Sanpisa  Sritrairat

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, New Core Lab 204

 61 Route 9W, P.O. Box 1000, Palisades, NY 10964-8000       

                            Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University

 

e-mail: sanpisa at ldeo.columbia.edu                                                                                                                          www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~sanpisa     

Featured in Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Biennial Report 2009 : http://eesc.columbia.edu/news-events/news/digging-hudson-river-wetlands

 

Education

2004-present

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, M.A./M.Phil/Ph.D. program, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) of Columbia University New York, NY         

Dissertation: Multiproxy Analysis of Past Vegetation, Climate, and Sediment Dynamics in Hudson River wetlands

Research advisors: Dorothy Peteet and Timothy Kenna 

Committee members: Peter deMenocal and Kevin Griffin

Majors and Minors: 1) Paleoecology/Paleoclimatology, 2) Environmental Geochemistry, 3) Isotope Geology

2009

M.Phil,  Columbia University (LDEO) New York, NY

Thesis: Past Vegetation, Climate, Nutrient, and Sediment Dynamics in Hudson NERR Wetlands

May 2006

M.A. in Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University  (LDEO) New York, NY        

Thesis: Human Impacts and Climate Variability at Tivoli North Bay, Hudson River, New York

May 2004

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY           

B.S. in Hydrogeology with honors (Magna cum Laude), with emphasis on organic & inorganic geochemistry, environmental geochemistry, and hydrology            

Advisor: Richard Bopp

B.S. dual majors in Environmental Sciences and Biology with honors, Economics minor, (Magna cum Laude)- with emphasis on molecular biology, ecology, global change, and ecological economics

Advisors: Jun Abrajano and Carl McDaniel      

                                               

Awards, Honors, Fellowships, and Grants

Fellowships and Scholarships

  • National Estuarine Research Reserve Graduate Student Fellowship. Linking Wetland Sediment and Contaminant Dynamics with Ecosystem Changes from Anthropogenic and Climatic Changes in Hudson River NERR Wetlands (2008 – 2010, $57,000)
  • New York Sea Grant and Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve
    Cooperative Research Fellowship. Long-Term Natural and Anthropogenic Changes in Tivoli Bays and Stockport Flats, New York  (2005-2007, $32,000)

·         Faculty Fellow, Columbia University (2004-present)

·         Full Scholarship from the Royal Thai Government (1999-present) to study B.S. – Ph.D.

·         Howard Hughes Scholarship for environmental molecular biology research at RPI (2002)

·         Science Research Program full scholarship from Singapore Government to do research at the National University of Singapore (1999)

Awards and Honors

  • Best Teaching Assistant Award, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University (2006-2007 academic year)
  • One of 12 finalists for the students-nominated Columbia University Presidential Outstanding Teaching Awards (2007)

·         NASA’s New York City Research Initiative Achievement Award (2006-2009)

·         Joseph L. Rosenholtz Prize, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, awarded to the most outstanding senior in Earth Sciences (2004)

Grants

  • LDEO Climate Center's Grant, Drought Reconstruction in the Hudson Watershed History (Kenna, Peteet, Sritrairat, 2008, $8,000)
  • LDEO Climate Center’s Grant, Alkylated PAHs in Lake Sediments: Exploring Details of Paleo-Biomass Combustion (Yan, Sritrairat, Peteet, 2008, $8000)
  • LDEO Climate Center's Grant, XRF Use in Hudson Marshes - Climate Change and Watershed History (Peteet, Kenna, Sritrairat, 2007, $6,000)

 

Teaching and Mentoring Experience

Guest Instructor

Columbia University                                                                                                                   New York, NY

Fall 2009: EESC W4835 Wetlands and Climate Change

Hofstra University                                                                                                           Hempstead, NY

Fall 2007: GEOL140 Paleoclimatology

Teaching Assistant

Columbia University                                                                                                                     New York, NY

Fall 2006, Fall 2007:EESC W4401 Quantitative Models of Climate-Sensitive Natural and Human systems

Fall 2005: EESC W4835 Wetlands and Climate Change: www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~sanpisa/wetland

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute                                                                                            Troy, NY

Fall 2002: BIOL-1010: Introduction to Biology

Spring 2001: MATH-2400: Introduction to Differential Equations

Mentoring Experience

2005 – present: Co-mentored (with Dr. Peteet) nine undergraduate, seven high school interns, and three high school teachers conducting research in the Paleoecology Lab, LDEO

2004: Mentored 2 undergraduate students in the Environmental Geochemistry Lab, RPI

Work and Research Experience

Summer 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010                                                                        

NASA at Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS)                                                New York, NY

·         Research mentor in NASA’s New York City Research Initiative Program.  Co-mentored a high school student and teacher each year to conduct research on a comparison of Hudson Estuarine marshes and Alaskan fen sedimentation, carbon sequestration, carbon cycling, and their δ13C and δ15N signatures. 

