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Phone: 979.862.8342
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O&M Building, Room 408A

Course Offerings:

  • OCNG 251 - Oceanography

Dr. Matthew Schmidt

Assistant Professor and Graduate Academic Advisor Geological and Geophysical Oceanography

Ph.D. Geology, University of California, Davis, 2005

M.S. Geology, University of South Florida, 1997

B.S. Geology and Fine Arts, Honors, Vanderbilt University, 1993

Bio

Dr. Schmidt's research interests focus on understanding the links between air-sea interactions and climate change during the last several glacial cycles (the past 500,000 years). He studies the geochemistry of both planktonic and benthic foraminifera recovered from deep-sea sediment cores to reconstruct climate variability ranging from orbital to centennial time scales. By measuring trace metal ratios and stable isotopic values in foraminiferal calcite, he has reconstructed records of past temperature, sea surface salinity, and ocean circulation change in the tropical and subtropical North Atlantic.

His ongoing research goals are to investigate how past changes in the hydrologic cycle and ocean circulation impacted inter- and intra-basin salinity gradients and to determine how these changes influence large-scale North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation variability across abrupt climate events such as the Younger Dryas and the millennial-scale climate fluctuations characteristic of the last ice age know as Dansgaard-Oeschger events.

Research Interests

  • Paleoceanography
  • Paleoclimatology
  • Geochemistry

Projects

  • Dr. Schmidt is currently working on a project with Jean Lynch-Stieglitz at the Georgia Institute of Technology to determine the relative timing between atmospheric vs. ocean circulation change in the tropical and subtropical North Atlantic across last glacial termination by generating proxy records for sea surface salinity and ocean circulation change in several cores recovered from the margins of the Florida Straits.

Experience

  • 2007-present, Assistant Professor Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.
  • 2005-2007, NOAA Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Fellow Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.
  • 2000-2005, Graduate Researcher, Department of Geology, University of California, Davis.
  • 1995-1997, Teaching Assistant, Department of Geology, University of South Florida.
  • 1991-1993, Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Geology, Vanderbilt University.

Publications

  • Schmidt, M.W., Vautravers, M.J., and Spero, H.J. (2006), Rapid North Atlantic Salinity Oscillations Across Dansgaard-Oeschger Cycles. Nature, 443, 5 October, 561-564, doi:10.1038/nature05121.
  • Schmidt, M.W., Vautravers, M.J., and Spero, H.J. (2006), Western Caribbean Sea Surface Temperatures During the Late Quaternary. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, 7, doi:10.1029/2005GC000957.
  • Schmidt, M.W., Spero, H.J., and Lea, D.W. (2004), Links between salinity variation in the Caribbean and North Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation. Nature, 428, 11 March, 160-163, doi:10.1038/nature02346.
  • Schmidt, M.W. and Spero, H.J. (in prep), Evidence for Tropical Hydrologic Cycle Change Linked to Northern Hemisphere Ice Sheet Dynamics Across the Last Three Glacial Cycles.

Awards

  • Allen G. Marr Prize, University of California, Davis, for most distinguished dissertation in the fields of Mathematics, Physical Sciences, Engineering, and Social Sciences, 2006.
  • USSSP Schlanger Ocean Drilling Fellowship. $23,000. Given by the Ocean Drilling Program in support of graduate research on: Temperature and hydrological changes in the western Caribbean and the central North Atlantic during the last 450 kyr. 2002-2003
  • USSSP Schlanger Ocean Drilling Fellowship. $23,000. Given by the Ocean Drilling Program in support of graduate research on: Temperature and Hydrological Changes in the Western Caribbean and the Tropical Pacific During the Last 750 kyr. 2001-2002.
  • Outstanding Master's Thesis Award. Given by the College of Arts and Science, University of South Florida, 1998
  • Geological Society of America Research Award. Given for graduate research, University of South Florida, 1996-1997.
  • Sigma Xi Award. Given in support of graduate research, University of South Florida, 1996-1997.
  • American Museum of Natural History, New York, Lerner Gray Grant for Marine Research Award. Given in support of graduate research, University of South Florida, 1996-1997.
  • Tampa Bay Fossil Club Award. Given in support of graduate research, University of South Florida, 1996.

News

  • Dr. Schmidt is currently looking for new graduate students.