Ph.D. Student

Howdy! I’m David Valerio, a first-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences at Rice University working in Dr. Laurence Yeung’s research group.

Research-wise, I am interested in developing new clumped isotope tracers to help understand biogeochemical cycling in the past and the present. I aim to apply stable isotope techniques to better characterize microbial processes in the surface and deep ocean. After completing my Ph.D., I’d like to move into the startup world to work at the interface between microbiology, stable isotope geochemistry, and oceanography in order to help solve some of the important problems facing the world ocean today.

Besides doing research, I read books, lift weights, go to punk shows, and evangelize for the greatest city in the world, Houston, Texas. I especially enjoy reading history, biography, philosophical novels, and science fiction, but really I read whatever interests me at the moment. I also blog when the mood strikes me.

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You can email me at valerio@rice.edu for research stuff or at david.a.valerio@gmail.com for anything else.