Is your roommate really a vegan? Did native peoples live there year-round? Where does this bird spend its winters? Where did that apple come from? What’s your tropic level?

Where does your water come from? What did Neanderthals eat? Was there a drought? How do we know what the temperature was 10,000 years ago? What were past CO2 levels? What does that crab eat? Is the stream polluted?

How can these questions be answered???

 Find out in ‘ Stable Isotopes in Environmental Science’ being taught this upcoming spring.

Dr David P Gillikin (home)

ESCI-337 Stable Isotopes in Environmental Science (crosslisted with ENST)

Spring 2010

Stable isotopes have become a fundamental tool in many biogeoscientific studies, from reconstructing past climates to tracking animal migration or unraveling foodwebs and even to study the origin of life on Earth and possibly other planets. This course highlights the applications of stable isotopes in biological, ecological, environmental, archeological and geological studies. Students learn the fundamentals of stable isotope biogeochemistry in order to understand the uses and limitations of this tool. This course starts with an introduction to the fundamentals of stable isotope geochemistry and then moves on to applied topics such as paleoceanography and paleoclimatology proxies, hydrology, sediments and sedimentary rocks, biogeochemical cycling, the global carbon cycle, photosynthesis, metabolism, ecology, organic matter degradation, pollution, and more.

This course is designed for students who are interested in learning how stable isotopes of oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur and carbon can be used for examining various environmental questions. We will be exploring how these isotopes can be used as tracers to tell us about nutrient cycling, climate change, plant physiology, and food web structure, among other things!

	Gillikin, D. P., §K. Hutchinson and §Y. Kumai, (2009). Ontogenic increase of metabolic carbon in freshwater mussel shells (Pyganodon cataracta). Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences
	Gillikin, D. P., A. Lorrain, L. Meng and F. Dehairs, (2007). A large metabolic carbon contribution to the δ13C record in marine aragonitic bivalve shells. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 71: 2936-2946.
	Gillikin D. P. and S. Bouillon (2007) Determination of δ18O of water and δ13C of dissolved inorganic carbon using a simple modification of an elemental analyzer – isotope ratio mass spectrometer (EA-IRMS): an evaluation. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 21: 1475-1478.
	Gillikin, D. P., F. Dehairs, A. Lorrain, D. Steenmans, W. Baeyens, and L. André (2006). Barium uptake into the shells of the common mussel (Mytilus edulis) and the potential for estuarine paleo-chemistry reconstruction. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 70: 395-407.
	Gillikin, D. P. , A. Lorrain, S. Bouillon, P. Willenz and F. Dehairs, (2006). Stable carbon isotopic composition of Mytilus edulis shells: relation to metabolism, salinity δ13CDIC and phytoplankton. Organic Geochemistry 37: 1371-1382.
	Schöne, B. R., D. L. Rodland, D. M. Surge, J. Fiebig, D. P. Gillikin, S. M. Baier, and A. Goewert (2006). Comment on “Stable carbon isotopes in freshwater mussel shells: Environmental record or marker for metabolic activity?” by J. Geist et al. (2005). Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 70: 2658-2661.
	Lorrain A., D. P. Gillikin, Y.-M. Paulet, L. Chauvaud, A. Le Mercier, J. Navez, L. André, 2005. Strong kinetic effects on Sr/Ca ratios in the calcitic bivalve Pecten maximus. Geology 33: 965-968. [see our image on the cover]
	Gillikin, D. P., F. Dehairs, W. Baeyens, J. Navez, A. Lorrain and L. André, 2005. Inter- and intra-annual variations of Pb/Ca ratios in clam shells (Mercenaria mercenaria): a record of anthropogenic lead pollution? Marine Pollution Bulletin 50: 1530-1540.
	Gillikin, D. P., A. Lorrain, J. Navez, J. W. Taylor, L. André, E. Keppens, W. Baeyens and F. Dehairs, 2005 . Strong biological controls on Sr/Ca ratios in aragonitic marine bivalve shells. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 6, Q05009, doi:10.1029/2004GC000874.
	Gillikin, D. P., F. De Ridder, H. Ulens, M. Elskens, E. Keppens, W. Baeyens and F. Dehairs, 2005 . Assessing the reproducibility and reliability of estuarine bivalve shells (Saxidomus giganteus) for sea surface temperature reconstruction: implications for paleoclimate studies. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 228: 70-85.
	De Ridder, F., R. Pintelon, J. Schoukens and D. P. Gillikin, 2005. Modified AIC and MDL model selection criteria for short data records. IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement 54 (1): 144-150.
	De Ridder, F., R. Pintelon, J. Schoukens, D. P. Gillikin, L. André, W. Baeyens, A. de Brauwere and F. Dehairs, 2004. Decoding Non-linear Growth Rates in Biogenic Environmental Archives. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 5, Q12015, doi:10.1029/2004GC000771.

Selected Abstracts for a full list see my vitae

Student Theses using stable isotopes:

Rachel Lowenthal (in prep). The effect of high pCO2 on stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in oyster larvae (Crassostrea virginica). ENST Undergraduate honors thesis, Vassar College (advisor)

Nadine Reitman (in prep). Chemostratigraphy, paleoecology, and depositional environments of Upper Silurian- Lower Devonian limestones in the Ammansair and Tsagaanbulag Formations at Ulaan Shand and Tsakhir, Gobi-Altai terrane, Shine Jinst, Mongolia. ESCI Undergraduate honors thesis and Keck Geology Consortium project, Vassar College (advisor)

Zakary Ratajczak (in prep). Using wood chemistry (δ13C & δ18O) and tree anatomical physiology (tracheid density) to detect hurricane storm surges and predict future responses of Loblolly pine to climate change. BIOL Undergraduate honors thesis, Vassar College (advisor)

Sarah Ledford (in prep). The effect of urbanization on stream biogeochemistry in the Adirondaks, NY. ESCI Undergraduate honors thesis, Vassar College (advisor)

Erika Noll (2009). Carbon cycling in small streams in Dutchess County, NY. Undergraduate Research Summer Institute project (ESCI).

Wilson Salls (2009). Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope signatures of freshwater algae from the Caspserkill (Eastern NY). ESCI Undergraduate honors thesis, Vassar College (advisor)

Matthew Winnick (2009). Evaluating the freshwater mussel Elliptio complanata as a proxy for road salt pollution in northeastern US streams. ESCI Undergraduate honors thesis, Vassar College (advisor)

Adam Jost, (2008). Carbon isotope stratigraphy and the Silurian-Devonian boundary in the Eastern Appalachian Basin. ESCI Undergraduate honors thesis, Vassar College (advisor)

Meert, I., 2005. Reconstruction of environmental conditions at the Belgian coastal area over the past 800 years using Mytilus edulis shells. M.Sc. thesis Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. Co-promoter [winner of 2005 best thesis award, The Flanders Marine Institute VLIZ]

Dirk Steenmans, (2004). Validation of marine bivalve carbonate skeletons as recorders of paleo-productivity. M.Sc. thesis. Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. (Co-advisor)

Li Meng, (2004). Can bivalves be used as archives of anthropogenic carbon input to the marine environment? M.Sc. thesis. Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. (Co-advisor)

Hans Ulens, (2003). The potentials of Saxidomus giganteus as a paleoclimate proxy. M.Sc. thesis. Ghent University, Belgium. (Co-advisor)