Current Research Projects
Sampling Mahoney Lake, British Columbia, August 2015.
Compound-specific sulfur isotopic analysis as a tool for determining pathways of diagenetic sulfurization of organic matter
Sulfur is an essential element for all living organisms because it plays a critical role in energy transduction, enzymatic reactions, and biosynthesis (amino acids and proteins). Organic matter preserved in sediments thus retains the organic and inorganic history of sulfur initially incorporated into organic tissue (primary) or added during diagenesis (secondary). The organic sulfur (OS) formed by these processes represents the second largest pool of reduced sulfur in sediments and variations in the stable isotope composition of OS can fill important gaps in the current understanding of the sulfur cycle. In a three-year study we will use compound-specific sulfur isotope analysis to study the pathways of organic matter sulfurization that occur during diagenesis in two anoxic lakes (Green Lake, NY, and Mahoney Lake, British Columbia). Detailed measurements will provide the composition, concentration, and sulfur isotope values of bulk organic fractions, individual organic compounds, inorganic sedimentary S phases, and reactive sulfur intermediates. Specific objectives include:
This project supports the development and deployment of a major new analytical tool, namely compound-specific sulfur isotope analysis (CSSIA) by GC/ICP/MS. Once the methodology has matured, we expect that it will be utilized just as broadly as other analogous compound-specific methods for H, C, and N. The new advancements in CSSIA have tremendous potential for understanding past changes in elemental cycling, metabolic and ecologic changes, as well as changes in paleoenvironmental conditions such as redox and climate. Relevant applications potentially include terrestrial and microbial ecology, global biogeochemistry, marine chemistry and biology, atmospheric aerosol formation and climate, natural products authentication, forensics, and fossil fuel exploration and production. They will also be of interest to biogeochemists and geobiologists who study the long-term coupling of Earth’s carbon and sulfur cycles, with application to global climate change (e.g. if ocean fertilization leads to greater organic carbon export, how will that carbon be preserved?), and the early oxygenation of the atmosphere and ocean. More broadly, we hope that our studies will eventually lead to an organic S isotope proxy for marine redox gradients, which would be of use across a broad swath of earth sciences.
This work is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (ASC-PRF).
Sulfur is an essential element for all living organisms because it plays a critical role in energy transduction, enzymatic reactions, and biosynthesis (amino acids and proteins). Organic matter preserved in sediments thus retains the organic and inorganic history of sulfur initially incorporated into organic tissue (primary) or added during diagenesis (secondary). The organic sulfur (OS) formed by these processes represents the second largest pool of reduced sulfur in sediments and variations in the stable isotope composition of OS can fill important gaps in the current understanding of the sulfur cycle. In a three-year study we will use compound-specific sulfur isotope analysis to study the pathways of organic matter sulfurization that occur during diagenesis in two anoxic lakes (Green Lake, NY, and Mahoney Lake, British Columbia). Detailed measurements will provide the composition, concentration, and sulfur isotope values of bulk organic fractions, individual organic compounds, inorganic sedimentary S phases, and reactive sulfur intermediates. Specific objectives include:
- Refining instrumentation and methodology for compound-specific sulfur isotope analysis of complex environmental samples
- Measuring the abundance and sulfur isotope composition of organic and inorganic sedimentary S phases and reactive dissolved sulfur intermediates to elucidate the formation pathways of organic sulfur compounds
- Analyzing the structure, abundance, and sulfur isotope values of a broad suite of OS compounds, including down-core changes in sulfur isotope composition of particular OS compounds.
This project supports the development and deployment of a major new analytical tool, namely compound-specific sulfur isotope analysis (CSSIA) by GC/ICP/MS. Once the methodology has matured, we expect that it will be utilized just as broadly as other analogous compound-specific methods for H, C, and N. The new advancements in CSSIA have tremendous potential for understanding past changes in elemental cycling, metabolic and ecologic changes, as well as changes in paleoenvironmental conditions such as redox and climate. Relevant applications potentially include terrestrial and microbial ecology, global biogeochemistry, marine chemistry and biology, atmospheric aerosol formation and climate, natural products authentication, forensics, and fossil fuel exploration and production. They will also be of interest to biogeochemists and geobiologists who study the long-term coupling of Earth’s carbon and sulfur cycles, with application to global climate change (e.g. if ocean fertilization leads to greater organic carbon export, how will that carbon be preserved?), and the early oxygenation of the atmosphere and ocean. More broadly, we hope that our studies will eventually lead to an organic S isotope proxy for marine redox gradients, which would be of use across a broad swath of earth sciences.
