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Dr. Valier Galy

Associate Scientist
Marine Chemistry & Geochemistry

Contact Information:
Work: 508-289-2340
vgaly@whoi.edu
Building: Fye 107D

Mailing Address:
266 Woods Hole Road, MS #04
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Woods Hole, MA 02543

Research Interests

My research focuses on multiple aspects of biogeochemistry from terrestrial and oceanic C cycle to deep biosphere and paleo-climate. This includes:

  • Fluvial transfer of organic carbon from continental reservoirs to the ocean.
  • Impact of climate change on the dynamics of terrestrial organic carbon cycling.
  • Deep biosphere, role of microbial communities in sedimentary systems.
  • Carbon cycling in the Critical Zone.
  • Radiocarbon dating (compound specific, ramped pyrolysis/oxidation), new dating techniques.
  • Developing paleo-climate proxies, e.g. compound specific stable isotopic measurements.
  • Relationships between erosion, tectonics and climate over long timescales.

Awards

INPL PhD award, 2007

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Education

Ph.D., CRPG-CNRS, Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine, France, 2007

Masters degree of Reaserch, Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine, France, 2003

Masters degree of Engineering, Ecole National Superieure de Geologie de Nancy, France, 2003

Biography

Along with my colleagues from WHOI and the Woods Hole Research Center I am part of a wide initiative - the Global Rivers Observatory - and study a wide range of river systems including the Amazon, Congo, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Fraser, Mackenzie, Yangtze and Connecticut Rivers to name only a few. I also study marine sedimentary records to understand past variations of the organic carbon cycle, in particular the relationships between climate change and the dynamics of organic carbon exchange. I use a range of state of the art techniques - such as compound specific radiocarbon dating - to characterize and understand the dynamics of organic carbon exchanges during continental erosion. I use and develop organic proxies - such as compound specific stable isotopic measurements - to study paleo-climate over timescales from centuries to millions of years.Finally, I am also interested in the relationships between erosion tectonics and climate over long timescales, in partiulcar the relationships between Himalayan erosion and climate over the Cenozoic.