Elizabeth Niespolo

Last updated

Elizabeth M. Niespolo
EducationPhD, University of California, Berkeley (2019)
MS, California State University, Long Beach (2014)
BA, University of California, Berkeley
Known forTracing human activity with ostrich egg shells,
Geochronology of natural materials from archaeological sites,
High precision isotopic dating of volcanic minerals
Scientific career
Fields Geology, geochemistry, archaeology
Institutions Princeton University
Theses
Doctoral advisor Paul Renne
Other academic advisorsGregory Holk

Elizabeth Niespolo is an American geologist. Her work utilizes geochemical methods to understand archaeological sites and human activity on multiple continents. Niespolo integrates laboratory and field work studying natural materials such as ostrich egg shells, corals, and minerals in rocks to quantify potential human environmental signatures preserved in these materials and their relevance in piecing together understanding of Homo sapiens through time. In the absence of archaeological sites, Niespolo uses high precision isotopic dating of minerals from volcanoes to determine their petrologic and eruptive history.

Contents

Early life and education

Niespolo was a first generation college student when she started her studies at the university level and chose to pursue a path integrating science, the Earth, and human history. [1] She earned her undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Arts, with a double major from the University of California, Berkeley in Berkeley, California. [1] [2] [3] One major she chose in the humanities, Classics, and one major she chose in the sciences, Astrophysics. [2]

During her undergraduate studies, she was drawn towards ancient history. Pursuing this initial inclination she worked for some archaeologists in the classics department to get a feel for what archaeology entailed. [2] Part of this work included on-site field work in Greece where she found herself drawn to natural materials such as soils and fossils, their story, and how their stories were intertwined with the archaeological deposits. [2] This interest morphed into realizations about natural resources and how things including drywall in houses and cell phone electrical circuits, chips, and battery components are partially made of earth materials requiring mining and quarrying to extract from the Earth and put into everyday use. [2] She pursued additional field work in Italy where she worked on pottery from Pompeii and saw Mount Vesuvius, which piqued her interest in volcanoes and their interactions with human civilizations. [2] This theme of human civilization interactions with natural processes became a theme in the course of her graduate studies. [1] [2]

Graduate studies in geology

Niespolo began her graduate studies in geology at California State University, Long Beach in Long Beach, California focusing her thesis work on the minerals in and geochemical signatures of jadeitites from Guatemala. [4] These signatures she used to develop a new way of finding where Mesoamerican jade artifacts originated from. [4] As part of her research she worked at a Mayan archaeological site in Chiapas, Mexico. [2] Her efforts at California State University, Long Beach both on-campus and in the field in Mexico earned her a Master of Science, MS, degree. [3] [4]

After completing her MS, Niespolo continued her graduate studies in geology by pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy, PhD, at the University of California, Berkeley. [1] [2] [3] [5] Her work was split into two settings: on-campus laboratory work including activities such as taking geochemical measurements and on-location field work in various locations including the East African Rift Valley. [1] In 2019 Niespolo finished and filed her dissertation and earned her PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. [5] Niespolo's dissertation focused on using both stable and radiogenic isotopes to determine the geochronology and environmental context of human evolution in the past, the Quaternary specifically. [5]

Career

2010s: The Americas, Polynesia, and Africa beginnings

Niespolo started integrating her archaeological experience with her physics background through geochemical dating methods based on fundamental nuclear physical reactions and radioactive decay chains in the chemical elements. [1] Her physics background also came through in instrumentation she used to measure both radioactive and stable isotope abundances including mass spectrometry. [2] Isotopic abundances became a center of her work on jadeitites from Guatemala, Central America. [4] Her emphasis was on finding ways to fingerprint natural materials used by humans to make tools and artwork so the origin of these artifacts and the materials used in their construction can be pin-pointed. [4] She has also emphasized the importance of jade sourcing in terms of economics in the Mayan Empire. [2] As part of this work, Niespolo was a recipient of a research grant in 2014 from the Geological Society of America. [6]

Niespolo furthered her experience working with natural minerals focusing on volcanic sanidine from northern California. [7] This work provided high precision dating to aid in understanding petrologic and eruptive processes that may have been preserved in minerals erupted in the Alder Creek rhyolite during the early Pleistocene. [7]

Radiometric dating of corals from the Cook Islands in Polynesia Niespolo pursued to aid in providing precise dates for human arrival and inhabitation of the island of Mangaia in Polynesia. [8] As islands in Polynesia were not originally inhabited by humans, precise geochemical dating can help to provide precise timelines for human arrival and colonization of the islands as well as the non-native plants humans brought with them. [8] Specifically, Niespolo found that coral abraders contained chemical evidence in the form of Thorium that Polynesians arrived to Mangaia by 1011.6 ± 5.8 CE and sweet potatoes arrived by 1361-1466 CE. [8]