This work is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (ASC-PRF).
Lake Chalco, Basin of Mexico, November 2009.
MEXIDRILL: The Basin of Mexico Drilling Program
This project will recover a ~350 m lacustrine sedimentary sequence from the Basin of Mexico, on the southern outskirts of Mexico City. These sediments have the potential to provide a record of North American climate for the past >500,000 years. This unique climate archive could become the "type sequence" for paleoclimate studies in the Americas. The Basin of Mexico is well suited for reconstruction and investigation of interannual through orbital-scale variations in the North American monsoon and hydrologic variations of the neotropics.
Understanding mechanisms that caused rapid global climate changes in the past is a key problem in paleoclimate research, and is critical for evaluating impacts of ongoing and future climate change. In particular, the role of the tropics in climate shifts remains poorly understood; interplay of extratropical conditions, including interhemispheric temperature gradients, with tropical climate change remains an area of ongoing research interest. In order to evaluate the relative role of low latitudes in initiating and propagating abrupt global climate changes, we need information regarding the geographical distribution, patterns and timing of abrupt changes in the tropics. Paleorecords that can help define the nature of variability in the Intertropical Convergence Zone are especially critical to this work. This work is of particular relevance in Southwestern North America, which is projected to become increasingly arid in the coming decades and centuries in response to anthropogenically-driven climate change. In this already dry region, water supplies are pressured by increasing population, so more intense drought will pose major societal challenges. However, these changes will be superimposed on natural variability in climate systems that remains poorly understood. For example, it is not clear whether moisture delivery to the interior Great Basin at the last glacial maximum originated from the tropical eastern Pacific (perhaps as spring/summer precipitation) or from shifting in the track of winter westerlies. The Basin of Mexico record can provide key insights on short and long timescale hydrological responses to climatic extremes of the
past 5 glacial-interglacial cycles.
This work is funded by the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP), and a companion proposal is currently pending at NSF.
This project will recover a ~350 m lacustrine sedimentary sequence from the Basin of Mexico, on the southern outskirts of Mexico City. These sediments have the potential to provide a record of North American climate for the past >500,000 years. This unique climate archive could become the "type sequence" for paleoclimate studies in the Americas. The Basin of Mexico is well suited for reconstruction and investigation of interannual through orbital-scale variations in the North American monsoon and hydrologic variations of the neotropics.
Understanding mechanisms that caused rapid global climate changes in the past is a key problem in paleoclimate research, and is critical for evaluating impacts of ongoing and future climate change. In particular, the role of the tropics in climate shifts remains poorly understood; interplay of extratropical conditions, including interhemispheric temperature gradients, with tropical climate change remains an area of ongoing research interest. In order to evaluate the relative role of low latitudes in initiating and propagating abrupt global climate changes, we need information regarding the geographical distribution, patterns and timing of abrupt changes in the tropics. Paleorecords that can help define the nature of variability in the Intertropical Convergence Zone are especially critical to this work. This work is of particular relevance in Southwestern North America, which is projected to become increasingly arid in the coming decades and centuries in response to anthropogenically-driven climate change. In this already dry region, water supplies are pressured by increasing population, so more intense drought will pose major societal challenges. However, these changes will be superimposed on natural variability in climate systems that remains poorly understood. For example, it is not clear whether moisture delivery to the interior Great Basin at the last glacial maximum originated from the tropical eastern Pacific (perhaps as spring/summer precipitation) or from shifting in the track of winter westerlies. The Basin of Mexico record can provide key insights on short and long timescale hydrological responses to climatic extremes of the
past 5 glacial-interglacial cycles.
This work is funded by the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP), and a companion proposal is currently pending at NSF.
HSPDP: Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project
HSPDP is an international scientific collaboration whose goal is to collect sediment drill cores for paleoclimate and paleoenviromental analysis in proximity to some of the world's most important fossil hominin and artifact sites. This project will collect and analyze lake sediment drill core records from key localities in Kenya and Ethiopia to vastly improve our understanding of the paleoenvironmental/paleoclimatic context of human evolution. Using a combined data collection and modeling approach we aim to fundamentally transform the debate concerning how environmental dynamics at global, regional and local scales may have shaped hominin evolutionary history.
The Werne Biogeochemistry Research Group is contributing organic and stable isotope biogeochemistry expertise to this project. Along with others in the project, especially Jim Russell at Brown and Isla Castaneda at UMass, we are analyzing molecular fossils and their isotopic compositions to reconstruct temperature, rainfall, and vegetation change in these critical paleosystems.
