Elisabeth Lynn Sikes is an American geoscientist who is a professor at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

. Her research considers carbon cycling. She was awarded the 2022 Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research Medal for Excellence in Research.

Early life and education

Sikes was an undergraduate student at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

, where she graduated cum laude in environmental sciences. She moved to the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

for graduate studies. After earning her masters, she moved to

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

(MIT) for her doctorate. She completed graduate research in geological oceanography at the

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, acronym pronounced ) is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering. Established in 1930 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, it i ...

(WHOI) in the MIT/WHOI Joint Program. Her doctoral research on the refinement of techniques to estimate paleotemperatures. She was supported by the

Australian Research Council The Australian Research Council (ARC) is the primary non-medical research funding agency of the Australian Government, distributing more than in grants each year. The Council was established by the ''Australian Research Council Act 2001'', ...

to work as a postdoc at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College (University of Tasmania), Christ College, one of the unive ...

before working for the Australian Geological Survey Organization (now Geoscience Australia). She moved to New Zealand in 1997 and worked at the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

Research and career

In 2001, Sikes returned to the United States, where she was appointed to the faculty at

. Her research is based in

paleoceanography Paleoceanography is the study of the history of the oceans in the geologic past with regard to circulation, chemistry, biology, geology and patterns of sedimentation and biological productivity. Paleoceanographic studies using environment model ...

and

carbon cycling The carbon cycle is a part of the biogeochemical cycle where carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of Earth. Other major biogeochemical cycles include the nitrogen cycle and the water cycl ...

. She studies circulation in the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the world ocean, generally taken to be south of 60th parallel south, 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is the seco ...

, and how those processes trap and release

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

over glacial timescales. As part of these efforts, she studies temperature changes in the oceans around New Zealand using biomarkers and foramiferally estimates. She has taken part in sixteen oceanographic voyages and serves as Chair of the CLIVAR/CliC/SCAR Southern Ocean Region Panel. Sikes is also interested in the sources and sinks of terrestrial carbon in modern environments over shorter time scales. For these studies, she makes use of

isotope analysis Isotope analysis is the identification of isotopic signature, abundance of certain stable isotopes of chemical elements within organic and inorganic compounds. Isotopic analysis can be used to understand the flow of energy through a food we ...

. She investigated how useful the Uk-37 index was for estimating paleotemperatures and predicting

sea surface temperature Sea surface temperature (or ocean surface temperature) is the ocean temperature, temperature of ocean water close to the surface. The exact meaning of ''surface'' varies in the literature and in practice. It is usually between and below the sea ...

s. This included studying whether the 14C ages of alkenones could be used to estimate paleotemperature, as lateral transport can cause these molecules to be several thousand years older than

foraminifera Foraminifera ( ; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are unicellular organism, single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class (biology), class of Rhizarian protists characterized by streaming granular Ectoplasm (cell bio ...

found in the same deposit.

Awards and honors

* 2004

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

ADVANCE Fellow Award * 2012 Hanse Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Study * 2018

Teaching Excellence award * 2020

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that ...

Cesare Emiliani Lecture Paleoceaongraphy/Paleoclimatology and Ocean Sciences sections Award * 2022

Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is an interdisciplinary body of the International Science Council, International Science Council (ISC). SCAR coordinates international scientific research efforts in Antarctica, including th ...

Medal for Excellence in Antarctic Research

Selected publications

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sikes, Elisabeth Living people Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Wesleyan University alumni Rutgers University faculty 21st-century American geologists Year of birth missing (living people)