Christopher Junium
Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies
Earth and Environmental Sciences
ckjunium@syr.edu
315.443.8969
Junium CV
Current Graduate Students
Heather Gunn (Ph.D. expected fall 2026): Heather is using shell-bound nitrogen in bivalves to reconstruct recent nitrogen loading in the Guana River Estuary in Florida and Long Island Sound. Heather has also developed an educational board game on coastal restoration as a part of her dissertation research.
Tyler Logie (Ph.D. expected fall 2026): Tyler is using compound specific carbon isotopes to reconstruct water column biogeochemistry during the Late Devonian mass extinction, carbon dioxide concentrations in the Paleozoic and is using hydrogen isotopes in plant wax lipids to reconstruct Cretaceous hydroclimate.
Zonglin Yang (Ph.D. Expected in 2027): Zonglin is using nitrogen isotopes of chlorophyll derivatives to reconstruct nitrogen cycle dynamics during episodes of widespread anoxia during the Cretaceous.
Shayna Garla (Ph.D. Expected in 2028): Shayna is co-advised with Melissa Chipman (William and Mary) and is using arctic lake records to reconstruct Holocene fire regimes.
Lab Alumni
Kara Dennis (M.S. 2015) – The Paleogene sulfur cycle and preservation of carbonate associated sulfate sulfur isotope records. Kara is hydrologist for the state of Minnesota.
Nathan Roser (B.S. 2014 – SUNY ESF) – Nathan worked on conditions that fostered cave-derived aragonite in NY state caves.
Anthony Carrancejie (B.S. 2015) – Anthony worked on methods for the analysis of shell associated organic matter in Devonian rugose corals.
Colin Mettam (Ph.D. 2015-2017 at University of St. Andrews ) Colin was a student of close collaborator Aubrey Zerkle. He spent considerable time in the lab helping develop new techniques for the nano-EA for nitrogen isotope analyses of Archean and Permo-Triassic kerogens.
Alaina Hickey (B.S. 2017) – Alaina continued work started by Anthony on shell associated organic matter in Devonian rugos corals.
Zeke King-Phillips (B.S. 2018 Williams College) – Zeke spent a summer and several other visits to develop methods for the analysis of single acritarch microfossils for the carbon isotope composition.
Benjamin Uveges (Ph.D. 2019) – Ben worked on organic and isotope geochemistry of Devonian, Eocene and modern anoxic environments in Lake Kivu, Rwanda. Following a post-doc at MIT he moved to Cornell University where he is in a research position.
Heda Agic (Postdoctoral Researcher 2019-2021) – Heda was the postdoc on my collaborative NSF acritarch microfossil project. Heda is a micropaleontologist who was working to use the carbon isotope composition of single organic walled microfossils to help resolve questions about their ecology, Precambrian carbon cycle, and the fidelity oforganic carbon isotope signals. Heda is a Lecturer at University College, Cork, Ireland.
Shiv Das (Ph.D. 2021) – Shiv worked on methods and applications of shell-associated nitrogen isotope analyses for modern bivalves, ancient cephalopods and biominerals. Shiv works at NOAA in the modern carbon cycle program.
Cidney McMahon (B.S. 2025) – Cidney worked on shell associated nitrogen isotopes of Lirophora bivalves from the Gulf Coast to reconstruct the history of nitrogen loading and hypoxia over the last 4 millennia.