This work is funded by NSF, ICDP, and other funding agencies. For more information, see the HSPDP project website.
HSPDP is an international scientific collaboration whose goal is to collect sediment drill cores for paleoclimate and paleoenviromental analysis in proximity to some of the world's most important fossil hominin and artifact sites. This project will collect and analyze lake sediment drill core records from key localities in Kenya and Ethiopia to vastly improve our understanding of the paleoenvironmental/paleoclimatic context of human evolution. Using a combined data collection and modeling approach we aim to fundamentally transform the debate concerning how environmental dynamics at global, regional and local scales may have shaped hominin evolutionary history.
The Werne Biogeochemistry Research Group is contributing organic and stable isotope biogeochemistry expertise to this project. Along with others in the project, especially Jim Russell at Brown and Isla Castaneda at UMass, we are analyzing molecular fossils and their isotopic compositions to reconstruct temperature, rainfall, and vegetation change in these critical paleosystems.
This work is funded by NSF, ICDP, and other funding agencies. For more information, see the HSPDP project website.
Calibrating the relationship between the hydrogen isotope composition of sedimentary biomarkers, lake water, and precipitation in Mesoamerica and Patagonia
Understanding mechanisms that caused rapid global climate changes in the past is a key problem in paleoclimate research, and is critical for evaluating impacts of ongoing and future climate change. Much of the world, including Patagonia and Mesoamerica, is projected to become more arid in the coming decades in response to anthropogenic climate change. In these already dry regions, water supplies are pressured by increasing population, so more intense drought will pose major societal challenges, yet these regions have sparse modern climate data, inhibiting our ability to accurately model future projections. Thus, we need to turn to paleoclimate records to gather data on climate variability in the region, particularly for paleohydrological change.
Water isotopes are informative as proxies of the hydrological cycle. While water is not preserved in paleoclimate archives, the isotopic composition of the oxygen and hydrogen can be preserved in sedimentary organic matter, thereby providing a window into past changes in hydroclimate. The hydrogen isotope composition of sedimentary lipids is correlated with the hydrogen isotope composition of the water source utilized by the organisms. Studies of living organisms in culture demonstrated that there are many environmental and physiological factors that influence isotopic fractionation between environmental water and lipids of both aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Nevertheless, a number of studies have investigated spatial trends along environmental gradients, and these have generally yielded a strong correlation between the hydrogen isotope composition of lake water and lipids of algae and terrestrial plants, though the specific relationship varies as a function of environmental conditions.
In this project, we are developing regional calibrations of biomarker hydrogen isotopes to lake waters, and therefore hydroclimate, using a suite of lake surface sediments from Mesoamerica and Patagonia to address the question “What is the hydrogen isotopic offset between algal and leaf-wax biomarkers and lake water (and therefore precipitation), and is it consistent from the tropical lowlands of the Yucatan to the high-desert climate of Western Mexico and throughout Patagonia?”. We will analyze the H isotope composition of biomarkers derived from terrestrial plants (leaf wax n-alkanoic acids) and algae (n-alkyl diols) extracted from lake sediments, and compare it to that of lake water. This “calibration” will provide a basis for quantitatively linking the δD of different biomarkers to that of lake water, and therefore precipitation.
This work is funded by the University of Pittsburgh Central Research Development Fund, Center for Latin American Studies, and Hewlett International Grant Program.
Understanding mechanisms that caused rapid global climate changes in the past is a key problem in paleoclimate research, and is critical for evaluating impacts of ongoing and future climate change. Much of the world, including Patagonia and Mesoamerica, is projected to become more arid in the coming decades in response to anthropogenic climate change. In these already dry regions, water supplies are pressured by increasing population, so more intense drought will pose major societal challenges, yet these regions have sparse modern climate data, inhibiting our ability to accurately model future projections. Thus, we need to turn to paleoclimate records to gather data on climate variability in the region, particularly for paleohydrological change.
Water isotopes are informative as proxies of the hydrological cycle. While water is not preserved in paleoclimate archives, the isotopic composition of the oxygen and hydrogen can be preserved in sedimentary organic matter, thereby providing a window into past changes in hydroclimate. The hydrogen isotope composition of sedimentary lipids is correlated with the hydrogen isotope composition of the water source utilized by the organisms. Studies of living organisms in culture demonstrated that there are many environmental and physiological factors that influence isotopic fractionation between environmental water and lipids of both aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Nevertheless, a number of studies have investigated spatial trends along environmental gradients, and these have generally yielded a strong correlation between the hydrogen isotope composition of lake water and lipids of algae and terrestrial plants, though the specific relationship varies as a function of environmental conditions.