Following her work on natural materials from Central America, North America, and Polynesia, Niespolo broadened her scope geographically by honing in on piecing together what past physical and chemical environments were like in Africa. [1] [5] The goal with her work being correlating geochemical findings with archaeological sites to understand the timing of new tool development, human evolution, and human migration in relation to the land around them. [1] [2] Part of why Niespolo chose to pursue geochronology was her interest in understanding past human evolution in response to changing environmental conditions that may be helpful in modern times to understand potential environment changes in response to human activity. [1] [2]

Foundational work on this topic for Niespolo included geochemical measurements of stable isotopes providing understanding of rainfall and vegetation variability in Eastern Africa during the Pleistocene-Holocene. [9] This work provided environmental context for archaeological sites in Eastern Africa in the form of stable isotope abundances from ostrich egg shells and was funded by a $199,496 grant from the National Science Foundation. [9] [10]

2020s: Africa continues and professorship

Niespolo draws inspiration in her geology work from past geologist Charles Lyell emphasizing that to understand the present the past is particularly pertinent. Niespolo narrows this point down in an interview with Scientific American , "Geology is the direct means to understanding our resources, and we use natural resources for literally everything (your house, your drinking water, energy). If we don't know the geologic processes controlling these observable resources, we will be hard pressed to continue utilizing them safely and responsibly, and developing more sustainable resource use in the future." [1]

In April 2021, Niespolo's research from leading a group of scientists in investigating marine resource overuse in South Africa during the Middle Stone Age and providing high precision dating to correlate Homo sapiens resource use with sea level change in the area was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . [11] [12] [13] [14] Specifically, the study expanded her use of isotopic dating of ostrich egg shells, this time utilizing a 230Thorium/Uranium burial dating, to remains from an archaeological site near modern day Cape Town and found the deposit of dated remains accumulated between 113,000 and 120,000 years before the study. [13] [14] The study also found inhabitants of the archaeological site continued maintaining a consistent diet even as sea level dropped following a high stand of the sea, which was attributed to selective foraging by the inhabitants in part due to an increase in aridity over the dated time period. [11]

The same month, Princeton University announced that Niespolo was one of 10 new faculty members approved by Princeton University's Board of Trustees. [3] Her faculty appointment began in the autumn of 2021 at the assistant professor level. [3] In 2022, her further expansion of her geochronology expertise in assessing human-climate dynamics in the past was published in a collaborative study investigating tool and technology development in relation to changes in wind intensity and rainfall around 80,000 to 92,000 years before the published 2022 study in what is modern day South Africa, to which she contributed uranium-series dating of natural materials. [15]

Personal

Niespolo enjoys the research setting, its cutting edge nature, and being a part of new discoveries. [1] However, one of the frustrations she has with researching in an academic setting is the amount of time and effort spent on securing funding as opposed to doing the science itself. [1] This particular aspect of research in higher education Niespolo identified as her least favorite part of what she does. [1]

Niespolo is a vocal proponent of female mentorship in science disciplines taking initiative herself by participating in organizations including Bay Area Scientists in Schools. [1] [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

Geology is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth sciences, including hydrology. It is integrated with Earth system science and planetary science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geochronology</span> Science of determining the age of rocks, sediments and fossils

Geochronology is the science of determining the age of rocks, fossils, and sediments using signatures inherent in the rocks themselves. Absolute geochronology can be accomplished through radioactive isotopes, whereas relative geochronology is provided by tools such as paleomagnetism and stable isotope ratios. By combining multiple geochronological indicators the precision of the recovered age can be improved.

Potassium–argon dating, abbreviated K–Ar dating, is a radiometric dating method used in geochronology and archaeology. It is based on measurement of the product of the radioactive decay of an isotope of potassium (K) into argon (Ar). Potassium is a common element found in many materials, such as feldspars, micas, clay minerals, tephra, and evaporites. In these materials, the decay product 40
Ar
 is able to escape the liquid (molten) rock, but starts to accumulate when the rock solidifies (recrystallizes). The amount of argon sublimation that occurs is a function of the purity of the sample, the composition of the mother material, and a number of other factors. These factors introduce error limits on the upper and lower bounds of dating, so that the final determination of age is reliant on the environmental factors during formation, melting, and exposure to decreased pressure or open air. Time since recrystallization is calculated by measuring the ratio of the amount of 40
Ar
 accumulated to the amount of 40
K
 remaining. The long half-life of 40
K
 allows the method to be used to calculate the absolute age of samples older than a few thousand years.

Absolute dating is the process of determining an age on a specified chronology in archaeology and geology. Some scientists prefer the terms chronometric or calendar dating, as use of the word "absolute" implies an unwarranted certainty of accuracy. Absolute dating provides a numerical age or range, in contrast with relative dating, which places events in order without any measure of the age between events.

Quaternary science is the subfield of geology which studies the Quaternary Period commonly known as the ice age. The Quaternary Period is a time period that started around 2.58 million years ago and continues today. This period is divided into two epochs – the Pleistocene Epoch and the Holocene Epoch. The aim of Quaternary science is to understand everything that happened during the Pleistocene Epoch and the Holocene Epoch to be able to acquire fundamental knowledge about Earth's environment, ecosystem, climate changes, etc. Quaternary science was first studied during the nineteenth century by Georges Cuvier, a French scientist. Most Quaternary scientists have studied the history of the Quaternary to predict future changes in climate.

