C.V.

Jeffrey M. Salacup, Ph.D,

Lecturer and Manager of the Stable Isotope and Biogeochemistry Laboratories,
2014-present, Geosciences Department, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

E-mail: jsalacup@geo.umass.edu
Phone: (413)-545-1913

EDUCATION

Ph.D. (2014) Geology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA, On the Application of the Uk’37 Sea Surface Temperature Proxy in Marginal Settings: Narragansett Bay (Rhode Island, U.S.A.)
Thesis Advisor: Drs. Timothy Herbert and Warren Prell

M.S. (2008) Geology, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, MA, USA, The Effects of Sea Level on the Molecular and Isotopic Composition of Sediments in the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway: Oceanic Anoxic Event 3, Mesa Verde, CO, USA
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Steven Petsch

B.S. (2006) Earth Systems, Cum Laude, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, MA, USA, The biogeochemistry of a sub-surface fermentative/methanogenic consortia: Impact of biodegradation on hydrocarbon geochemistry of the Antrim Shale, Michigan Basin, U.S.A.
Thesis advisor: Dr. Steven Petsch

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Application of organic biomarkers and stable isotope ratios in the reconstruction of past ecosystems and the evolution of coupled Earth system processes

• Elucidation of the biosynthesis and function of important organic geochemical paleo-environmental proxies

• Oceanography of the northwest Atlantic Ocean

• Carbon cycle dynamics and feedbacks associated with atmospheric/oceanic chemistry, climate stabilization, and the anthropogenic influence

• Microbial activity and imprints on the geochemistry of anoxic environments

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Post-Doctoral Fellow, 2013-2014
Geosciences Department, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Advisor: Dr. Isla Castañeda
Arctic temperature and moisture variability associated with the Pliocene M2 glacial event from Lake El’gygytgyn, NE Russia

Environmental Protection Agency STAR Fellow, 2010-2013
Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University
Advisor: Drs. Timothy Herbert and Warren Prell
A new approach to assessing the anthropogenic impact on an urbanized estuary: sediment record of pre- historical and historical environmental change in Narragansett Bay, RI, USA

Graduate Research Assistant, 2008
Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University
Advisor: Dr. Timothy Herbert
method development toward the analytical isolation of alkenones with differing numbers of double-bonds

Graduate Research Assistant, 2007
Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Advisor: Dr. Steven Petsch
extraction and separation of lipids from the Mancos Shale, Mesa Verde, CO (Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway)

RCOM Summer Research Fellow, 2006
Research Center for Ocean Margins (RCOM), University of Bremen, Germany,
Advisor: Dr. Kai-Uwe Hinrichs
Isolation of diagnostic lipid biomarkers from sediments recovered from the Fish Clay (K/T) at Stevns Klint, Denmark to investigate ecological and environmental change over the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary. Molecular signatures of non-photosynthetic primary production during the collapse of a photosynthesis-driven “biological pump”.

Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2005-2006
Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Advisors: Dr. Steven Petsch and Dr. Michael Formolo
Biogeochemistry of sub-surface fermentative/methanogenic consortia to analyze the impact of biodegradation on hydrocarbon geochemistry of the Antrim shale of the Michigan Basin. Investigating the influence of meteoric water recharge during the Last Glacial Maximum and implications for atmospheric concentrations of methane during termination.

Tactical Aircraft Maintenance Craftsman, 1997-2002
United States Air Force, Rank – Technical Seargeant
Inspection, repair, and management of A10-A (Warthog) aircraft.
– Deployed three times in support of war-time missions.

RESEARCH SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Gas Chromatography- Mass Spectrometry-Flame Ionizing Detection

o identification and quantification of biomarkers in complex natural samples

o troubleshooting and maintenance of HP 6890 gas-chromatograph – Flame Ionizing Detector

o data analysis using Chemstation and Xcalibur software

• Compound Specific Stable Isotopes

o Carbon and Hydrogen – compound isolation and analysis on HP 6890 GC coupled to a Thermo Delta V Advantage isotope-ratio mass spectrometer

o data analysis using Isodat software

• Elemental Stable Isotope Ratios (C, N, O)

o organic carbon and total nitrogen – sample preparation and analysis on a Costech Elemental Analyzer coupled to a Thermo Delta V Advantage isotope-ratio mass spectrometer

o inorganic carbon – sample preparation and analysis on a Kiel Device coupled to a Thermo Delta V Advantage isotope-ratio mass spectrometer

o data analysis using Isodat software

• Extraction Techniques

o soxhlet apparatus

o accelerated solvent extraction (ASE)

o microwave-assisted extraction

o sonication

• Sample Preparation

o column chromatography (Si-gel, NH4-Si-gel, AgNO3¬-Si-gel) for the isolation of discrete classes of organic compounds

o saponification of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs)

o Urea Adduction for the purification of alkenones from heavily impacted marginal sediments