In this project, we are developing regional calibrations of biomarker hydrogen isotopes to lake waters, and therefore hydroclimate, using a suite of lake surface sediments from Mesoamerica and Patagonia to address the question “What is the hydrogen isotopic offset between algal and leaf-wax biomarkers and lake water (and therefore precipitation), and is it consistent from the tropical lowlands of the Yucatan to the high-desert climate of Western Mexico and throughout Patagonia?”. We will analyze the H isotope composition of biomarkers derived from terrestrial plants (leaf wax n-alkanoic acids) and algae (n-alkyl diols) extracted from lake sediments, and compare it to that of lake water. This “calibration” will provide a basis for quantitatively linking the δD of different biomarkers to that of lake water, and therefore precipitation.
This work is funded by the University of Pittsburgh Central Research Development Fund, Center for Latin American Studies, and Hewlett International Grant Program.
Bridging Paleolimnology and Archaeology through Human Biomarkers in Lake Sediment: Demography, Land-use, and Climate in the Northwest Titicaca Basin
Understanding human population levels over time is fundamentally important for answering numerous questions about our deep past. For instance, were rising population levels responsible for spurring major social transformations, like the adoption of agriculture, more complex social and political hierarchies, or intensified warfare? How were population levels affected by major events like the colonization of new areas, environmental crises, or the collapse of states? Traditionally, archaeologists arrive at estimates of past demography through archaeological survey, but this is not always possible (e.g., phases of human settlement with low population densities and high mobility; regions with poor surface visibility of sites due to thick vegetation or alluvial deposition). In this project, our interdisciplinary team aims to establish whether recently defined biochemical markers in ancient lake sediment can serve as reliable proxies for human population levels over time.
Recent research shows that fecal 5b-stanols, organic compounds deriving from feces of higher mammals, are present in measurable amounts in lake sediments. The presence and quantity should reflect human population levels in the lake watershed, particularly coprostanol, which is the major 5b-stanol in human feces. This project aims to evaluate and expand the utility of this biomarker for archaeological research by comparing 5b-stanols in two lake cores in the south-central Andes (the Titicaca Basin of southern Peru) with sequences of population levels derived from two already completed full-coverage archaeological surveys. In addition to advancing new methodology for the reconstruction of past demography, the resulting dataset has the potential to make significant advances on questions about the connection between pre-Columbian sociopolitical change and paleoclimate. In addition, because lake core sequences also have biogeochemical proxies for other significant parameters such as precipitation, this technique holds promise for investigating the relationship between human populations and environmental change by reducing the chronological uncertainty that comes from matching separate climate and population records.
This work is in collaboration with Dr. Elizabeth Arkush (Pitt Anthropology) and Dr. Mark Abbott (Pitt Geology), and is funded by the National Science Foundation Archaeology program.
Understanding human population levels over time is fundamentally important for answering numerous questions about our deep past. For instance, were rising population levels responsible for spurring major social transformations, like the adoption of agriculture, more complex social and political hierarchies, or intensified warfare? How were population levels affected by major events like the colonization of new areas, environmental crises, or the collapse of states? Traditionally, archaeologists arrive at estimates of past demography through archaeological survey, but this is not always possible (e.g., phases of human settlement with low population densities and high mobility; regions with poor surface visibility of sites due to thick vegetation or alluvial deposition). In this project, our interdisciplinary team aims to establish whether recently defined biochemical markers in ancient lake sediment can serve as reliable proxies for human population levels over time.
Recent research shows that fecal 5b-stanols, organic compounds deriving from feces of higher mammals, are present in measurable amounts in lake sediments. The presence and quantity should reflect human population levels in the lake watershed, particularly coprostanol, which is the major 5b-stanol in human feces. This project aims to evaluate and expand the utility of this biomarker for archaeological research by comparing 5b-stanols in two lake cores in the south-central Andes (the Titicaca Basin of southern Peru) with sequences of population levels derived from two already completed full-coverage archaeological surveys. In addition to advancing new methodology for the reconstruction of past demography, the resulting dataset has the potential to make significant advances on questions about the connection between pre-Columbian sociopolitical change and paleoclimate. In addition, because lake core sequences also have biogeochemical proxies for other significant parameters such as precipitation, this technique holds promise for investigating the relationship between human populations and environmental change by reducing the chronological uncertainty that comes from matching separate climate and population records.
