Office Location: ST 140
Area of Specialization: Paleoecology, paleoclimate
Alexis earned her B.S. in Biology from Florida Gulf Coast University in 2019, with a minor in geology. She has a lifelong interest in paleontology, which was broadened during an undergraduate paleoclimatology course where she collected mangrove peat cores to identify hurricane deposits. In her current research, Alexis studies Arctic peat cores to learn about past environmental conditions, focusing on the response of Sphagnum moss and testate amoebae to the past 200 years of rapid anthropogenic global warming. By incorporating techniques on every scale from mass spectrometry of carbon isotopes, to identifying microbes and plant fragments under the microscope, and even peat accumulation modeling, she can build a comprehensive view of what is happening in this ecosystem during such drastic change. While she doesn’t know exactly what’s next after graduate school, she would love to continue doing anything related to wetlands, whether that’s collecting data on the plants, water, or wildlife as a scientist, working for a regulatory agency, helping to map and manage wetlands for restoration and conservation, or teaching at a university. In her free time, Alexis enjoys an eclectic lineup of hobbies, including camping, paddleboarding, adventure RPG video games, yoga, brain-teaser puzzles and trivia.
