Dr. Terry Quinn

Director, UTIG
Research Professor, UTIG
Professor, Department of Geological Sciences

Ph.D., Brown University, 1989

Telephone 512-471-0464
email: quinn@ig.utexas.edu

Field of Study:
Paleoclimatology, paleoceanography, sedimentary geology and geochemistry

About Terry: Dr. Quinn is one of several faculty members who regularly teaches the carbonate rocks portion of the class Sedimentary Rocks (GEO416M). He also teaches a graduate course in Geoclimatology, which examines the geologic record of climate change as recorded in sedimentary archives.

Dr. Quinn's research interests focus on using the geochemistry of marine sediments and coral reefs to investigate climate variability and changes in mean climate state in the geologic record. Most recently he and his students have investigate modern and Holocene climate in the western Pacific Ocean, tropical Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. He is particularly interested in developing tools to better constrain uncertainties in proxy records of climate and to collaborate with climate dynamicists to better integrate geologic records of climate change with predictions of climate models.

Dr. Quinn redesigned the Stable Isotope Laboratory, which underwent a complete renovation in 2008. The new facility is currently home to two stable isotope ratio mass spectrometers with the capabilities to measure various light stable isotopes in carbonates, waters and organic matter. The lab also contains an inductively coupled plasma-spectrometer (ICP), wet chemistry facilities, student space and a coral sampling facility.