Tristan Kading

My love of science stems from my introduction to experimental techniques in nuclear physics at the UCONN Laboratory for Astrophysics where we developed methods to better understand stellar He and C burning. For my undergraduate thesis, I worked with Rob Mason and Team Hg using Pb-210 dating to reconstruct trends in mercury deposition in the Chesapeake Bay. During this time, I did field work with the Mason lab group in South Africa (blog). My next destination was the department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Wesleyan University, where I did a masters on pollutant attenuation by schwertmannite precipitation in the naturally acidic fluids of Copahue Volcano, Argentina under advisor Joop Varekamp. I participated in the Team Hg cruises investigating mercury methylation in the northwest Atlantic in 2008 (blog), 2009 (blog) and 2010 (blog). I am currently investigating the role of low molecular weight thiols in transport and bioavailability of Hg, methylmercury and other trace metals with the WHOI mercury biogeochemistry research group. I am also very interested in metalloid geochemistry, high temperature water-rock interaction chemistry, and volatile volcanic emissions. In my free time I jam out on the pandeiro and berimbau, read science fiction novels from the 70's, ride my bike, snorkel, and lay on the beach.