UNR Peat Lab

The Peat Lab is hosted by the Department of Geography at the University of Nevada, Reno and a part of NevPAL - the Nevada Paleoenvironmental Analysis Laboratory co-led by Dr. Julie Loisel and Dr. Adam Csank. The research in our lab focuses on the interactions between peatlands and past global environmental change. We are particularly interested in (1) developing peat-based paleoenvironmental reconstructions using plant macrofossils, testate amoeba, and stable isotope geochemistry; those analyses provide a means to reconstruct past changes in moisture, temperature, and peatland vegetation; (2) estimating carbon stocks and carbon accumulation histories from peatlands using peat-based density, organic matter, and elemental analyses in combination with empirical models; and (3) understanding the response of peatlands to changes in climate regimes. We have study sites located around the world, from the high arctic to the tropics, and even in Antarctica!