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People at Center for Isotope Geochemistry, UC Berkeley and LBNL
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Alexandra V. Turchyn

Academic Appointments

Current -- Miller Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of California Berkeley

Summer 2005 -- Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University, working with Professor Daniel P. Schrag

Education

2000 – 2005 -- HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Cambridge, Massachusetts

  • Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences – PhD awarded April 2005
  • PhD title: Oxygen Isotopes in Marine Sulfate and the evolution of the sulfur cycle over the past 140 million years

1993 – 1997 -- PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, Princeton, New Jersey

  • Magna Cum Laude, Department of Geosciences
  • Bachelor’s thesis: Determining Three-Dimensional Fault Shape from Earthquake Hypocenters

1995 & 1997 -- UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN – Camp Davis, Jackson Wyoming, Summer

  • Introductory Geology Field Course and Graduate Level Geological Mapping Course

1992 – 1993 -- OSWESTRY SCHOOL, Oswestry, Shropshire, England

  • Post-graduate year awarded English Speaking Union Fellowship to study in England. Awarded A-Levels in French, History, and Maths

1989 – 1992 -- THE LAWRENCEVILLE SCHOOL, Lawrenceville, New Jersey

  • High School Education - Graduated Cum Laude

Professional Work Experience

1997 – 2000 -- SCHLUMBERGER OILFIELD SERVICES, Wireline & Testing

Senior Field Engineer :  Responsible for planning, execution and follow-up of offshore oilfield operations encompassing wireline, logging on drill pipe and coil tubing services.  Data acquisition processing, and interpretation, management of multinational personnel and equipment.  Working extensively with radioactive sources and explosives.

  • Synchronized interfacing of operations with other oilfield service companies
  • Acquired extensive experience in exploration logging operations and use of Geoquest software products
  • Achieved highest rank of nineteen engineers in specialized engineer training course, December 1997
  • Recognized through successive promotions to Field Engineer from Junior Field Engineer (February 1998), and to Senior Field Engineer from Field Engineer (November 1999)
  • Lead training and development of personnel, managed upkeep of radioactive sources needed in logging operations as Radiation Safety Officer, February – August 1998
  • Served as member of Accident Prevention Team February 1998 – August 1998, team analysed reported incidents to help prevent accidents and promote safety
  • Involved in and actively contributed to the team responsible for developing safety objectives for Schlumberger Services in Norway – November 1998
  • Restructured the specification sheets to a tender resulting in 20 Million Dollars of work for Schlumberger.  Commended for contribution to win, July 1999
  • Supervised the side of Schlumberger operations for BP-Amoco as a Desk Engineer. Created innovative data acquisition programs alongside geologists and petrophysicits, April 1999 – September 1999
  • Conducted research for implementation of next generation software as a STAR engineer for Austin Product Center, June 1999
  • Coordinated research on Optical Fluid Analysis with client Norsk Hydro, resulting in two papers published in proceedings for the 2000 and 2001 SPE annual technical conferences

Extracurricular Involvement

  • Mentor, (2003 – 2005), Science club for Girls, Cambridge public schools
  • Mentor, (2003 – 2005), Harvard College Science Mentoring Program
  • Organizer, (2003) EPS Day, an informal gathering of graduate students, post docs, and faculty to share research
  • Mentor, (2001 – 2003), Snowdon Mentoring Program
  • President, (1995 – 1997), - Princeton University Women’s Rugby Football Club (PUWRFC). Helped lead team to National Championship (won title – 1995, 1996)
  • Club Manager, (1995 – 1997), Princeton University Triangle Club
  • Emergency Medical Technician, (1995 – 1997), Princeton Rescue Squad
  • Leader and Leader Trainer, (1994 – 1997), Princeton University Outdoor Action

Awards and Fellowships

  • Schlanger Ocean Drilling Fellowship awarded for one-year tenure (2004-2005)
  • Harvard University Merit Fellowship award recognizes graduate students whose all-around performance during their graduate study has been outstanding (2004-2005)
  • Department of Defence, American Society for Engineering Education Graduate Fellowship awarded for three year tenure (2001)
  • National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, Honorable Mention (2001)
  • Schlumberger Safety Award (1998)
  • Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society, Elected to Membership (1997)
  • The Alexandra B. Van Dusen Award created, for excellent commitment to Woman’s rugby at Princeton (1997)
  • The Oswestry School Award, for the Senior Class member who gave back most to the community (1993)

