Karen Jiaxi Wang
PhD Candidate
Paleoclimate, Organic Geochemistry
Welcome!
I'm a 4th year Ph.D. student at the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Brown University, working with Prof. Yongsong Huang. Prior to Brown, I graduated from Peking University with a B.S. in Geology.
Interested in postdoc positions starting 2022.
Research Interests
I'm interested in using biomarkers to reconstruct past climate. I find tools such as DNA sequencing and phylogenetics are especially useful for getting information about the biomarker producers and their growing environments. My previous work has been focused on alkenones (a long chain ketone produced by algae, widely used for paleoceanography reconstructions). My current work includes exploring other biomarkers such as fatty acid, alkanes, GDGTs in Alaska lakes, as well as comparing proxy reconstructions with model and reanalysis data.
Selected Publications
Wang, K.J., Huang, Y., Majaneva, M. et al. Group 2i Isochrysidales produce characteristic alkenones reflecting sea ice distribution. Nature Communications 12, 15 (2021).
Kaiser, J., Wang, K.J., Rott, D., Li, G., Zheng, Y., Amaral-Zettler, L., Arz, H.W. and Huang, Y., 2019. Changes in long chain alkenone distributions and Isochrysidales groups along the Baltic Sea salinity gradient. Organic Geochemistry 127, 92-103 (2019).
Wang, K.J., O'Donnell, J.A., Longo, W.M., Amaral-Zettler, L., Li, G., Yao, Y. and Huang, Y., 2019. Group I alkenones and Isochrysidales in the world’s largest maar lakes and their potential paleoclimate applications. Organic Geochemistry 138, 103924 (2019).