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Masha Makarova
Fall courses: Oceanography and Climate Change
About my work: “I’m a paleoclimatologist (‘paleo’ means ‘past’ and ‘climatology’ means ‘study of climate’), though personally I see myself as a climate detective who is trying to solve climate mysteries of our planet. My main research interest is to study past global-warming events that happened millions of years ago and to investigate what things were responsible for those climate changes. To understand this, I use multiple proxies, mostly employing chemical signals embedded in ancient microscopic shells of planktonic organisms and organic matter preserved in marine sediments.”
My moment of zen: “Academic life is intense. It is a non-stop marathon of research in the lab and field, writing publications, interactions with students in classes, meetings with colleagues at the scientific meeting—the list goes on. The pandemic significantly slowed down this pace, reminding me to enjoy the process itself and not to rush to get to the finish line.”
What I’ll love at Lafayette: “I think I will love people at Lafayette. I had a very warm welcome by my department, and I am very excited to get to know students and faculty. I am also impressed by the beauty of the campus, and I will definitely enjoy walking around its buildings and absorbing the rich history of this place.”