Research Interests:
The questions that drive my research revolve around tropical climate change from the present to the beginning of the Holocene. Specific aspects we are investigating are the relationships between both modern and historical oceanic and climatic conditions. Currently, my research involves two major projects using coral geochemical records (d18O, d13C, Sr/Ca, Mg/Ca) as proxies for climate reconstruction. The first project involves samples taken from Looe Key, Florida. We are addressing the reproducibility, reliability and sensitivity between three overlapping records of Montastrea annularis. One of the cores from this area extends back ~150 years and will provide a backdrop for historical changes in this area.
The second project that I am working on involves assessing Holocene climate variability from M. annularis corals taken from the Dry Tortugas, Florida. These well-preserved corals will provide us with windows of climate information spanning the Holocene. Specific time intervals that we will be focusing on are the 8.2 kyr event and the Holocene thermal maximum.

Additionally, other Holocene work done by my colleagues on lake sediments and marine cores in Florida and the Gulf of Mexico will provide a unique opportunity for us to compare multi-proxy interpretations of climate manifestations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Publications
Smith, J. M., T. M. Quinn, K. P. Helmle, and R. B. Halley (2006), Reproducibility of geochemical and climatic signals in the Atlantic coral Montastraea faveolata, Paleoceanography, 21, PA1010, doi:10.1029/2005PA001187 (download PDF 3.2MB)

Smith, J. M., T. M. Quinn, K. P. Helmle, and R. B. Halley (2006), Geochemical signatures in a coral from Looe Key, Florida since 1837 A.D., submitted to Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems (G3)

Eakin CM, Swart PK, Quinn TM, Helmle KP, Smith JM, Dodge RE. (2005). Application of paleoclimatology to coral reef monitoring and management. Proceedings of the 10th Annual International Coral Reef Symposium (in press).