Jessica DePaolis

I was first introduced to diatoms while pursuing my Masters degree in Geosciences at Virginia Tech in 2017. I learned that diatoms are helpful indicators of earthquake-triggered land-level change and tsunami inland extents which makes them important to investigate large-scale geologic questions. Currently I am pursuing a PhD at Virginia Tech using diatoms to understand earthquake history in Prince William Sound, Alaska and northern Washington state. Diatoms are so incredible and I love teaching people about their many diverse and wonderful applications for understanding both the present and the past.