Earth Horizons

Dr. Oster is interested in how climate has changed in the past. In particular, she tries to reconstruct past changes in rainfall by measuring chemical changes in minerals deposited within caves. Her research focuses on understanding the patterns and drivers of drought in the western US, changes in the monsoon in India, and how cave water chemistry changes with environmental changes in Tennessee. Her research involves work in the field (underground and above ground), in the wet lab, and using large climate data sets. Dr. Oster teaches courses on Environmental Geochemistry, Paleoclimatology, and Isotope Geochemistry. She is the VU coordinator for the Earth Horizons program and co-teaches the Earth Horizons Career Seminar.