
Bess Ward
Position: Faculty
Title: William J. Sinclair Professor of Geosciences and the Princeton Environmental Institute.
Area(s):
- Biogeochemistry
- Biological Oceanography
- Microbiology
Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
217 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 (609) 258-5150
Email: [email protected]

Amal Jayakumar
Position: Research Staff
Title: Senior Professional Specialist, Geosciences
Area(s): Biogeochemistry
Research Focus: Microbially mediated nitrogen transformations in oceanic oxygen minimum zones
Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
M45 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 (609) 258-6294
Email: [email protected]

Joseph Vineis
Position: Research Staff
Title: Associate Professional Specialist
Area(s):
- Microbial ecology
- Biogeochemistry
Research summary: I integrate microbial genomics and biogeochemistry to identify key microbial processes and interactions that govern carbon and nitrogen cycling in marine environments.
Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Email: [email protected]

Elizabeth Leon Palmero
Position: Research Staff
Title: Visiting Research Fellow
Area(s): Nitrous oxide, denitrification, biogeochemistry, microbiology
Research Summary: My main research interest is to understand the production and consumption of nitrous oxide (N2O) in fresh and marine ecosystems, including both abiotic and biotic pathways. As a Marie-Sklodowska-Curie fellow at Princeton University, I will be studying how marine deoxygenation affects N2O production in oxygen minimum zones. I am also interested in the effect of sunlight on N2O production. In my previous work at the University of Southern Denmark (NordCee), I focused on N2O in the Baltic Sea and the Greenland Sea. During my Ph.D. at the University of Granada I studied CO2, CH4, N2O in freshwater reservoirs.
Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
157 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Email: [email protected]

Jessica Lueders-Dumont
Position: Research Staff
Title: Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Research summary: I am a geochemist and ecologist focused on trophic ecology and biogeochemistry of modern and past aquatic environments, primarily through the use of the nitrogen isotopes (δ15Noto) in modern and fossil fish otoliths (ear stones) and corals. I am applying δ15Noto to investigate food web variations in past oceans, from mid-Holocene Caribbean coral reefs to Recent (decadal) ecological changes on the Icelandic shelf. My research is interdisciplinary including isotope geochemistry, biological oceanography, and biomineralization studies.
Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
157 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 (609) 258-4674
Email: [email protected]
Website
Curriculum Vitae

Samantha G. Fortin
Position: Research Staff
Title: Postdoctoral Research Associate
Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
157 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 (609) 258-4674
Email: [email protected]

Devan M. Nisson
Position: Reserach Staff
Title: Postdoctoral Research Associate
Area(s): Geomicrobiology Research Laboratory
- Geochemistry
- Biogeochemistry
Research Summary: My research explores the origins and habitability of a deep subsurface hypersaline brine in South Africa. By combining geochemical, isotopic, and “omics” analyses, I investigate how the unique abiotic (prebiotic?) geochemical signatures of the brine may support microbial communities under the thermodynamic constraints of high temperature and hypersalinity. Additionally, I am interested in how the geochemical history and potentially long isolation time of the brine contribute to the formation of an abiotic fringe zone, where abiotic processes may dominate or exert strong influence over microbial biogeochemical cycling strategies.
Key words: microbial community, halophiles, biogeochemical cycling, subsurface life
Curriculum Vitae
Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
B80 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 609-673-8326
Email: [email protected]
Curriculum Vitae

Weiyi Tang
Position: Research Staff
Title: Postdoctoral Research Associate
Area(s):
- Nitrification
- Denitrification
- Anammox
Research summary: Weiyi Tang is interested in how nitrogen is supplied, transformed, and removed in the global ocean and how marine nitrogen cycle is connected to the carbon cycle and Earth’s climate. During his PhD, Weiyi developed and applied high-resolution observing methods, molecular techniques and machine learning algorithms to explore marine nitrogen fixation and its impact on marine productivity in the world’s ocean. Joining the Ward research group, Weiyi will study the broad nitrogen biogeochemical pathways in addition to nitrogen fixation (e.g. nitrification, denitrification, anammox).
Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
157 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 (609) 258-4674
Email: [email protected]

Xianhui (Sean) Wan
Position: Research Staff
Title: Associate Research Scholar
Area(s):
- Stable Isotope
- Nitrogen Cycle
- Nitrous Oxide
Research summary: My research focuses on the marine nitrogen and carbon cycles, particularly in microbe-phytoplankton interactions and nitrous oxide (N2O) production in different marine systems (from the eutrophic coastal zone to the oligotrophic open ocean). To disentangle complex C & N dynamics, I take advantage of multiple C, N and O stable isotope approaches (including both natural abundance and isotope labelling technique) to examine rates of C and N transformations. Main target of my research is to better understand the role of the ocean in regulating atmospheric CO2 and N2O during the intimate coupling of C & N cycles and how these processes respond to anthropogenic forcing and natural variabilities.
Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
157 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 (313) 502 1768
Email: [email protected]
Website
Huaxia Sheng

Huaxia Sheng
Position: Research Staff
Title: Visiting Postdoctoral Research Associate
Area(s): Geochemistry
Research Summary: My research mainly focuses on the nitrogen cycle in coral ecosystems. To disentangle the complex N flows and their impacts on the health of coral reefs, I apply multiple stable isotope approaches to examine N transformations and how they respond to global change (i.e., ocean acidification, warming, and eutrophication).
Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
159 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 609-258-2612
Email: [email protected]

Zachary Garvin
Title: Graduate Student
Area(s): Geomicrobiology Research Laboratory
Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
B88 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 609-258-2387
Email: [email protected]

J. Catherine Hexter
Title: Graduate Student
Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Email: [email protected]

Naomi Intrator
Title: Graduate Student
Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 (609) 258-4674
Email: [email protected]

Moriah A. Kunes
Title: Graduate Student
Area(s):
- Coral Symbionts
- Biological Oceanography
- Nitrogen Cycle
- Coral Reefs
Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 (585) 727-7085
Email: [email protected]

Jenna Lee
Title: Graduate Student
Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
157 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone: +1 (609) 258-4674
Email: [email protected]

Mary-Rose Russo
Position: Administrative Staff
Title: Administrative Assistant, Geosciences
Contact Information:
Princeton University, Department of Geosciences
113 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544. United States
Phone:+1 (609) 258-4101
Email: [email protected]
Former Group Members
Graduate Students
John Tracey *22
Julia Carroll *19
Xin Sun *20
Andrew Babbin *14
Qixing "Jimmy" Ji *16
Nick Peng *16