{"id":4,"date":"2022-11-02T18:09:55","date_gmt":"2022-11-02T18:09:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/?page_id=4"},"modified":"2023-10-25T13:34:12","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T20:34:12","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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\n Sarah J. Feakins\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n
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I study climate and plant life with\u00a0students and visitors<\/a>\u00a0in my Leaf Wax Lab at USC. The vehicle for our research progress is the waxy coating on plant leaves. These remarkable molecules have important functions for living plants and are preserved over geological time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n\n

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\u201cLeaf wax is the molecular legacy of past forests and grasslands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n

\n Professor of Earth Sciences || feakins@usc.edu\n\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n\n
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We can reconstruct evidence for how climate patterns and plant life have changed over tens of millions of years, from that which has been eroded from land and preserved in sediments offshore. To access sea-floor sediments, I participate in the International Ocean Discovery Program, steering future expeditions and conducting post-expedition research. My\u00a0research\u00a0<\/a>is driven by a need to understand those environments relevant to our\u00a0evolution<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0warm times of the past<\/a>\u00a0that are relevant to our future trajectory. We contribute knowledge of how the climate system works and how plants respond and interact with climate by studying ecosystems past and\u00a0present<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWarm periods of the past provide lessons for future climate states, beyond the range of historical witness.\u201d<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The core of my research is enabled through funding by the United States National Science Foundation, the American Chemical Society, the University of Southern California and from the Women in Science and Engineering Program.\u00a0Lab group members<\/a>\u00a0past and present build the knowledge base and shape the direction of ongoing progress. With more resources (human and financial), we can dig deeper and further to expose the secrets of the past, we can engage more students in research and push forward the boundaries of knowledge, to address very real and pressing societal challenges. If you want to learn more about why and how we strive to push forward frontiers in the leaf wax lab: read some\u00a0papers<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0press<\/a>, watch a\u00a0video<\/a>, follow\u00a0@SFeakins<\/a>, or\u00a0contact me<\/a>\u00a0to express interest to join our efforts in many different ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n \n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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\n Join Us Now\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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\n\n \n \n \n\n Click here! \n <\/svg>\n<\/a>\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":418,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHome - Sarah J. Feakins<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n