Research Interests

My research interests involve merging organic geochemical proxies with more traditional proxies (e.g. foraminiferal geochemistry) for the reconstruction of decadal to centennial scale climate variability over the past 2 millennia. My dissertation research has been focused specifically on climate reconstruction in the subtropical north Atlantic region (Gulf of Mexico) and the southeastern U.S. (Lake Tulane).

Projects

1) Reconstruction of high-resolution sea-surface temperature and salinity variability in the Gulf of Mexico using
paired Mg/Ca and oxygen isotopic composition of planktonic foraminifera

2) Comparison of the molecular organic SST proxy,TEX86, with foraminifera-based Mg/Ca-SST in co-occurring sediments, and
implications for reconstructing water column structure

3) Assessing North American continental paleohydrology by looking at variability in terrestrial input to the Gulf of
Mexico (via the Mississippi River), using lithogenic (%titanium, %insoluable residue) and molecular organic
(long-chain n-alkanes) proxies.

4) Reconstruction of hydrologic conditions in Florida over the past 2000 years using compound specific hydrogen
isotopic composition from Lake Tulane sediments (D/H in fatty acids).

Publications & Presentations

Richey, JN, Poore, RZ, Flower, BP, Quinn, TM, 2007, A 1400-year multi-proxy record of climate variability from the northern Gulf of Mexico, Geology, v.35, p. 423-426, doi: 10.1130/G23507A. (PDF 200K)

Richey, JN, Poore, RZ, Flower, BP, Hollander, DJ and Quinn, TM, 2009, Regionally Coherent Little Ice Age Cooling in the Atlantic Warm Pool, Geophysical Research Letters, v.36, L21703, doi: 10.1029/2009GL040445. (PDF, 321K)