Conference Presentations and Other Publications

  • Turchyn A.V., Sivan O., and Schrag D.P., Oxygen Isotopes in Porewater Sulfate, evidence for unexpected sulfur cycling, presented as a poster at the AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, December 2005
  • Turchyn A.V., Schrag D.P., Coccioni R., and Moore, F., Oxygen Isotopes in Sulfate across Cretaceous Ocean Anoxic Events, presented as a talk at the Geological Society of America Earth System Processes 2 conference, Calgary, Alberta, August 2005
  • Turchyn A.V. and Schrag D.P., Oxygen Isotope Measurements of Marine Sulfate, invited talk, Abstracts of Papers of the American Chemical Society Vol. 229: U890 055 GEOC Part 1, March, 2005
  • Turchyn A.V. and Schrag D.P., The Carbon and Sulfur Cycles through the Cenozoic: Insight from Oxygen Isotopes in Marine Sulfate, to be presented as a poster at the AGU Fall meeting, San Francisco, CA, December 2004
  • Turchyn A.V. and Schrag D.P., Marine Sulfur cycle dynamics, a new view through oxygen isotopes, presented as a talk at the 2004 Goldschmidt Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark, June 2004, Abstract: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 68 (11), Supplement 1, A334, 2004
  • Turchyn A.V. and Schrag D.P., Oxygen Isotopes in Marine Sulfate: Reassessing the Sulfur Cycle over the Past 10 million years, presented as a talk at the AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, December 2003, Abstract: Eos Trans. AGU 85 (46), Fall Meeting Supplement, U52B-04, 2003
  • Hoffman P.F., Van Dusen A., Halverson G.P., Saenz J, Kaufman A.J., Schrag D.P., Significance of sea-floor barite cements in Marinoan-age post-glacial cap carbonates, presented as a poster at the 12th Annual Goldschmidt Conference, Davos, Switzerland, August 2002, Abstract: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 66, pp A335, Supplement 1, 2002
  • Hoffman P.F., Van Dusen A., Maloof A.C., Schrag D.P., and Ferguson D., Glimpse of a Terrestrial Snowball Ocean, presented as a poster at the 12th Annual Goldschmidt Conference, Davos, Switzerland, August 2002, Abstract: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 66, Supplement 1, 2002
  • Andrews R.J., Beck G., Casteljins K., Chen A., Cribbs M.E., Fadnes F.H., Williams S., Irvine-Fortescue J., Hashem M., Jamaluddin A., Kurkjian A., Sass B., Mullins O.C., Rylander E., and Van Dusen A., Quantifying Contamination Using Color of Crude and Condensate, Oilfield Review, Autumn 2001, pp. 24-43
  • Fadnes F.H., Irvine-Fortescue J., Williams S., Mullins O., and Van Dusen A., Optimization of Wireline Sample Quality by Real-Time Analysis of Oil-Based Mud Contamination – Examples from North Se Operations, SPE 71736, to be presented as a poster at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, New Orleans, Louisiana, October 2001
  • Van Dusen A., Williams S., Fadnes F.H., and Irvine-Fortescue J., Determination of Hydrocarbon Properties by Optical Analysis during Wireline Fluid Sampling, paper 63252 presented as a poster at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Dallas, Texas, October 2000

Peer Reviewed Publications

  • Schrag D.P. and Turchyn A.V., Effect of Seawater Sulfate on the Oxygen Isotopic Composition of the Ocean, in revision, Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
  • Turchyn A.V. and Schrag D.P., Cenozoic evolution of the sulfur cycle; Insight from oxygen isotopes in marine sulfate, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol 241, pp. 763-779, 2006
  • Turchyn, A.V. and Schrag D.P., Oxygen Isotope Constraints on the Sulfur Cycle over the Past 10 million years, Science, Vol. 303 (5556), p.2004-2007, 2004
  • Van Dusen A., Williams S., Fadnes F.H., and Irvine-Fortescue J., Determination of Hydrocarbon Properties by Optical Analysis During Wireline Fluid Sampling, SPE Reservoir Evaluation and Engineering, p. 286-292, August 2003

Professional Affiliations

  • American Chemical Society (ACS) – Member since 2004
  • American Geophysical Union (AGU) – Member since 2000
  • Geological Society of America (GSA) – Member since 2000
  • Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) – Member 1998-2002
  • Sigma Xi, Scientific Research Society – Member since 1997

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