December 2003 – Summer 2004

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute                                                                                             Troy, NY

·         Research Assistant in a geochemistry lab under the supervision of Prof. Richard Bopp.  Analyzed water samples for a USGS study of the Delaware Basin carbon transport.  Involved in the study of organic pollutants (PAH and PCB) in Hudson River sediments.

June - August 2003

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC)                                           Edgewater, MD

·         Intern/Research Assistant in the Biogeochemistry Lab supervised by Dr. Patrick Megonigal. Used biogeochemistry and analytical chemistry techniques to study sediment biogeochemistry, carbon cycling and the effects of climate/hydrology variability to marsh ecosystem of the Chesapeake Bay and Patuxent River estuary.

Fall 2001-Spring 2002

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute                                                                                           Troy, NY

·         Research Assistant in Sandra A. Nierzwicki-Bauer’s Molecular Biology lab.

·         Independent research under the Howard Hughes scholarship to study microbial evolution and biodiversity of Azolla’s bacterial endosymbionts using molecular biology techniques.

Summer 1999

National University of Singapore                                                                                        Singapore

·         Research Assistant in a medical Microbiology lab. Independent research entitled, “Effect of Different Antibiotic Soaps on E.coli and S.aureus,under the scholarship from the Science Research Program 1999

Publications

Peer-reviewed

Xu C.Y.; Griffin K. L; Blazier J.C.; Craig E. C; Gilbert D. S; Sritrairat S.; Anderson O.R.; Castaldi M.; Beaumont L. 2009. The growth response of Alternanthera philoxeroides in a simulated post-combustion emission with ultrahigh [CO2] and acidic pollutants. Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987) 2009;157(7):2118-25.

Kenna, T. C., Nitsche, F. O., Herron, M., Mailloux, B. J., Peteet, D. M., Sritrairat, S., Sands, E., Baumgarten, J. Evaluation and calibration of a field portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer for quantitative analysis of siliciclastic soils and sediments.  Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry (JAAS), Accepted October 2010

In Prep 

Sritrairat, S., Peteet, D.M., Sambrotto, R. Griffin, K. Chillrud, S. Kenna, T.  Past Vegetation, Climate, Sediment, and Nutrient Dynamics at Tivoli North Bay, Hudson River, New York. In preparation for Ecological Monographs, plan to submit January, 2011

Sritrairat, S., Peteet, D.M., Kenna, T.K., and Chillrud, S. A Thousand years of Environmental Change at Stockport Flats: a Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve.  In preparation for Wetlands

Sritrairat, S., Kenna, T.  and Peteet, D.M. Application of a Field Portable X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer to Rapidly Analyze for Climate and Environmental Changes in Organic-Rich Marsh Sediments.  In prep for Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

Sritrairat, S., Kenna, T.  and Peteet, D.M. Heavy Metal Distribution in Hudson River Wetlands, NY. In prep for Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

Sritrairat, S., Kenna, T.  and Peteet, D.M. Estuary-Wide History of Sediment, Climate, and Ecosystem Changes in the Hudson River, NY  In prep for Ecology

 

Non-peer reviewed publications

Sritrairat, S. 2002. Mycorrhizal fungi and agriculture, in Rajabhat Yala University’s Thai National Science Day 02 book, August 2002

Sritrairat, S. 2003. Mathematic modeling for better strip logging strategy, in Rajabhat Yala University’s Thai National Science Day 03 book, August 2003

 

Technical reports

Sritrairat, S. 2007. Past Vegetation, Climate, and Sediment Dynamics in Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve Wetlands in Tivoli Bays and Stockport Flats: NYSG-HRNERR Fellowship Final Report, NY Sea Grant and Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Sritrairat, S. 2010. Linking Wetland Sedimentation and Contaminant Deposition with Ecosystem Changes from Anthropogenic and Climatic Changes in Hudson River NERR Wetlands. National Estuarine Research Reserve Fellowship Final Report

 

Theses

Sritrairat, S. 2007. Past Vegetation, Climate, Nutrient, and Sediment Dynamics in Hudson National Estuarine Research Reserve Wetlands. M.Phil Thesis, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY

Sritrairat, S. 2006. Human Impacts and Climate Variability at Tivoli North Bay, Hudson River, New York, M.A. Thesis, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY

 

Abstracts/Professional Conferences

Sritrairat, S. Kenna, T.C., Peteet, D.M.  et al. Sediment Dynamics and Fate of Heavy Metals, Carbon, and Inorganic Matter in the Hudson Estuary, New York.  Eos Trans. AGU, 91(55), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract OS33G-02 (Talk)

