Areas: Biogeochemistry, Climate

Prof. Zhang is an environmental microbiologist jointly appointed in the Department of Geosciences and the Princeton Environmental Institute. Zhang’s research aims at providing a mechanistic understanding of how microbial metabolism influences biogeochemical cycling and climate in modern and ancient environments. To determine the key parameters explaining microbial activities and their signatures in the rock record, she applies tools from microbial physiology, molecular ecology, and stable isotope geochemistry to research in lab and field settings.

Zhang earned her Ph.D. in environmental science and engineering from the California Institute of Technology and a B.S. in biological and environmental engineering from Cornell University. She joined the faculty in spring 2017.

Shannon is a research specialist and manager of the Zhang Lab with her primary focus being on the optimization of the lab’s stable isotope facilities for biogeochemical studies.
 

She is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Missouri. Her Ph.D. research focuses on the relationship between ocean circulation and climate change in the Late Cretaceous using neodymium isotopes (derived from fossilized fish teeth) as a water mass tracer. She earned her M.Sc. in Geology from the University of Missouri. During her seven years in MO, she managed the departments’ Biogeochemistry Isotope Lab and her research largely focused on the use of geochemical proxies, including stable carbon and oxygen isotopes, to make inferences about paleoclimate and paleoceanography. She received her B.S. in Geology from West Virginia University.   

Areas: Stable isotope geochemistry, biogeochemistry, paleoceanography

I started my education in France, where I studied biological and geological science. After a MSc. in chemistry, I traveled to cold French Canada where I obtained my Ph.D. in biogeochemistry, studying the importance of vanadium in boreal cyanolichens. I continued my training during a first postdoc in soil ecology by studying nitrogen acquisition in boreal forest before I started my present position as a postdoctoral fellow in the Geosciences department of Princeton University.

In the Zhang lab, I am using my multidisciplinary background and training to conduct research on the importance of nitrogenases in coastal environment and sediment. I am also continuing my research on alternative nitrogenases in boreal ecosystems with Prs. Lutzoni (Duke University) and Bellenger (Université de Sherbrooke).

Webpage: http://romaindarnajoux.alwaysdata.net/index.php?lang=EN

Ashley Maloney

Position: Harry Hess Postdoctoral research fellow
Office: M48 Guyot Hall
Phone: 609-258-3962
Email: amaloney@princeton.edu

Dr. Ashley Maloney joined the Zhang lab in spring 2018. She is interested in how microbes and their biomolecules respond to change and developing tools to help characterize microbial metabolism in modern and past environments. She uses microbiology and stable isotope geochemistry in controlled laboratory studies to complement field observations along physical and metabolic gradients. Ashley earned her PhD in Chemical Oceanography from the University of Washington, Seattle Washington, and her undergraduate and Master’s degrees from Stanford University, Stanford California.