This work is in collaboration with Dr. Elizabeth Arkush (Pitt Anthropology) and Dr. Mark Abbott (Pitt Geology), and is funded by the National Science Foundation Archaeology program.
Previous Research Projects
Proposal Title: What feeds Lake Superior food webs? A multi-isotope investigation
Agency: MN Sea Grant
Amount: $136,881
Period Covered: 2/1/12 to 12/31/14
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (co-PI), E.C. Minor (PI), D. Branstrator, T. Hrabik (co-PIs)
Proposal Title: Constraining the latitudinal variability in southern South American hydroclimate through lacustrine geochemical proxies
Agency: U. MN GPS Alliance Global Spotlight Faculty International Research Seed Grant
Amount: $13,600
Period Covered: 9/1/12 to 8/31/13
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI), S. Contreras Quintana (co-PI)
Proposal Title: Transient diagenesis in organic poor sediments: Lake Superior as a test system
Source of Support NSF-OCE-Chemical Oceanography #OCE-0961720
Award Amount $416,961
Period Covered 6/01/10 – 5/31/13
PI/co-PI S. Katsev (PI), J.P. Werne R. Hecky, (co-PIs)
Proposal Title: A workshop for deep drilling of the Chalco Basin, Valley of Mexico
Agency: ICDP
Amount: $38,500
Period Covered: 9/1/11 to 8/31/12
PI/co-PI E.T. Brown (PI), J.P. Werne (co-PI), M. Caballero, B. Ortega, S. Lozano-Garcia, B. Valero-Garces, M. Trauth, A. Schwalb (co-PIs)
Proposal Title: Linking Past, Present and the Future Ecosystem Change in Lake Malawi
Source of Support Univ. Minnesota Office of International Programs
Award Amount $250,000
Period Covered 5/2010 – 4/2012
PI/co-PI S. Guildford (PI), J.P. Werne, E.T. Brown, J. Austin, E. Minor, R. Hicks, R. Hecky, S. Katsev, S. Colman, T.C. Johnson (UMD co-PIs), R. Sterner, J. Cotner (UMTC co-PIs), A. Bulirani (Malawi co-PI)
Proposal Title: A 350,000 - Year History of Rainfall and Temperature in Tropical East Africa
Source of Support NSF-P2C2 #EAR-0902714
Award Amount $454,632
Period Covered 9/09 – 8/13
PI/co-PI T.C. Johnson (PI), J.P. Werne, C. Gallup (co-PIs)
Proposal Title: Collaborative Research: A high-resolution middle Pleistocene paleoclimate record from the Valles Caldera, New Mexico
Source of Support NSF-P2C2 #EAR-0902888
Award Amount $233,722 (to UMD, $650,951 total)
Period Covered 9/09 – 8/12
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (co-PI), E.T. Brown (co-PI), w/P. Fawcett (PI-UNM) & J. Geissman (UNM co-PI) & R.S. Anderson (NAU co-PI)
Proposal Title Collaborative Research: Does “old” carbon subsidize Lake Superior
heterotrophy? A radiocarbon investigation into organic matter cycling
Agency: NSF-OCE-Chemical Oceanography #OCE-0825600
Amount: $477,428 (to UMD, $660,618 total)
Period Covered: 9/1/08 – 8/31/12
PI/co-PI L. Minor (PI), J.P. Werne, (UMD co-PI), L. McCallister (Virginia
Commonwealth Univ. co-PI)
Proposal Title MRI-R2: Acquisition of a Liquid Chromatograph Mass Spectrometry System for Biogeochemical Research at the Large Lakes Observatory
Source of Support NSF-MRI-R2 #OCE-0959984
Award Amount $327,344
Period Covered 4/15/10 – 3/31/12
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI) E.C. Minor (co-PI)
Proposal Title Walk-in freezer and refrigerator for limnological water and sediment samples
Source of Support University of Minnesota Grant in Aid
Award Amount $10,000
Period Covered 1/2011 – 12/2011
PI/co-PI E.C. Minor (PI) J.P. Werne, E.T. Brown (co-PIs)
Proposal Title PILOT STUDY: Reconstructing tropical North American climate with the sedimentary record of Lake Chalco, Mexico
Source of Support NSF-P2C2 #EAR-0902682
Award Amount $102,763
Period Covered 9/09 – 8/11
PI/co-PI E.T. Brown (PI), J.P. Werne (co-PI)
Proposal Title: Validation of the MBT paleotemperature proxy in lakes
Source of Support: NSF-EAR-Geobiology & Low Temperature Geochemistry #EAR-0745658
Award Amount: $199,360
Period Covered: 2/15/08 – 1/31/11
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI)
Proposal Title: Changing Nutrient and Productivity Regimes in Lake Superior: Causes and time course
Agency: Sea Grant
Period Covered: 1/09 – 6/10
Amount: $89,877
PI/co-PI R. Hecky (PI), T.C. Johnson, J.P. Werne (co-PIs)
