Karst Paleo-Research Group
People in the Group
DIRECTOR
Dr. Bogdan P. Onac, a Professor in the School of Geosciences at the University of South Florida, is a leading researcher in reconstructing past climate and environmental changes. He earned his Bachelor鈥檚 and PhD in Geology from Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. His innovative research explores clues within cave and lava tube deposits鈥攊ncluding ice, guano, and speleothems鈥攗sing stable and radiogenic isotope geochemistry and mineralogy to uncover insights into Earth鈥檚 climate history.
CURRENT STUDENTS
Emma Hughes, Graduate Student
Emma Hughes is a recent graduate from Cornell College (2024) in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, where she majored in Geology. She is currently studying past sea levels in Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico) using cave deposits.
Former Students
Laura CALABRO, MS Student (June 2023)
Quinton VITELLI-HAWKINS, MS Student (defended June 2022)
Daniel CLEARY, PhD Student (defended March 2019)
Oana-Alexandra DUMITRU, PhD Student (defended October 2019)
Giuseppe LUCIA, MS Student (defended March 2019)
Dylan PARMENTER, MS Student (defended October 2018)
Jackson HUBBARD, MS Student (defended March 2017)
Evan MOORE, Honors College Thesis (defended April 2017)
Speleothem evidence for climate changes in NW Romania
Daniel M. Cleary, MS (defended October 2015)
Jacqueline A. DIEHL, MS (defended March 2015)
Liana Marie BOOP, PhD (defended July 2014)
Montana PUSCAS, PhD (defended November 2013)
Virgil DRAGUSIN, PhD - Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania (defended July 2013)
MIS 3 paleoclimate reconstructions based on cave deposits from Romania
Aurel PERSOIU, PhD (defended February 2011)
Jonathan SUMRALL, MS (defended March 2009)
Kali PACE-GRACZYK, MS (defended July 2007)
Andrea BURKE, Honors College Thesis (defended July 2007)
An introduction to phosphate mining in the Bone Valley Formation of Central Florida
and the success of reclaimed wetlands