Student Blogs & Vignettes

Dylan Peck

About my research

I am a third-year M.S. student in the Rosenheim lab.  My research focuses on seasonal lake sediments, known as varves, taken from upstate New York.  These sediments are associated with the period following the Last Glacial Maximum (approximately 28-23 thousand years ago) when most of modern day New York was covered in ice and water.  For this study, we are using five varve sections that have undergone paleomagnetic analysis and have been incorporated into a well-established chronology, the North American Chronology (NAVC).  With these same five varve section, I use the Ramped PyrOx (RPO) technique to generate radiocarbon ages in an effort to establish RPO as an alternative chronological tool in similar sedimentological settings where paleomagnetic estimations are more difficult to acquire, and hopefully expand the NAVC into deeper reservoirs of LGM sediments.

Why USF CMS?

During my B.S. at Eckerd College I was one of three candidates from Eckerd chosen in 2015 to intern in labs at USF-CMS.  Through my third and fourth years at Eckerd I worked with Dr. Eugene Domack on samples associated with Antarctic paleoclimate.  Through connections I made in Dr. Domack’s lab, I was able to transition into a full-time M.S. program within Dr. Rosenheim’s lab.  During my time at USF-CMS I have gained valuable laboratory skills as well as expanded my writing and technical skills through the offered curriculum.  CMS has exposed me to an interdisciplinary community of collaborative scientists.