Elena Steponaitis
CV, January 2015
estep@mit.edu
Education
Ph.D. Candidate in Geology
MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Matriculated 09/2010, expected graduation fall 2015
Bachelor of Arts, Major: Environmental Science; Minor: Dance
Barnard College of Columbia University
Enrolled September 2006, graduated May 2010
Chapel Hill High School, graduated June 2006
Teaching Experience
MIT
Teaching Assistant in Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences:
- Environmental Earth Science, Prof. S. Bowring, Fall 2011
- Pre-Pleistocene Paleoclimate, Prof. D. McGee, Spring 2013
- Introduction to Geology, Profs. T. Perron and O. Jagoutz, Fall 2013
- History of Earth’s Climate, Prof. D. McGee, Spring 2015 (upcoming)
Columbia University
Teaching Assistant in Dept. of Earth and Environmental Science:
- Climate and Society Case Studies, Prof. P. DeMenocal, Fall 2008
- The Climate System, Prof. M. Ting, Spring 2009
Employment/Internships
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Undergraduate Research Assistant, Mentor: Dr. Lloyd Keigwin
(Internship was part of Hollings Scholarship Program)
6/2009 - 8/2009
Columbia University
Undergraduate Research Assistant, LDEO
Mentor: Prof. Sidney Hemming
Sediment provenance in eastern Weddell Sea, Antarctica using Ar-Ar geochronology
Paleoclimate at Mono Lake
9/2007 - 6/2010
Summer Intern, LDEO
Mentor: Prof. Sidney Hemming
NSF REU, the eastern Weddell Sea
6/2008 – 8/2008
Laboratory Assistant, Barnard College Dept. of Biology
Mentor: Prof. Kristen Shepard
Plant physiology and development
1/2007 – 5/2007
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Field Assistant
Mentors: Prof. Flora Lu (UNC Dept. of Anthropology), Prof. Wendy Wolford (UNC
Dept. of Geography)
Anthropological field trip to Galápagos Islands run by UNC Depts. of Anthropology and
Geography
Research Assistant
Mentor: Prof. John Rogers (UNC Dept. of Geology)
Investigated the relationship between geology of NC and population distribution between
1790 and 1950
Fellowships and Awards
Award for Excellence in Teaching
Awarded by MIT Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Ernest F. Hollings Scholar, Class of 2008
Awarded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, this program
provides the student with academic assistance for their junior and senior years of college
as well as with a ten-week summer internship opportunity.
(Fall 2008 – Spring 2010)
Publications
Mid-Holocene drying of the U.S. Great Basin recorded in Nevada speleothems.
Steponaitis, E., Andrews, A., McGee, D., Quade, J., Hsieh, Y.-T., Broecker, W.S.,
Shuman, B.S., Cheng, H. Quaternary Science Reviews, in revision.
Potential for accurate and precise radiocarbon ages in deglacial-age lacustrine carbonates.
Zimmerman, S.R.H., Steponaitis, E., Hemming, S.R., Zermeno, P. Quaternary
Geochronology, v. 13, p. 81-91, 2012.
Conference Presentations
Oral presentations:
Improved Stratigraphic Interpretation of Dense Lacustrine Carbonates from Lake
Bonneville, UT. Steponaitis, E., McGee, D., Quade, J. Presented at the 2014
American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
High-resolution records of Bonneville Basin paleohydrology offer new insights into
changing atmospheric circulation patterns over North America from 26 ka through
the Holocene. Steponaitis, E. McGee, D., Quade, J., Andrews, A., Edwards, R.L.,
Hsieh, Y., Broecker, W.S., Cheng, H., N.S. Presented at the 2013 American
Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
Posters:
Constraining water balance in the Bonneville Basin during the last glacial period and
deglaciation using 87Sr/86Sr and δ 18O of lacustrine carbonates. Steponaitis, E.,
McGee, D., Quade, J., Edwards, R.L., Broecker, W.S., Cheng, H., Reiners, P.W.,
Evenson, N.S. Presented at the 2012 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting,
San Francisco, CA.
Decadal to Millenial Scale Climate Variability in the Gulf of Maine. Steponaitis, E. and
Keigwin, L. Presented at the 2009 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting,
San Francisco, CA.
Hornblende Ar-Ar and zircon U-Pb evidence for provenance of eastern Weddell Sea
glaciogenic sediments, Antarctica. Steponaitis, E., Gehrels, G.E., Hemming, S.R.,
Goldstein, S.L., Van de Fleirdt, T., and Brachfeld, S.A. Presented at the 2008
Goldschmidt Conference, Vancouver, BC.