Maria Clara Castro - University of Michigan

Graduate students
Rohit Warrior
Jessica Malone, MS 2009
Tie Sun, Ph.D ongoing
Tie Sun, MS 2008
Lin Ma, Ph.D 2008 (now Post-doctoral Fellow at Penn State Univ.)
Undergraduate students
Alex Costakis (January 2009 – present, Honors thesis)
Paul Joseph Hojnacki (October 2008 – March 2009)
Jessica Malone (January 2007 – August 2007)
Brian Ellis (2004 – 2006, Honors thesis, now Ph.D student, Dept. of Civil and Env. Eng., Princeton Univ.)
Kathy Flemming (2003)
Ann Hoenke (2001)
Courses Taught
Water and Society (GEOSCI 109)
Seminar Environmental Geology (GEOSCI 148)
Scientific Discovery in Earth Sciences: A Research Experience (GEOSCI 210)
Hydrogeology (GEOSCI 477)
Laboratory Facilities
Noble Gas Laboratory
Computer Facilities
Sun Server V880
Sun Server Fire 280R
Sun Ultra 10 workstations
Some examples of new and on-going research projects:
1. Investigating the nature of a noble gas mantle component in the deep brines of the
Michigan Basin and its implications for mantle convection models.
2. Investigating the behavior of noble gases at the interface unsaturated zone/water table and
developing new noble gas temperature models to improve noble gas paleoclimatic
reconstructions.
3. Investigating the behavior of all noble gases in ice and sealed lakes in Antarctica through
a combined analysis of concentrations and isotopic ratios to reconstruct both the sealing
history of these lakes as well a to clarify some aspects of the tectonic history of this
region.
4. To obtain an in-depth and overall understanding of the hydrogeological functioning of the
Galapagos Islands through noble gases in order to evaluate their aquifers’ potential as
long term water suppliers and to prevent future groundwater contamination.
M. Clara Castro, Abbreviated Curriculum Vitae 2