition. Most of my research is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Members of Research Group

David Lea, Professor, EAR and MSI
Howard Berg, Research Engineer, EAR (mass spectrometry, electronics)
Dotti Pak, Project Scientist, MSI (paleoceanography, isotope geochemistry)
Georges Paradis, Staff Analytical Chemist, EAR and MSI (ICP-MS)
Syee Weldeab, Post-Doctoral Scholar, German Science Foundation Young Scientist Fellow, EAR and MSI (Holocene and late Pleistocene climate history of the African margin)
Mary Jane Coombs, Graduate Student IDMS, EAR (Baja margin Holocene climate history)
Martin Medina-Elizalde, Graduate Student IDMS, EAR (tropical ocean temperature history; Yucatan spelothems)
Sarah Medley, Graduate Student IDMS, EAR (Marine isotope stage 5 in the Cariaco Basin)
Jenny King, undergraduate, ES and EEMB (micropaleontology, sample preparation)
Michael Sheehy, Research Scientist, PISCO (trace element tracking of larval migration)
Mary Nishimoto, Graduate Student, EEMB and PISCO (trace element tracking of larval migration in the California Current)
Ben Ruttenberg, Graduate Student, EEMB and PISCO (trace element tracking of larval migration in the Galapagos Islands Region)
Julie Standish, Graduate Student, EEMB and PISCO (trace element tracking of larval migration in the California Current)

EAR =Earth Science Department (formerly Geological Sciences)
MSI = Marine Science Institute
IDMS = Interdepartmental Program in Marine Science
EEMB = Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology
PISCO = Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans
ES = Environmental Studies

Disclaimer: Some material on this site is based upon work supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

copyright 2005