Researcher

yaoweiqi0524[at]gmail[dot]com

Research interests: S and O isotopes in sulfate, biogeochemical cycles, paleoclimate and paleoceanography

Biography

I was born and grew up in Guangzhou, a city located in the water-rich area of southern China. Surrounded by rivers, mountains, and all the natural beauties, I developed my passions for Earth Sciences and decided to pursue my academic career as an earth scientist. I majored in Marine Geology for my undergraduate study at the Sun Yat-Sen University. In 2014, I moved to the University of Toronto to pursue my master and Ph.D. degrees under the supervision of Dr. Ulrich Wortmann. My doctoral research focused on the sulfur cycle during the Eocene and Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum to elucidate global warming’s influence on ocean chemistry as an analog for the near future conditions. In the next step, I will work as a postdoctoral fellow on the collaborative project on seawater sulfate triple oxygen isotopes between Dr. David Johnston’s lab at Harvard University and Dr. Adina Paytan’s lab at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Research

I have a broad range of interests in global biogeochemical cycles, seawater chemistry, and paleoclimatology on various geologic timescales. Stable isotope geochemistry and numerical modeling are the primary techniques for my research. My current research project focuses on the high temporal precision triple oxygen isotope record in marine sulfate (archived in marine barite) across the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. Through deciphering the mass-independent signal, I aim to reconstruct Earth’s past atmospheric compositions, volcanism, and biospheric activity.