Proposal Title Deriving temperature from archaea in tropical East African Lake Malawi
Source of Support National Geographic Society Committee for Research and Exploration #8098-06
Award Amount $26,500
Period Covered 1/07-12/09
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI), R. Hicks, L. Powers
Proposal Title Deriving temperature from archaea in tropical East African Lake Malawi
Source of Support University of Minnesota Grant-In-Aid #20607
Award Amount $26,944
Period Covered 7/06-12/09
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne, non-PI collaborators R. Hicks, Lindsay Powers
Proposal Title: Travel support for initiation of collaborative study of paleoclimate in the North American tropics
Agency: Chancellor’s small grant
Period Covered: 1/09 – 6/09
Amount: $750
PI/co-PI J. Werne (PI)
Proposal Title: Establishing current trends in temperature and primary production in Lake Superior through the establishment and maintenance of time series sediment trap moorings
Agency: Mn Sea Grant
Period Covered: 6/1/08 – 5/31/09
Amount: $6,000
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI)
Proposal Title The thermal and hydrological history of East Africa since the Last Glacial Maximum
Source of Support NOAA Office of Global Programs #GC06-533
Award Amount $334,999
Period Covered 8/06 – 7/09
PI/co-PI T.C. Johnson (PI), J.P. Werne (co-PI)
Proposal Title Linking archaeal membrane lipids and ecology in great lakes: Understanding the TEX86 paleotemperature proxy
Source of Support NSF-OCE-Chemical Oceanography #OCE-0452927
Award Amount $537,294
Period Covered 8/01/05-7/31/09
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI), R. Hicks (co-PI)
Proposal Title Response of tropical African terrestrial vegetation to climate change
Source of Support Research Corporation Cottrell College Science Award #CC6559
Award Amount $39,545
Period Covered 1/06-12/08
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne
Proposal Title: Acquisition of an uninterruptible power supply for the stable isotope lab at LLO
Agency: University of Minnesota Grant In Aid #20903
Period Covered: 7/07 – 1/08
Amount: $19,100 (including match)
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI), J. Pastor, C. Gallup (co-PIs)
Proposal Title: Testing for Crenarchaeota in Elk Lake, Minnesota
Agency: UMD-Chancellor’s Faculty Small Grants
Period Covered: 1/07-6/07
Amount: $1,500
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne, R. Hicks (co-PIs)
Proposal Title Constraining dietary practices of Dhahrat Umm al-Marar, Jordan (2250-2000 B.C.) by analysis of organic residues on archaeological artifacts
Source of Support UMD Chancellors Faculty Small Grants
Award Amount $1,500 ($750 to me)
Period Covered 1/06 – 6/06
PI/co-PI J.E. Jones, J.P. Werne, co-PIs
Proposal Title Collaborative Research: Aquatic Paleoclimate Proxy Records of Tropical Temperature Variability
Source of Support NSF-ESH ATM-0502456
Award Amount $160,579 ($73,225 to JPW)
Period Covered 9/05-8/06
PI/co-PI K. Hughen (PI; WHOI), J.P. Werne (co-PI)
Proposal Title: Supplement to: Acquisition of stable isotope ratio monitoring mass spectrometer system for biogeochemical research at Large Lakes Observatory
Source of Support: NSF-Oceanic Instrumentation OCE-0456123
Period Covered: 2/05-7/06
Award Amount: $27,960
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI), T. Johnson, R.D. Ricketts, C. Gallup, J. Pastor (co-PIs)
Proposal Title Effects of variable redox conditions on nutrient regeneration during organic
matter remineralization
Source of Support ACS-PRF #41951-GB2
Award Amount $35,000
Period Covered 5/05-8/07
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI)
Proposal Title Acquisition of stable isotope ratio monitoring mass spectrometer system for
biogeochemical research at Large Lakes Observatory
Source of Support NSF-MRI, OCE-0320880
Award Amount $285,460
Period Covered 8/03 – 7/06
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI), T. Johnson, R.D. Ricketts, C. Gallup, J. Pastor (co-PIs)
Proposal Title Environmental controls on the timing and mechanism(s) of organic matter
sulfurization
