June 2026: Congratulations to Dr. Heather Donnelly on successfully defending her Ph.D. thesis! Her dissertation, “Refining Coral Nitrogen Isotope Proxies for Reconstructing Symbiotic State and Anthropogenic Nitrogen Cycling,” was examined by Xingchen Tony Wang (advisor), Jeremy Shakun, Hanqin Tian, Mark Behn, and Sarah Davies (Boston University).
June 2026: We’re excited to share that our paper, “Ocean iron fertilization from enhanced mid-ocean-ridge volcanism due to ice-age sea-level falls,” led by recent Ph.D. graduate Dr. Tianshu Kong, was published in Nature Geoscience. Read the Research Briefing and Press Release.
May 2026: We are excited to host the inaugural New England Paleoclimate One-Day Workshop on August 28, 2026, at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts!
April 22 2026: We hosted a “Changing Ocean” outreach event at the Discovery Museum on Earth Day. The event welcomed more than 160 children and family members in just two hours!
February 2026: We’re excited to share that our paper, “Fossil isotope evidence for trophic simplification on modern Caribbean reefs,” led by Senior Research Associate Dr. Jess Lueders-Dumont, was published in Nature. Read the Press Release.
January 2026: Dr. Xingchen Tony Wang has joined the editorial board of AGU’s Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology as an Associate Editor for a four-year term.
January 2026: We are excited to welcome Prof. Sarah Davies (Associate Professor of Biology, Boston University) for a one-year visiting appointment through the 2025 Simons Foundation Pivot Fellowship. The Pivot Fellowship supports accomplished faculty as they transition into a new discipline through a one-year residency embedded in a host laboratory. During her visit, we will combine novel isotope approaches with coral genomic and physiological data to develop a predictive framework that links genes to biogeochemical cycles and supports coral reef conservation.
December 2025: We recently upgraded our N2O Gas Bench–253 Plus IRMS system (installed in August 2024) with an automatic liquid nitrogen supply for stable, long-duration runs. With a 154-vial tray and ~10 minutes per sample, the system now enables 20+ hours of unattended, high-throughput operation per batch.
November 2025: Congratulations to Dr. Tianshu Kong on successfully defending her Ph.D. thesis! Her dissertation, “Constraints on Late Cenozoic Marine Nutrient Biogeochemistry from Foraminifera-Bound Nitrogen Isotopes,” was examined by Xingchen Tony Wang (advisor), Jeremy Shakun, Yi Ming, Mark Behn, and Jesse Farmer (UMass Boston).
Wang Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry Lab 