The Feakins lab Gathered in August 2026 the Organic Geochemistry Gordon Research Conference (from left to right): 2022 alum Dr. Mark Peaple, and current lab group: Shohanur Rahman, Yunlang Zhang, Prof. Sarah Feakins, Disha Baidya and Dr. Carol Cerda Pena.
Prospective PhD students
- Graduate students in my lab work towards degrees in the USC Earth Sciences PhD program.
- In my lab, we specialize in molecular techniques to reconstruct plant cover and precipitation isotopes as clues to past conditions. Watch our lab on YouTube!
- You can learn about my past research from my publications. Familiarizing yourself with the approaches and questions, will give you a good idea of the kinds of research questions and directions that I can guide you on.
- 2026 update: I am keen to recruit a student to work on lake paleoclimate reconstructions in the western US.
- I welcome your email as you scope out a suitable direction for graduate school. A CV, overall GPA, transcript (unofficial ok) and an example of your prior work (e.g. term paper or poster) would help me get to know you in that first email. Emails that don’t include relevant information may not receive a reply given the large number of emails received.
- Application information for admission to the PhD program in the Department of Earth Sciences at USC. If you have any questions about the process feel free to contact me, or Darlene Garza (garzadar@usc.edu) with any procedural questions.
- The Application Filing Deadline for the Department of Earth Sciences is January 1st, for full consideration by the department, for a start date of August the following academic year. Late applications in Jan, Feb, March can sometimes receive consideration, but April 15th is the US-wide cut-off date for graduate applications.
- Students take part in the lively geochemistry/geobiology/climate research program at USC.
- California has long attracted science from the mountaintop observatories, to desert vistas revealing geology, to the ocean ecosystems offshore (dolphins!), not to mention the great weather. Students take part in the annual So Cal Geobio Symposium rotating between USC-Caltech-UCR: a lively student-run meeting.
- My research group typically includes 1-3 graduate researchers and 1-3 undergraduate students. Our group is diverse and multi-cultural, welcoming students from across the US, UK, Canada, Korea, Macau, China, India, Bangladesh, Germany, Switzerland, Colombia and Chile
Prospective Postdoctoral Researchers
- If you are interested in exploring the opportunities for postdoctoral research in my lab, and have ideas for your research and how to fund it, please contact me by email. US fellowships, e.g., NSF, NOAA, are very competitive (<15% funded) and typically have 1 year lead times between proposal and start date. International applicants have had success at DAAD, SNF and CSC.
- Past postdoctoral researchers Dr Christoph Haggi, Dr Camilo Ponton, Dr Bernhard Aichner and Dr Isabel Romero, have published the results of their research at GRL, GCA, CP and OG and continued on to research positions at ETH, Caltech, Potsdam and Florida. Dr Ponton is now a member of faculty at Western Washington University, Dr Aichner continued to a PI role at IGB-Berlin.
Visitors
- Visiting graduate students include Annie Tamalavage, Tom Peters, Aleesha Bakkelund, Gerard Otiniano, Bernd Hoffmann visiting for weeks to months to learn organic geochemical techniques, compound specific isotopic analyses, and process and analyze their own samples.
- Visiting postdoctoral researchers include Dr Jessica Hinojosa, Dr Xiuwei Liu and Dr Eva Niedermeyer, each have visited for several weeks for compound specific isotopic analyses.
USC Undergraduates
I usually have 1-3 undergraduates associated with my lab at any time, typically continuing their involvement for multiple semesters for an in-depth experience, a chance to build laboratory skills and to meaningfully contribute to progress on the research projects active in the lab. Students acquire organizational abilities, improve their manual dexterity, demonstrate ability to follow protocols, operate analytical instrumentation, troubleshoot problems – all valuable skills for many careers. Many continue to graduate school or industry careers where the acquired skills and experiences are an asset. For any educational or career goals a substantive internship is a great way to learn outside of the classroom, to get involved in the research exterprise of science and to build relationships with graduate and faculty reserachers that can help you on your way! Please contact me by email (include your GPA, degree-discipline, year of study, prior work experience and skills), if you would be interested in a research project or work study opportunities. I can point you in the direction of additional funding and research opportunities – for those not yet familiar with how to get started, send me an email with your questions!