Sritrairat, S. Peteet, D.M., and Kenna, T.C. Environmental Changes of the Mid-Hudson Estuary in the last Millennium.  Geological Society of America, Northeast and Southeast Joint Meeting, 2010. Abstract 76-5 (Talk)

Sritrairat, S. Kenna, T.C., Peteet, D.M. 2009. Method Evaluation: Coupling of Geochemical Proxies with Traditional Paleoecological Indicators in Marsh SedimentsEos Trans. AGU, 90(54), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract PP31B-1351

Srirairat, S. Peteet, D.M., Kenna, T.C. 2009. Ecosystem and Landscape Change of the Mid-Hudson Estuary over the Last 400 Years. New York State Wetland Forums, 2009. (Invited talk)

Sritrairat, S. Kenna, T.C., Peteet, D.M., Pederson, D. 2008. Multiproxy Analysis of Droughts, Landscape Changes, Sediment Dynamics, and Human Disturbances in Hudson River Marsh Peat, using Pollen, Spores, Macrofossils, LOI, and X- Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy. Eos Trans. AGU, 89(53), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract B13B-0444

Sritrairat, S. Peteet, D.M., Kurdyla, D, and Guilderson, T. 2008. Past Vegetation, Climate, and Sediment Dynamics in Hudson NERR Wetlands. Northeast National History Meeting. Albany, NY. (Invited talk)

Kenna, T.C., Sritrairat, S. Peteet, D.M.2008. Rapid Analysis of Zn, Ti, and K with X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy as Proxies for Drought, Fire, and Erosion in Hudson River Marsh Sediment. AMQUA Biennial Meeting, Penn State University, PA.

Sritrairat, S. Kenna, T.C., Peteet, D.M. 2007. Coupled Pollen, Spore, and Macrofossil Hudson River Marsh Paleoecological Analysis with X-Ray Fluorescence Elemental Analysis to Study Estuarine Ecosystem Response to Anthropogenic and Climatic Changes. Eos Trans. AGU, 88(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract GC54A-04 (Talk)

Sritrairat, S. Peteet, D.M., Griffin, G.L., Kurdyla, D, and Guilderson, T. 2006. Climate Variability and Human Impacts at Tivoli North Bay, Hudson River. Eos Trans. AGU, 87(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract A53E-0241.

Additional Invited Talks

  • Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia U., Undergrad seminar series, 2009
  • NASA Goddard Institute of Space Study, New York, NY, October 2009
  • Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory’s Biology and Paleo-Environment Seminar, 2008

Laboratory/Field Skills

·         ICP-Mass spectroscopy for stable C and N, X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy analysis, gas and liquid chromatography, GC-MS, column chemistry, radiogenic λ-ray counting, infrared spectroscopy, NMR

·         Identification of pollen grains and macrofossils in sediment cores

·         Marsh, bog, lake, riverine, coastal, and marine sediment coring and sediment analysis

·         Molecular biology techniques, including16S rRNA gene Sequencing, PCR, Bacterial Cloning, in situ hybridization, RFLP, Agarose Gel and SDS-PAGE Electrophoresis

Field Work

·         Seven years of sediment coring, boating, plant and geographic survey in upland and wetlands of the Hudson River, New York State, the Chesapeake Bay, MD, and Massachusetts

·         Field assistant to take bog and fen sediment cores in the Kenai Peninsula, AK, 2006

·         Field mapping, sedimentology, mineralogy, petrology, organic and trace metal contaminant analysis, sediment analysis, geochemical tracer study, and field hydrology of New York State and the Hudson River Basin (2002-present)

·         Coursework-related: Projects in Barbados with Prof. Rick Fairbanks (isotope geology, geomorphology of the uplifted coral for past sea level (2005))

Languages: Thai (native speaker), English (fluent)

Service and Outreach

·         Organizing the Division of Biology and Paleoenvironment seminar series, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, NY, 2006-2007, 2009-2011

·         Lamont Open House, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, NY October 2004-2010

·         Co-leading 1-2 field trips per season for The River Summer Program

·         Hudson Snapshot Day: Organized a hands-on sediment research station at Piermont pier, NY for high school students to learn about sediment and stratigraphy study and the paleoenvironment of the Hudson 2007-2009: http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/edu/k12/snapshotday/

·         New York City International Polar Weekend, the American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY. 2005-2009. Organized an exhibition to increase public awareness about climate change and polar research: www.amnh.org/polar

Activities

·         A black belt practicing Kokikai Aikido, Columbia University.

·         Organizer of the Lamont community garden (2007-2010)

·         Hiking, snorkeling, cooking, crafting