Source of Support University of Minnesota Grant-In-Aid #19204
Award Amount $26,605
Period Covered 7/02 – 1/04
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI)
Agency: MN Sea Grant
Amount: $136,881
Period Covered: 2/1/12 to 12/31/14
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (co-PI), E.C. Minor (PI), D. Branstrator, T. Hrabik (co-PIs)
Proposal Title: Constraining the latitudinal variability in southern South American hydroclimate through lacustrine geochemical proxies
Agency: U. MN GPS Alliance Global Spotlight Faculty International Research Seed Grant
Amount: $13,600
Period Covered: 9/1/12 to 8/31/13
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI), S. Contreras Quintana (co-PI)
Proposal Title: Transient diagenesis in organic poor sediments: Lake Superior as a test system
Source of Support NSF-OCE-Chemical Oceanography #OCE-0961720
Award Amount $416,961
Period Covered 6/01/10 – 5/31/13
PI/co-PI S. Katsev (PI), J.P. Werne R. Hecky, (co-PIs)
Proposal Title: A workshop for deep drilling of the Chalco Basin, Valley of Mexico
Agency: ICDP
Amount: $38,500
Period Covered: 9/1/11 to 8/31/12
PI/co-PI E.T. Brown (PI), J.P. Werne (co-PI), M. Caballero, B. Ortega, S. Lozano-Garcia, B. Valero-Garces, M. Trauth, A. Schwalb (co-PIs)
Proposal Title: Linking Past, Present and the Future Ecosystem Change in Lake Malawi
Source of Support Univ. Minnesota Office of International Programs
Award Amount $250,000
Period Covered 5/2010 – 4/2012
PI/co-PI S. Guildford (PI), J.P. Werne, E.T. Brown, J. Austin, E. Minor, R. Hicks, R. Hecky, S. Katsev, S. Colman, T.C. Johnson (UMD co-PIs), R. Sterner, J. Cotner (UMTC co-PIs), A. Bulirani (Malawi co-PI)
Proposal Title: A 350,000 - Year History of Rainfall and Temperature in Tropical East Africa
Source of Support NSF-P2C2 #EAR-0902714
Award Amount $454,632
Period Covered 9/09 – 8/13
PI/co-PI T.C. Johnson (PI), J.P. Werne, C. Gallup (co-PIs)
Proposal Title: Collaborative Research: A high-resolution middle Pleistocene paleoclimate record from the Valles Caldera, New Mexico
Source of Support NSF-P2C2 #EAR-0902888
Award Amount $233,722 (to UMD, $650,951 total)
Period Covered 9/09 – 8/12
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (co-PI), E.T. Brown (co-PI), w/P. Fawcett (PI-UNM) & J. Geissman (UNM co-PI) & R.S. Anderson (NAU co-PI)
Proposal Title Collaborative Research: Does “old” carbon subsidize Lake Superior
heterotrophy? A radiocarbon investigation into organic matter cycling
Agency: NSF-OCE-Chemical Oceanography #OCE-0825600
Amount: $477,428 (to UMD, $660,618 total)
Period Covered: 9/1/08 – 8/31/12
PI/co-PI L. Minor (PI), J.P. Werne, (UMD co-PI), L. McCallister (Virginia
Commonwealth Univ. co-PI)
Proposal Title MRI-R2: Acquisition of a Liquid Chromatograph Mass Spectrometry System for Biogeochemical Research at the Large Lakes Observatory
Source of Support NSF-MRI-R2 #OCE-0959984
Award Amount $327,344
Period Covered 4/15/10 – 3/31/12
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI) E.C. Minor (co-PI)
Proposal Title Walk-in freezer and refrigerator for limnological water and sediment samples
Source of Support University of Minnesota Grant in Aid
Award Amount $10,000
Period Covered 1/2011 – 12/2011
PI/co-PI E.C. Minor (PI) J.P. Werne, E.T. Brown (co-PIs)
Proposal Title PILOT STUDY: Reconstructing tropical North American climate with the sedimentary record of Lake Chalco, Mexico
Source of Support NSF-P2C2 #EAR-0902682
Award Amount $102,763
Period Covered 9/09 – 8/11
PI/co-PI E.T. Brown (PI), J.P. Werne (co-PI)
Proposal Title: Validation of the MBT paleotemperature proxy in lakes
Source of Support: NSF-EAR-Geobiology & Low Temperature Geochemistry #EAR-0745658
Award Amount: $199,360
Period Covered: 2/15/08 – 1/31/11
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI)
Proposal Title: Changing Nutrient and Productivity Regimes in Lake Superior: Causes and time course
Agency: Sea Grant
Period Covered: 1/09 – 6/10
Amount: $89,877
PI/co-PI R. Hecky (PI), T.C. Johnson, J.P. Werne (co-PIs)
Proposal Title Deriving temperature from archaea in tropical East African Lake Malawi
