Jennifer Hertzberg

Research Interests

• Paleoceanography
• Paleoclimatology
• Micropaleontology
• Foraminiferal Geochemistry
• Paleoclimate Modeling

Bio

Jennifer came to the Oceanography Department at Texas A&M as a PhD student in 2010.  She completed her MS in Marine and Atmospheric Science in 2010 from Stony Brook University after receiving two BS degrees from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2007 - one in Geology and one in Astronomy, with a Physics minor.  

At Texas A&M, Jennifer is pursuing her PhD under the advisement of Dr. Matthew Schmidt. She is interested in reconstructing the abrupt climate events of the last glacial and deglacial periods using a variety of paleoceanographic proxies.  

• By measuring the Ba/Ca - salinity relationship of surface waters in the eastern equatorial Pacific, Jennifer developed a way to quantify past changes in sea surface salinity related to past changes in the tropical hydrologic cycle.  
• Jennifer is also working with Dr. Ping Chang on paleoclimate modeling to investigate a subsurface oceanic teleconnection mechanism in the subtropical North Atlantic linking abrupt high- and low-latitude climate change to AMOC variability.  This project makes use of the Community Climate System Model (CCSM3) under realistic Last Glacial Maximum forcings and boundary conditons.  She is hoping to test these modeling results by measuring radiocarbon anomalies across the last deglacial in benthic foraminifera from the Caribbean.  
• In an effort to better understand the forcing mechanisms of Heninrich and Dansgaard-Oeschger events during the last glacial period, Jennifer plans to reconstruct past sea surface temperatures and salinities across these abrupt climate events in the tropical southeast Atlantic.
• Lastly, Jennifer hopes to add to recent studies of deglacial radiocarbon anomalies in intermediate waters by measuing the radiocarbon content of benthic and deep-dwelling planktonic foraminifera from the central equatorial Pacific.

Research Experience

• Ph.D. Dissertation (tentative) - Paleoceanographic reconstructions of abrupt climate events during the last glacial and deglacial periods from the tropical Atlantic and Pacific Oceans - Advisor Dr. Matthew Schmidt, Texas A&M University

• M.S. Thesis - The tropical Atlantic response to abrupt climate change during Interstadial 12 - Advisor Dr. David Black, Stony Brook University

• Undergraduate Thesis - Using geochemical proxies to reconstruct ancient deep sea circulation through the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico - Advisor Dr. R. Mark Leckie, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Positions and Appointments

• 2010 - Present - Research Assistant for Dr. Matthew Schmidt, Texas A&M University
• 2008 - 2010 - Research Assistant for Dr. David Black, Stony Brook University
• 2007 - 2009 - Teaching Assistant, Stony Brook University (Courses: Introductory Oceanography, Current Topics in World Climate and Atmosphere, Waves Tides and Beaches)

Publications

• Hertzberg, J. E., D. E. Black, L. C. Peterson, R. C. Thunell, and G. H. Haug (in review).  Decadal- to centennial-scale tropical Atlantic climate variability across a Dansgaard-Oeschger cycle.  Submitted to Paleoceanography.

• Schmidt, M. W. and J. E. Hertzberg (2011).  Abrupt climate change during the last Ice Age.  Nature Education Knowledge 2(12):11.

• McIntosh, D. H., Y. Guo, J. E. Hertzberg, N. Katz, H. J. Mo, F. C. van den Bosch, and X. Yang. (2008). Ongoing assembly of massive galaxies by major merging in large groups and clusters from the SDSS. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 388(4), 1537–1556.
  

Conference Abstracts

• Hertzberg, J. E., P. Chang, M. W. Schmidt, L. Ji, and B. L. Otto-Bliesner (2011).  Modeling the response of tropical North Atlantic subsurface temperatures to Atlantic meridional overturning circulation variability under Last Glacial Maximum boundary conditions.  EOS Transactions, AGU Fall Meeting Supplement, PP21B-1794 (AGU Fall Meeting 2011, San Francisco, CA).

• Schmidt, M. W., J. E. Hertzberg, T. R. Them, A. O. Parker, and P. Chang (2011).  Deglacial subsurface temperature change in the tropical North Atlantic linked to Atlantic meridional overturning circulation variability.  EOS Transactions, AGU Fall Meeting Supplement, PP21B-1793 (AGU Fall Meeting 2011, San Francisco, CA).

• Hertzberg, J. E. and M. W. Schmidt (2011).  Quantifying the [Ba²⁺]: δ¹⁸O_SEAWATER: surface salinity relationship in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific.  Mineralogical Magazine, 55(3), 1017 (Goldschmidt Conference 2011, Prague, Czech Republic)

• Hertzberg, J. E., D. E. Black, L. C. Peterson, R. C. Thunell, and G. H. Haug (2010).  The tropical Atlantic response to abrupt climate change during Interstadial 12.  EOS Transactions, AGU Fall Meeting Supplement, Abstract PP21A-1675 (AGU Fall Meeting 2010, San Francisco, CA).

• Mcintosh, D.H., Y. Guo, J. E. Hertzberg, N. Katz, H. J. Mo, F. C. van den Bosch, and X. Yang (2007).  Major-merger formation of massive galaxies in large groups and clusters from the SDSS.  American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #211, #126.01, Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 39, 955 (American Astronomical Society Meeting 211, Austin, TX).

Awards and Scholarships

• Ralph Rayburn '69 Texas Sea Grant Scholarship, Oceanography Department, Texas A&M University
• V. M. Goldschmidt Conference 2011 Travel Grant Award, given by The Geochemical Society
• Texas A&M Oceanography Graduate Council Travel Grant Award, 2011
• Louis and Elizabeth Scherck Graduate Fellowship, 2010 - Present - Oceanography Department, Texas A&M University
• NSF S-STEM Continental Margins Scholarship, 2010 - Present - Oceanography Department, Texas A&M University
• Lechner Graduate Scholarship, 2010 - College of Geosciences, Texas A&M University
• AAAS/Science Excellence in Science Award, 2009
• Dean's Scholarship, 2007 - School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, Stony Brook University