معرفی
Miquela Ingalls is an Assistant Professor of Geosciences and Wilson Faculty Fellow at the Department of Geosciences, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, Pennsylvania State University. Her research integrates field geology, petrography, and stable isotope geochemistry to reconstruct terrestrial paleoenvironments and tectonic processes using chemical sediments.
Dr. Ingalls investigates how terrestrial environments responded to globally warm periods in Earth history to model future climate impacts, with focus areas including uplift of high-altitude terranes, ancient ocean alkalinity, and Precambrian phosphate levels for prebiotic chemistry. Her methodology emphasizes carbon, oxygen, and clumped isotope analyses in carbonate rocks, supported by modern analog studies in alkaline lakes like the Great Salt Lake.
Her 2016-2020 publications reveal strong thematic trends: Tibetan Plateau tectonics dominates her work (4/7 papers), while carbonate-based proxy development for paleoenvironmental reconstruction spans all publications. She bridges Precambrian biogeochemistry and Cenozoic climate studies through innovative applications of stable isotopes.
Scientific recognition:
- Wilson Faculty Fellow
Dr. Ingalls leads the Ingalls Lab at Penn State, collaborating with Lee Kump (Florida Keys wastewater project), CU-Boulder, and Weber State University on carbon cycling in alkaline lakes. While not recruiting new graduate students for 2024-25, she mentors lab members through fieldwork and geochemical analyses across diverse projects from Mars analogs to karst systems.
The Ingalls Lab specializes in terrestrial carbonate systems, operating as a hub for micron-to-nanometer scale diagenesis studies and clumped isotope analyses. It maintains active partnerships with the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute (EESI) and leverages Penn State's geoscience infrastructure for paleoclimate reconstruction.