• Elemental Analysis

o carbon (organic and inorganic) and total nitrogen on a Costech Elemental Analyzer

o maintenance of Costech Elemental Analyzer

o analysis on EAS software

MANUSCRIPTS

Longo, W.M., Dillon, J.T., Tarozo, R., Salacup, J.M., Huang, Y. (2013), Unprecedented separation of long chain alkenones with a ploy (trifluoromethylpolysiloxane) stationary phase, Organic Geochemistry, v. 65, p. 94-102

Salacup, J. Farmer, J. Herbert, T.D., and Prell, W.L. (in prep), Alkenone production with open ocean characteristics in a near-shore setting: Narragansett Bay, R.I.

Salacup, J., Herbert, T.D., and Prell, W.L. (in prep), Alkenones in Narragansett Bay (Rhode Island, U.S.A.) Reveal a High-Resolution Record of North Atlantic Common Era Climate.

Salacup, J., Herbert, T.D., and Prell, W.L. (in prep), A four year long record of water column alkenone ratios and concentrations from Narragansett Bay: seasonal variability and mean annual sea surface temperature.

Salacup, J., Herbert, T.D., and Prell, W.L. (in prep), Landscape disturbance and nutrient mobilization in response to Colonization, Industrialization and Urbanization of the Narragansett Bay watershed.

Salacup, J., Petsch, S.T., and Leckie, R.M. (in prep), The geochemical imprint of water column denitrification during OAE 3 (Coniancian-Santonian) in the Western Interior Seaway.

Formolo, M.J., Salacup, J., Petsch, S.T., Martini, A.M., Nüsslein, K. (2008), Geology, v.36, no. 2, p.139-142, A new model linking atmospheric methane sources to Pleistocene glaciation via methanogenesis in sedimentary basins.

POSTERS

Salacup, J.M., Herbert, T.D., and Prell, W.L. (2013) The missing ocean – Generation of high resolution records of sea surface temperature for the Common Era, PAGES Open Science Meeting, Goa, India

Salacup, J., Herbert, T.D., and Prell, W.L. (2012) But what is the ocean doing? Generation of high resolution records of sea surface temperature for the Common Era, Gordon Conference on Organic Geochemistry, Holderness, NH

Salacup, J., Herbert, T.D., and Prell, W.L. (2012) A coupled biomarker-genetic approach to understanding the Uk’37 SST proxy in estuaries, Goldschmidt Geochemistry Conference, Montreal, QC

Salacup, J.M., Gonclaves, M., Herbert, T.D., Prell, W.L. (2012) A new tool to track the environmental evolution of the Gulf of Maine: The Uk’37 sea surface temperature proxy, Workshop on the Gulf of Maine in a Changing Climate, Bowdoin University, ME

Salacup, J. Herbert, T.D., and Prell, W. (2011) Time-series of water column alkenone and 18S rRNA confirm that Uk’37 is a viable SST proxy in Narragansett Bay, RI, 2011 AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA

Salacup, J. (2011) A 450-Year-Long Record of Climate change from Narragansett Bay RI, USA, 2011 EPA STAR Graduate Fellowship Conference, Washington D.C.

Salacup, J.M., Herbert, T.D., and Prell, W. (2010) Pushing open-ocean organic paleo-environmental proxies to the margin: Narragansett Bay, RI, 2009 AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA

Salacup, J.M., Petsch, S.T., Leckie, R.M., (2007) Organic matter production and preservation during the Niobrara Cyclothem, OAE 3 in the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, 2007 AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA

Petsch, S.T., Formolo, M.J., Martini, A.M., Salacup, J.M., Nusslein, K., (2007) Hydrocarbon biodegradation in sedimentary rocks linked to atmospheric methane variations during continental deglaciation. 2007 EGU Spring Meeting, Vienna, Austria

