The IsoTropics team is looking to enroll students for course credit in the Spring 2026 semester. Paid opportunities may be available on a case-by-case basis.
The IsoTropics VIP Team investigates past tropical climate and how trees have responded to environmental changes by analyzing tree rings. They measure stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in the wood to reconstruct past conditions like rainfall, temperature, and atmospheric CO₂ levels, using advanced techniques such as laser ablation and isotope ratio mass spectrometry.
Despite their critical role in the global climate system and their ability to act as powerful carbon sinks that help slow climate change, the tropics are among the least studied regions when it comes to ecophysiology and past climate change. Our goal is to better understand tropical climates and ecosystems by analyzing the environmental and physiological information preserved in tree rings. We achieve this by measuring the relative abundance of stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in the wood, which allows us to reconstruct the environmental conditions the trees experienced as they grew. These conditions include changes in rainfall, temperature, and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. In addition to revealing past climate patterns and fluctuations, these measurements also help us understand how trees reacted and adapted physiologically to those changes. Because trees can be long-lived, tree rings provide a unique archive of both short-term and long-term environmental fluctuations driven by natural processes and human activity.
For more information about this team, please visit: IsoTropics | Vertically Integrated Projects
