Philip 'Flip' Froelich, Jr.

My research group unravels past changes in ocean and atmosphere chemistry related to global environmental change, subfields of environmental science called paleoceanography and paleoclimatology. Students in our group are involved in field work (oceanic, river and lake expeditions) and laboratory work (analytical and isotope geochemistry) related to studies of global biogeochemical dynamics. We work on climate recorders of air and water dripping through caves in North Florida - in stalagmites - and instrument these caves to monitor the environmental changes captured in stalagmite calcite. We work with ancient microscopic foraminifera raised in sediment cores to detect past changes in ocean chemistry that were captured in their calcite shells before they died and fell from the ocean into deep sea sediments. We are also involved in environmental problems related to release of toxic trace elements by industrial processes such as coal-fired power plants.

I am also involved in the new Biogeochemical Dynamics Program at FSU. The Biogeochemical Dynamics Program is an interdisciplinary research-oriented, graduate-only program within the FSU College of Arts and Sciences which focuses on environmental biogeochemistry.