Student Blogs & Vignettes
Imogen Browne
Imogen Browne, USF CMS Ph.D. student
About my research
I am a fifth year Ph.D. student in the Shevenell Lab. My research focuses on understanding the influence of thermal forcing on Antarctica’s ice sheets on geologic timescales (e.g. centennial to million year timescales). Ocean warming is linked to the destabilization of Antarctica’s buttressing ice shelves, which can ultimately lead to global sea level rise. In my research, I use molecular fossils preserved in marine sediments from the Antarctic continental margins to understand how ocean temperatures influenced ice sheet stability in the past. In 2018, I participated on International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 374 to the Ross Sea, Antarctica.
Why USF CMS?
After completing my Master’s Degree at the University of Otago, New Zealand, where I studied the climate of the subantarctic over the past 5,000 years, I wanted to pursue a Ph.D overseas with a Southern Hemisphere focus. Working with the USF-CMS Southern Ocean group has enabled me to further develop my interest in paleoceanography. During my time at USF-CMS, I have gained valuable laboratory and writing skills, and have presented my research at scientific conferences as well as attended short courses and workshops in the U.S and Europe. I am appreciative of our close-knit community at CMS and very much enjoy working close to downtown St. Petersburg.