Members

Lab Director

Dr. Erik Johanson

Associate Professor
Department of Geosciences
E-mail: ejohanson@fau.edu

About:
Ph.D. University of Tennessee, Geography

Research Interests: Understanding environmental change; Human-environment interaction across the Holocene; Paleoclimatology; Environmental archaeology; Vegetation and fire histories; Climate change; Restoration

Dr. Erik Joahnson's Faculty Page

Current Graduate Students

		Taber Friedel Ph.D. Student Graduate Teaching Assistant E-mail: tfriedel2018@fau.edu		Background: BS in Geology (University of Florida) 2017 Research: Paleoenvironmental change, paleoclimatology, palynology, and limnology. Reconstructing paleoclimate records, their variability, and environmental change over time through proxy analysis of sediments. Specifically, looking at climate trends during the late Holocene in the Neotropics to determine how people existed within their environment and reacted to change.

		Sabina Gyawali Ph.D. Student Graduate Teaching Assistant E-mail: sgyawali2023@fau.edu		Background: M.Sc. Botany: Plant Systematics and Biodiversity Conservation (Amrit Science Campus, Tribhuwan University, Kathmandu Nepal) 2020; B.Sc. in Botany with a minor in Zoology and Chemistry (Tri-Chandra Campus, Tribhuwan University, Kathmandu Nepal) Research:

		Sanjeev Luintel Ph.D. Student Graduate Teaching Assistant E-mail: sluintel2023@fau.edu		Background: M.Sc. Botany: Plant Systematics and Biodiversity Conservation (Amrit Science Campus, Tribhuwan University, Kathmandu Nepal) 2020; B.Sc. in Botany (Amrit Science Campus, Tribhuwan University, Kathmandu Nepal) Research: Paleoenvironmental Change, Sediment Cores, Pollen Analysis, Plant Taxonomy, Herbarium Collection and Preservation

		Julie Buchanich Ph.D. Student in Geosciences E-mail: jbuchanich2022@fau.edu		Background: M.S. Environmental Education (Florida Atlantic University) 2024; BS in Geography (University of Pittsburgh) 2022; BA in Environmental Studies (University of Pittsburgh) 2022 Research: Microplastics in freshwater and coastal ecosystems



		Anita Field M.S. Student in Environmental Science Program E-mail: afield2022@fau.edu		Background: BS in Environmental Science & Policy and International Business Management (Lynn University) 2022 Research: Wildlife conservation in areas affected by war and natural disasters.

		Graham Morrison-Plumley M.S. Student in Geosciences E-mail: gmorrisonplu2022@fau.edu		Background: Research: Microplastics in the Phillipines

		Juana Baudrix M.S. Student in Geosciences E-mail: jbaudrix2024@fau.edu		Background: BS in Environmental Science (NC Wesleyan University) 2023 Research: Microplastics in South Florida



		Nora Gutzwiller M.S. Student in Environmental Science Program E-mail: ngutzwiller2020@fau.edu		Background: BS in Geosciences (Florida Atlantic University) 2024 Research: Microplastics



		Vanessa Chittom M.S. Student in Geosciences E-mail: vchittom@fau.edu		Background: BA in Geosciences (Florida Atlantic University) 2023 Research: Historical Geology, Paleoenvironment

Past Graduate Students
	Andres Garzon-Oechsle Ph.D. Student (2023)	Update: Andres is a post-doc at UCSD and Scripps Institution of Oceanography Background: MA in Anthropology (Florida Atlantic University) 2018; BA in Anthropology (Indiana University) 2007 Research: Ancient settlement pattern analysis and landscape use of people in pre-contact coastal Ecuador. More specifically, the focus of my research is the utilization of remote sensing technologies, including LiDAR, along with GIS for the purposes of mapping and conducting spatial analysis of the surface modifications under the canopy of the cloud forest of the Pajan mountains of Manabí. My goal is to understand the extent and organization of Manteño settlements, the last culture that thrived in the region before Spanish colonialism.
	Kathryn Swick M.S. Student (2023)	Update: Kate is now a contractor with Ocean Associates, Inc. who provides ESA Section 7 support for NOAA and the National Marine Fisheries Service Background: BS in Biology (Palm Beach Atlantic University) 2011 Research: Environmental change in the Everglades with a focus on anthropogenic influences in relation to sediment characteristics, vegetation health, and fire activity. Research methods include multiproxy analysis of core sediments including LOI, charcoal analysis, and peat humification. Remote sensing techniques are applied to monitor vegetation health through time. Keywords: Limnology, Multiproxy Analysis, Peat Humification, Fire History, Remote Sensing

	Caroline Richardson M.S. Student - Environmental Science Program (2023)	Background: BA in Environmental Studies with a minor in Geography (The University of North Carolina at Charlotte) 2017

	Madeleine Bitting M.S. Student (2021)	Background: BS in Biology (Florida Institute of Technology) 2019 Research: Paleoecology, biology, GIS mapping, paleoclimate reconstruction, limnology, and conservation. More specifically, my research involves fossil diatom analysis of sediment cores to produce a chronology of anthropogenic and climatic alterations to the landscape surrounding a high elevation lake in Costa Rica. Radiocarbon dating and other proxies including pollen and isotopic analysis of a 4200 year sediment record indicate the transition from nomadic hunter gatherer societies to a civilization supported by maize agriculture beginning ca. 3360 cal yr BP (~1400 BC) in this region. These and other proxies also reveal trends in climate, dominant plant taxa, fire activity, and water quality, which together provide a localized and integrated history of human interaction with the environment.

	Skylar Hooler M.S. Student (2021)	Background: BS in Biology (Florida Atlantic University) Research: Hydrology

	D.S. Monty Watson, MPA, LEP M.S. Student (2020)	Background: MS in Geology / Geosciences (Florida Atlantic University) 2020; MPA in Environmental Policy (Florida Gulf Coast University) 2011; BA in Anthropology (University of South Florida) 2003