The science party (from Left to Right): Stacy, Kim, Jud, Syria, and Nele on a field trip to Borneo in 2008.

Research Opportunities in the Cobb Lab

Maybe you're an undergrad who'd like to earn some extra money and gain valuable experience by assisting with day-to-day lab operations as a part-time lab assistant,
or you're applying for graduate school and would like to chat about potential research projects in the lab,
or you're graduating soon and are shopping around for postdoctoral options.

If so, please contact me as I am currently seeking students to join the lab to work on a variety of projects (see my Research Interests).

  1. How did exposure of the Sunda Shelf during the last glacial maximum affect glacial climate, and the distribution and variability of water isotopes?
    Involves: Simulating climate mean state and variability using coupled climate models forced by glacial boundary conditions; parallel simulations with isotope-equipped models; LGM proxy data-model intercomparisons.
  2. What is the geochemical and climatic signature of the Toba super-eruption as recorded in cave stalagmites from Borneo?
    Involves: Ultra-high-resolution analyses of stalagmite calcite oxygen isotopes, carbon isotopes, and elemental abudances across a major excursion in Borneo stalagmite paleoclimate records that coincides with the Toba super-eruption.
  3. Has recent climate change caused unprecedented changes in coral skeletal morphology and/or geochemistry?
    Involves: Working with a set of modern coral cores from the Line Islands to search for a consistent coral response to recent strong El Nino events, and comparing these signals to those recorded across strong paleo-El Nino events captured in fossil coral cores; requires close collaboration with coral reef ecologists at Georgia Tech and the Scripps Inst. of Oceanography.
  4. How has East African climate evolved over the last glacial cycle?
    Involves: Exploring new and existing collections of East African stalagmite records for climate reconstruction.
  5. What role to cave microbes play in determining the morphology and geochemistry of cave stalagmites? Involves: isolating, identifying, and culturing microbes that grow on the surface of cave stalagmites for geochemical studies * requires close collaboration with Georgia Tech geomicrobiologists.
Of course, students and postdocs are strongly encouraged to come up with their own research ideas based on their own interests, skills, and goals.

Funding is presently available for students at all levels, so contact me to learn about the exciting opportunities that currently exist.

Phone: (404) 894-1992
E-mail: kcobb@eas.gatech.edu