Daniel Crocker

He/Him/His
Dan is a stable isotope geochemist interested in the sources, transformations, and environmental cycling of organic matter in a variety of geochemical environments—from ancient meteorites to the modern Earth. He completed his Ph. D. at the University of California-San Diego as a member of the Center for Aerosol Impacts on Chemistry of the Environment (CAICE). His doctoral research focused on using carbon stable isotopes to track sea-to-air transfer of organics into sea spray aerosols and improve isotopic source apportionment of anthropogenic aerosols in the marine environment. As a postdoctoral fellow in the Johnston Group, Dan has developed new methodology for triple oxygen isotope measurements of organic matter. He is now applying this novel analytical system to elucidate the synthetic and alteration history of bulk and compound‑specific organics in meteorites as well as to track organic matter oxidation pathways/kinetics in aqueous environments. In Fall 2024, Dan will begin an NSF-AGS Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Johnston Group to investigate the atmospheric oxidation pathways of organic aerosols and their climate-relevant impact on aerosol radiative properties.