Courtney Wagner

My research program aims to delineate the detection and environmental information encoded by magnetofossils, the fossil remains of iron biomineralizing organisms. I pair modern analog studies and paleoenvironmental reconstructions from magnetofossils to decipher how coastal ecosystems are affected by climate change. Much of this work uses magnetofossils preserved in marine sediments that record major warming events from the last ~100 my. I use broadly applicable analytical tools, in combination with multiple proxy data through a network of international collaborations, to determine how magnetofossils record environmental change over these warming events. My work demonstrates how magnetofossils ‘remotely’ assess spatial and temporal changes in ocean chemistry and biodiversity in vulnerable coastal environments. This work is applicable to a wide range of researchers studying climate change and planetary habitability.