Staff Profile

Valier Galy

Preferred Name: Valier Galy

ASSOCIATE SCIENTIST W/TENURE

MARINE CHEMISTRY & GEOCHEMISTRY

Email: vgaly@whoi.edu

Phone: 508 289 2340

Website: https://www2.whoi.edu/staff/vgaly/

Education

• Masters degree of Engineering, Ecole National Superieure de Geologie de Nancy, France, 2003
• Masters degree of Reaserch, Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine, France, 2003
• Ph.D., CRPG-CNRS, Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine, France, 2007

Research Statement

My research focusses on multiple geochemical aspects of the global C cycle. I am particularly interested in the fluvial transfer of organic carbon from continental reservoirs to the ocean. 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.

Research Interests

• Global C cycle.
• Organic carbon cycling during continental erosion.
• Fluvial transport, geochemistry of river sediments, weathering.
• The Himalayan system: past and present erosion, organic carbon flux and dynamics.
• Paleoclimate reconstruction using molecular proxies.
• Impact of continental erosion on the long-term atmospheric chemistry and climate.
• 14C dating of individual organic molecules.
• Stable isotopic composition of individual organic molecules.

Affiliations

• American Geophysical Union
• Geochemical Society

Awards

INPL PhD award, 2007