Professor
Contact Information: Website
Office: 364 Williamson Hall
Education: Ph.D. Marine Geochemistry, Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences / College of William and Mary, 2000
Areas of Interest / Research
- Organic Geochemistry
- Biogeochemistry
- Geomicrobiology
- Marine Science
Dr. Andrew Zimmerman is an organic geochemist and biogeochemist that specializes in carbon cycling, particularly that produced by fires. The overarching goal of his work is to understand carbon cycling in the past and present and its relationship to global change. He applies this understanding to solve contemporary environmental problems such as pollution and climate change. His research specialty is in probing the relationship between organic matter, minerals and microbes, and how this dictates the degradation/preservation of organic matter in various environments. His recent focus has been on converting waste biomass to charcoal (biochar) that can be used to sequester carbon in soils, thus mitigating climate change while enhancing soil fertility.