Daniel M. Deocampo

assistant Professor

Ph.D., Geological Sciences, 2001. Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey
M.S., Geological Sciences, 1997. Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey
B.S., Geological Sciences, 1994. Tufts University, Medford, Massachussetts

Research Interests: Sedimentology, Mineralogy and Geochemistry

I am interested in how water, minerals, and organisms interact in terrestrial environments, how these interactions leave mineralogical and geochemical evidence in the sedimentary record, and how humans (past and present) participate in these interactions. I have applied these interests to geologic investigations around the world, including paleoenvironmental reconstruction at Olduvai Gorge, water resources at Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, natural and anthropogenic metals in soils and sediment in California, lake sediment analysis in California, Nevada, Tanzania, and Kenya, volcanic paleosols in Rome, Italy, and archaeological sites in Italy, Tanzania, and Kenya. Through my interdisciplinary research, I collaborate with archaeologists, paleontologists, health scientists, biologists and ecologists, and other geologists. To carry out my work, I use whatever techniques would help to solve the problem, including X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, analytical electron microscopy, and various types of emission spectroscopy and mass spectrometry.

Before joining the Department of Geosciences here at Georgia State in January, 2008, I was on the faculty at California State University Sacramento for four years. Prior to that, I was a post-doctoral researcher at the Natural History Museum in London, UK, the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, VA, and the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Like so many geologists, I enjoy the lab work, but I am at home in the field. My research has been published in the Journal of Sedimentary Research, Quaternary Research, Palaios, the Treatise on Geochemistry, Applied Geochemistry, Journal of Paleolimnology, the South African Journal of Geology, and the Journal of Roman Archaeology.

I currently have several projects available for student research projects, including:

• mineralogy and geochemistry of Pleistocene volcanic sediment in Rome, Italy
• mineralogy and geochemistry of ancient Roman mortar and concrete
• clay minerals of modern and ancient lakes of California
• mineralogy and geochemistry of Pleistocene lake sediment from East Africa
• heavy metals in urban soils of Atlanta

Please contact me if you have interests in these or other projects that I can assist with.