Source of Support National Geographic Society Committee for Research and Exploration #8098-06
Award Amount $26,500
Period Covered 1/07-12/09
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI), R. Hicks, L. Powers
Proposal Title Deriving temperature from archaea in tropical East African Lake Malawi
Source of Support University of Minnesota Grant-In-Aid #20607
Award Amount $26,944
Period Covered 7/06-12/09
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne, non-PI collaborators R. Hicks, Lindsay Powers
Proposal Title: Travel support for initiation of collaborative study of paleoclimate in the North American tropics
Agency: Chancellor’s small grant
Period Covered: 1/09 – 6/09
Amount: $750
PI/co-PI J. Werne (PI)
Proposal Title: Establishing current trends in temperature and primary production in Lake Superior through the establishment and maintenance of time series sediment trap moorings
Agency: Mn Sea Grant
Period Covered: 6/1/08 – 5/31/09
Amount: $6,000
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI)
Proposal Title The thermal and hydrological history of East Africa since the Last Glacial Maximum
Source of Support NOAA Office of Global Programs #GC06-533
Award Amount $334,999
Period Covered 8/06 – 7/09
PI/co-PI T.C. Johnson (PI), J.P. Werne (co-PI)
Proposal Title Linking archaeal membrane lipids and ecology in great lakes: Understanding the TEX86 paleotemperature proxy
Source of Support NSF-OCE-Chemical Oceanography #OCE-0452927
Award Amount $537,294
Period Covered 8/01/05-7/31/09
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI), R. Hicks (co-PI)
Proposal Title Response of tropical African terrestrial vegetation to climate change
Source of Support Research Corporation Cottrell College Science Award #CC6559
Award Amount $39,545
Period Covered 1/06-12/08
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne
Proposal Title: Acquisition of an uninterruptible power supply for the stable isotope lab at LLO
Agency: University of Minnesota Grant In Aid #20903
Period Covered: 7/07 – 1/08
Amount: $19,100 (including match)
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI), J. Pastor, C. Gallup (co-PIs)
Proposal Title: Testing for Crenarchaeota in Elk Lake, Minnesota
Agency: UMD-Chancellor’s Faculty Small Grants
Period Covered: 1/07-6/07
Amount: $1,500
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne, R. Hicks (co-PIs)
Proposal Title Constraining dietary practices of Dhahrat Umm al-Marar, Jordan (2250-2000 B.C.) by analysis of organic residues on archaeological artifacts
Source of Support UMD Chancellors Faculty Small Grants
Award Amount $1,500 ($750 to me)
Period Covered 1/06 – 6/06
PI/co-PI J.E. Jones, J.P. Werne, co-PIs
Proposal Title Collaborative Research: Aquatic Paleoclimate Proxy Records of Tropical Temperature Variability
Source of Support NSF-ESH ATM-0502456
Award Amount $160,579 ($73,225 to JPW)
Period Covered 9/05-8/06
PI/co-PI K. Hughen (PI; WHOI), J.P. Werne (co-PI)
Proposal Title: Supplement to: Acquisition of stable isotope ratio monitoring mass spectrometer system for biogeochemical research at Large Lakes Observatory
Source of Support: NSF-Oceanic Instrumentation OCE-0456123
Period Covered: 2/05-7/06
Award Amount: $27,960
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI), T. Johnson, R.D. Ricketts, C. Gallup, J. Pastor (co-PIs)
Proposal Title Effects of variable redox conditions on nutrient regeneration during organic
matter remineralization
Source of Support ACS-PRF #41951-GB2
Award Amount $35,000
Period Covered 5/05-8/07
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI)
Proposal Title Acquisition of stable isotope ratio monitoring mass spectrometer system for
biogeochemical research at Large Lakes Observatory
Source of Support NSF-MRI, OCE-0320880
Award Amount $285,460
Period Covered 8/03 – 7/06
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI), T. Johnson, R.D. Ricketts, C. Gallup, J. Pastor (co-PIs)
Proposal Title Environmental controls on the timing and mechanism(s) of organic matter
sulfurization
Source of Support University of Minnesota Grant-In-Aid #19204
Award Amount $26,605
Period Covered 7/02 – 1/04
PI/co-PI J.P. Werne (PI)