Join us this month on GeOCHemISTea as we sit down with Brittany Hupp, Assistant Professor at George Mason University in the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences. Brittany specializes in micropaleontology, sedimentology, and low-temperature geochemistry, exploring ancient climates and ocean conditions to better understand modern environmental challenges.

In this episode, Brittany shares her unconventional path into geosciences—from a dairy farm in rural Ohio to oceanic research cruises—and offers practical advice for aspiring geochemists seeking interdisciplinary careers. She introduces listeners to the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), a pivotal ancient global warming event used as a critical analog to current climate change. Brittany explains how geochemical proxies, such as stable isotopes and trace elements in microfossils (foraminifera), illuminate past temperature shifts, ocean acidification, and hydrological changes.

Tune in for captivating stories from life at sea, including the social dynamics aboard research vessels, and discover how paleoclimatology provides valuable insights into Earth's climate sensitivity and future scenarios.

Grab your tea... it's time to spill!

For this episode we read:The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum: A Perturbation of Carbon Cycle, Climate, and Biosphere with Implications for the Future (McInerney and Wing, 2011)Diagenetic Attenuation of Carbon Isotope Excursion Recorded by Planktic Foraminifers During the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (Kozdon et al., 2018)Development of a novel empirical framework for interpreting geological carbon isotope excursions, with implications for the rate of carbon injections across the PETM (Turner and Ridgwell, 2016)Individual foraminiferal analyses: a review of current and emerging geochemical techniques (Fehrenbacher et al., 2024)

This month GeOCHemISTea talks with Oscar Benavente, an environmental geochemist at SRK Consulting, about using satellite imagery to monitor mine drainage and environmental change. They dive into how Google Earth Engine, Python, and machine learning are transforming geochemical monitoring—mapping water bodies, tracking sulfide oxidation, and improving mine site remediation.

Oscar shares insights from his career spanning geothermal exploration, environmental geochemistry, and consulting. They also discuss the importance of fieldwork, communicating complex science effectively, and the surprising connections between planetary and mining geochemistry.

Tune in for a lively conversation filled with geochemistry, remote sensing, and some unexpected tangents—including volcanic adventures, music, and the tight-knit world of geochemists.

For this episode we read:

Monitoring of mine drainage related processes through satellite imagery - Dynamic Mapping of Sulfide Oxidation (Benavente, 2024)

Dynamic Mapping of Water Bodies using Google Earth Engine (Benavente, 2024)

Historical geochemical datasets can be challenging with variable methods, missing metadata, and shifting detection limits, but they’re also an invaluable resource for mineral exploration and mining.

In this episode, we break down what qualifies as historical data, common pitfalls to watch for, and best practices for integrating legacy datasets into interpretation workflows. We also explore the newest geochemical data from field-portable and scanning technologies, examining how they complement and contrast with traditional datasets.

For this episode we read:

Advances in ICP-MS technology and the application of multi-element geochemistry to exploration (Sader and Ryan, 2019)

Advances in exploration geochemistry, 2007 to 2017 and beyond (Winterburn et al., 2019)

Evaluation of partial digestions for soils to detect a deeply buried VMS Cu-Zn prospect in boreal forests (van Geffen et al., 2014)

Major advances in exploration geochemistry, 1998-2007 (Cohen et al., 2010)