Paul Baker
pbaker@duke.edu
NSOE; EOS
Location 1
Research Location
Andes of Peru & Bolivia
Research Objective
To study the molecular genetics of diatoms in the highland lakes of the Andes of Peru and Bolivia.
Collaborating Institution
University of Nebraska – Lincoln (Sheri Fritz)
Funding Source/Sponsor
National Science Foundation
Students Involved
None.
Location 2
Research Location
Bolivia
Research Objective
To work as collaborating investigator studying the early human occupation of the Lake Titicaca watershed in Bolivia.
Collaborating Institution
UCB (Christine Hastorf), Dickenson (Maria Bruno), UNL (Sheri Fritz)
Funding Source/Sponsor
National Geographic Society
Students Involved
None.
Location 3
Research Location
Brazil (4 Projects — 1 pending)
Research Objective
Project 1: To study the paleoclimate and paleoceanography of the western equatorial Atlantic Ocean offshore of the mouth of the Amazon.
Project 2: To undertake a seismic reflection survey along the entire length of the Amazon River (and several of its tributaries) within Brazil. The objective is to learn the geological history of the Amazon forest. Will eventually undertake a deep continental drilling transect across the Amazon.
Project 3: To promote peer-to-peer academic exchanges between Brazil and Duke as co-director of the new Duke-Brazil Initiative.
Project 4 (pending): To to hold a workshop in Brazil in 2014 for the purposes of preparing to drill the sediments of the offshore Amazon Fan as part of the International Ocean Drilling Program. Such drilling would not only provide the long-term geologic and climatic history of the terrestrial Amazon basin, but would also examine the origin of gas hydrates, the mechanisms of gravity tectonics, the diagenesis of organic-rich sediments, and the possibility of tsunami generation within the sediments of the deep-sea Amazon Fan.
Collaborating Institution
Brazilian Government (CAPES), Duke University, Universidade Federal Fluminense
Funding Source/Sponsor
Project 1: Ciencias sem Fronteiras – Grant
Project 2: National Science Foundation
Project 3: Duke University
Project 4: US Science Support Project (USSSP)
Students Involved
Project 1: Alan Sandes (Brazilian PhD student)
Location 4
Research Location
Peru, Bolivia, Brazil
Research Objective
To work on the role of mountains, climate, hydrology, and landscape evolution on the distribution and origins of biodiversity in the Amazon and Andean forests.
Collaborating Institution
Several.
Funding Source/Sponsor
$4.4M Research Grant
Students Involved
Wout Salenbien (PhD Student)
Location 5
Research Location
South America (Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile)
Research Objective
In general, reconstructing the geological history and deducing the causes of tropical biodiversity.
Timeframe
1985-present.
Collaborating Institution
University of Michigan, University of Washington, University of Nebraska, East Carolina University, Wake Forest University, University of Texas, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Federal University Fluminense, University of Sao Paulo, University of Amsterdam, University of Padua, University of Stockholm, and several others
Funding Source/Sponsor
National Science Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, International Continental Drilling Program, International Ocean Discovery Program
Students Involved
Wout Salenbien (PhD Student), Alexander Wheatley, Allan Sandes (UFF)
