COSAM News Articles 2019 January Department of Geosciences Colloquium, Matthew DeCesare

Department of Geosciences Colloquium, Matthew DeCesare

Published: 01/08/2019

Dr. Matthew DeCesare, laboratory research manager in the Auburn University Department of Geosciences, spoke of his research on speleothems, stable isotopes and mass spectrometry during a colloquium held on Dec. 6.

During the presentation, titled “Speleothems, Stable Isotopes, and Mass Spectrometry: From Sample Acquisition to Analysis,” Dr. DeCesare spoke of his current research in stalagmites and the ways in which it is performed in his lab.

He also spoke of past experience such as work he performed while pursuing his master’s degree at CUNY Queens College and Ph.D. at LSU, during which he analyzed Antarctic foraminifera in the Antarctic Ocean.

“As you can imagine, trying to put foraminifera under a microscope while crushing 30-foot waves is not the easiest thing to do, so most of the work was done in the lab,” he said.

When he took a position at Auburn, he said he didn’t realize that the position would entail entering caves to collect rock samples.

“I had no idea what I was getting myself into, in a good way,” he said. “This has been a much welcomed change. As much as I like the cold, I don’t really like riding 30-foot waves for two months at a time. And this is much more interesting.”

Dr. Matthew DeCesare presented “Speleothems, Stable Isotopes, and Mass Spectrometry: From Sample Acquisition to Analysis" for a Department of Geosciences colloquium.