Salacup, J.M., Formolo, M.J., Petsch, S.T., (2006) The Anaerobic Biodegradation of the Devonian Antrim Shale, presented at:
• Five-Colleges Geosciences Undergraduate Research Symposium (2006) Amherst College, Amherst, MA
• First annual University of Massachusetts-Amherst Geosciences Dept. research review (2006), UMASS-Amherst Geosciences, Amherst, MA

Formolo, M.J., Petsch, S.T., Salacup, J.M., Waldron, P., Martini, A.M., Nusslein, K., (2006) Deep subsurface biodegradation of sedimentary organic matter in a methane-rich shale gas reservoir. 2006 AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA

TALKS

Salacup, J.M., Herbert, T.D., and Prell. W.L. (2012) But what is the ocean doing? Generation of high resolution records of sea surface temperature for the Common Era, Graduate Climate Conference, University of Washington’s Pack Forest Conference Center, WA

Salacup, J., Herbert, T.D., and Prell, W. (2011) The Environmental History of Narragansett Bay: Insights from the Sediment Record, First Annual Rhode Island Sea Grant Research Symposium, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI

Salacup, J.M., Farmer, J.R., Herbert, T.D., and Prell, W. (2009) Estuarine Alkenones: A High-Resolution Record of Sea-Surface Temperature from Narragansett Bay over the Past Millennium, 2009 AGU Fall Meeting, San Fransisco, CA

Leckie, R.M., Salacup, J.M., Petsch, S.T., (2008) Oceanic Anoxic Event 3 (Coniacian-Santonian, Late Cretaceous) in the Western Interior Seaway, Invited Lecture, 2008 GSA Fall Meeting, Denver, CO

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Earth: Evolution of a Habitable Planet (GEOL 0240) Teaching Assistant, Spring 2009, Brown University

Stratigraphy and Sedimentation (GEOL 1240) Teaching Assistant, Fall 2008, Brown University

Sedimentary Geochemistry (GEO-517) Teaching Assistant, Fall 2007, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

Geological Mapping (GEO-331) Teaching Assistant, Fall 2007, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

History of the Earth (GEO-201) Teaching Assistant, Spring 2007 & 2008, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, responsible for lecturing and instructing during two weekly lab sections

Introductory Oceanography (GEO-103) Teaching Assistant, Fall 2006, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

MENTORED STUDENTS

Jesse Farmer, May 2008 – May 2009, Evaluating the Use of Organic Paleotemperature Proxies in Estuaries: Application of Uk’37 and TEX86 to Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, Senior Research Thesis, Brown University

Mariama Goncalves, Summer 2012, Holocene climate change recorded in the oxygen isotopes of forams, NSF GK12 High School Summer Student Internship

FIELD EXPERIENCE

Narragansett Bay, 2009-2013 – surveys of Narragansett Bay for the collection of water samples for particulate organic matter extractions toward the better understanding of the biomarker-based UK37 and TEX86 sea-surface temperature proxies; collection of sediment cores via traditional piston push-coring, vibra-coring, and grab sampling

Eastern Equatorial Pacific, R/V Knorr, 2009 – retrieval of deep sea sediments on a transect from the Galapagos Platform, along the Carnegie Ridge, and into the Bay of Guayaquil, Peru employing the R/V Knorr’s new long piston coring capability, gravity coring, and multi-coring

Colorado Plateau, 2007 – investigation of sequence stratigraphy associated with the Greenhorn and Niobrara Cyclothems of the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway

Long Island Sound, 2006 – water and sediment sampling of two locations in Long Island Sound to include freeze and gravity coring, Thompson grabs, and pore-water extractions

AWARDS

Rhode Island Science and Technology and Advisory Council (STAC) Grant, Spring 2012-Spring 2013, ($200,000), “Understanding coastal environmental change, past, present, and future: A novel approach combining algal physiology, genetics and lipid biomarkers”, (A proposal I wrote to support personal research that was funded in Dr. Timothy Herbert’s name)

Environmental Protection Agency – Science and Technology Achieves Results (STAR) Fellow, 2010 – 2013, Brown University (~ $111,000)

Outstanding Teaching Assistant, Fall 2006-Spring 2007, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

HTU Smith Memorial Geology Award, 2007, University of Massachusetts-Amherst (~ $1000)

RCOM Summer Research Fellow, 2006, Research Center for Ocean Margins, University of Bremen, Germany

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