About

Print this page

Sarah Feakins

Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences

Contact Information
E-mail: feakins@usc.edu
Phone: (213) 740-7168
Office: ZHS 223F

LINKS
Curriculum Vitae
Personal Website
 

Education
B.A. Geography, University of Oxford, 2001
Ph.D. Geology, Columbia University, 2006
 

Postdoctoral Training
NOAA Global and Climate Change Postdoctoral Fellow, California Institute of Technology, 07/2006-08/2008  
 

Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests
I use biogeochemical analytical approaches to answer intriguing questions about climatic and ecological change. Organic geochemical and compound-specific isotopic approaches provide new tools for high resolution studies. Current projects include compound-specific carbon isotopic reconstruction of paleovegetation and development and application of hydrogen isotopic proxies for paleohydrology.
 

Research Specialties
Compound-specific hydrogen and carbon isotopic analysis; Paleoclimate, Paleoenvironment, Paleoecology; Isotope Biogeochemistry; Organic Geochemistry.
 

Publications

Journal Article
Feakins, S. J., Warny, S., Lee, J. (2012). Plant leaf wax evidence for Antarctic precipitation 20 to 15 million years ago. in review, Nature Geoscience.
Feakins, S. J., Levin, N. E., Liddy, H. M., Sieracki, A., Eglinton, T. I., Bonnefille, R. (2012). Northeast African vegetation change over 12 million years. in review, Geology.
Sachse, D., ., .., Feakins, S. J., et al, .. (2012). Molecular Paleohydrology: Interpreting the Hydrogen-Isotopic Composition of Lipid Biomarkers from Photosynthesizing Organisms. Annual Reviews of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Vol. 40, pp. 221-249.
Romero, I. C., Feakins, S. J. (2011). Spatial gradients in plant leaf wax D/H across a coastal salt marsh in southern California. Organic Geochemistry. pp. doi:10.1016/j.orggeochem.2011.04.001.
Feakins, S. J., Sessions, A. L. (2010). Crassulacean acid metabolism influences D/H ratios of leaf wax in succulent plants. Organic Geochemistry. Vol. 41, pp. 1269-1276.
Feakins, S. J., Sessions, A. L. (2010). Controls on the D/H ratios of plant leaf waxes in an arid ecosystem. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. Vol. 74, pp. 2128-2141.
Feakins, S. J., Brown, F. H., deMenocal, P. B. (2007). Plio-Pleistocene Microtephra in DSDP Site 231, Gulf of Aden. Journal of African Earth Sciences. Vol. 48, pp. 341-352.
Feakins, S. J., Eglinton, T. I., deMenocal, P. B. (2007). A comparison of biomarker records of northeast African vegetation from lacustrine and marine sediments ca. 3.40 Ma. Organic Geochemistry. Vol. 38, pp. 1607-1624.
Feakins, S. J., deMenocal., P. B., Eglinton, T. I. (2005). Biomarker records of Late Neogene Changes in East African Vegetation. Geology. Vol. 33, pp. 977-980.
Stokes, S., Feakins (Ingram), S. J., Aitken, M. J., Sirocko, F., Anderson, R., Leuschner, D. (2003). Alternative chronologies for Late Quaternary (Last Interglacial-Holocene) deep sea sediments via optical dating of silt-sized quartz. Quaternary Science Reviews. Vol. 22 (8-9), pp. 925-941.
Feakins (Ingram), S. J., Stokes, S., Bailey, R. (2001). Confirmation of backscattered beta dose enhancement rates based on single aliquot regeneration (SAR) analysis of quartz sand and silt. Ancient TL. Vol. 19, pp. 51-54.
 

Other
Wood, B. (Feakins, S.J. contributing editor) (Ed.). (2011). Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Human Evolution, 2 Volume Set. Wiley-Blackwell.
Feakins, S. J., deMenocal, P. B. (2010). Global and African Regional Climate Change during the Neogene, Cenozoic Mammals of Africa. University of California Press.
 

Honors and Awards
Texaco Postdoctoral Prize Fellowship, California Institute of Technology (declined), 2006-2007   
Goodfriend Prize for best student paper LDEO, Columbia University, 2005-2006   
Gibbs Prize for graduating top of senior year University of Oxford School of Geography, 2000-2001   
Steer Prize for best BA Thesis University of Oxford School of Geography, 2000-2001   
University of Oxford Scholar, 1999-2000   
University of Oxford Scholar, 1998-1999   
 
 
Faculty may update their profile by visiting https://mydornsife.usc.edu.