Research in our group is focused on the long-term variation in atmospheric gas concentrations and their influence on deep-time paleoclimate and the evolution of complex life. We use stable isotope and mineral fluid inclusion geochemistry, from both continental and marine sedimentary sequences, to study the detailed records of mass extinctions, global-scale volcanic eruptions like Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs), extraterrestrial impacts, and other major events as components of an evolving Earth system. A main goal of work in the Schaller lab is to identify the drivers of atmospheric gas cycling over very long timescales and hence the primary drivers of secular changes in climate. 

We focus in particular on warm periods of earth history, those lacking any evidence of polar ice, as these may be relevant to today’s rapidly warming world.