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In radiometric dating, closure temperature or blocking temperature refers to the temperature of a system, such as a mineral, at the time given by its radiometric date. In physical terms, the closure temperature is the temperature at which a system has cooled so that there is no longer any significant diffusion of the parent or daughter isotopes out of the system and into the external environment. The concept's initial mathematical formulation was presented in a seminal paper by Martin H. Dodson, "Closure temperature in cooling geochronological and petrological systems" in the journal Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 1973, with refinements to a usable experimental formulation by other scientists in later years. This temperature varies broadly among different minerals and also differs depending on the parent and daughter atoms being considered. It is specific to a particular material and isotopic system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thermochronology</span> Study of the thermal evolution of a region of a planet

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Wonderwerk Cave is an archaeological site, formed originally as an ancient solution cavity in dolomite rocks of the Kuruman Hills, situated between Danielskuil and Kuruman in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. It is a National Heritage Site, managed as a satellite of the McGregor Museum in Kimberley. Geologically, hillside erosion exposed the northern end of the cavity, which extends horizontally for about 140 m (460 ft) into the base of a hill. Accumulated deposits inside the cave, up to 7 m (23 ft) in-depth, reflect natural sedimentation processes such as water and wind deposition as well as the activities of animals, birds, and human ancestors over some 2 million years. The site has been studied and excavated by archaeologists since the 1940s and research here generates important insights into human history in the subcontinent of Southern Africa. Evidence within Wonderwerk cave has been called the oldest controlled fire. Wonderwerk means "miracle" in the Afrikaans language.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald J. DePaolo</span> American geochemist

Donald James DePaolo is an American professor of geochemistry in the department of earth and planetary science at the University of California, Berkeley and associate laboratory director for energy and environmental sciences at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nelson Bay Cave</span> Stone Age archaeological site in South Africa

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Electron spin resonance dating, or ESR dating, is a technique used to date materials which radiocarbon dating cannot, including minerals, biological materials, archaeological materials and food. Electron spin resonance dating was first introduced to the science community in 1975, when Japanese nuclear physicist Motoji Ikeya dated a speleothem in Akiyoshi Cave, Japan. ESR dating measures the amount of unpaired electrons in crystalline structures that were previously exposed to natural radiation. The age of a substance can be determined by measuring the dosage of radiation since the time of its formation.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Burns, Terri (January 3, 2017). "STEM Student Spotlight: Elizabeth Niespolo" Scientific American . Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 The Graduates (April 11, 2017). "Elizabeth Niespolo". 90.7 FM KALX Berkeley . Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Office of Communications (April 13, 2021). "Board approves 10 faculty appointments". Princeton University . Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Niespolo, Elizabeth M. (2014). "Mineralogy, geochemistry, and stable isotopes of Guatemalan jadeitites: A new method to determine the provenance of Mesoamerican jade artifacts". ProQuest . Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Niespolo, Elizabeth (2019). "Determining Timescales and Paleoenvironments of Quaternary Human Evolution Using Stable and Radiogenic Isotopes". ProQuest . Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  6. ↑ Geological Society of America (July 2014). "2014 GSA Research Grant Recipients". GSA Today. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  7. 1 2 Niespolo, Elizabeth M.; Rutte, Daniel; Deino, Alan L.; Renne, Paul R. (2017). "Intercalibration and age of the Alder Creek sanidine 40Ar/39Ar standard". Quaternary Geochronology 39: 205-213. doi: 10.1016/j.quageo.2016.09.004. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 Niespolo, Elizabeth M.; Sharp, Warren D.; Kirch, Patrick V. (2019). "230Th dating of coral abraders from stratified deposits at Tangatatau Rockshelter, Mangaia, Cook Islands: Implications for building precise chronologies in Polynesia". Journal of Archaeological Science 101: 21-33. doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2018.11.001. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  9. 1 2 Niespolo, E.M.; Sharp, E.M.; Tyron, C.A.; Faith, J.T.; Lewis, J.; Ranhorn, K.; Mambelli, S.; Miller, M.J.; Dawson, T.E. (2020). "Carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopes of ostrich eggshells provide site-scale Pleistocene-Holocene paleoenvironmental records for eastern African archaeological sites". Quaternary Science Reviews 230(2020): 106142. doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.106142. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  10. ↑ National Science Foundation (2021). "Award Abstract # 1727085: Improved Dating of Archaeological Materials with Coordinated Stable Isotope Studies". NSF Award Search. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  11. 1 2 Niespolo, Elizabeth M.; Sharp, Warren D.; Avery, Graham; Dawson, Todd E. (2021). "Early, intensive marine resource exploitation by Middle Stone Age humans at Ysterfontein 1 rockshelter, South Africa". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118(6): e2020042118. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2020042118. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  12. ↑ Milligan, Markus (April 30, 2021). "Uranium-series dating shows South African midden is world's oldest". heritagedaily.com. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  13. 1 2 "Des œufs d'autruche pour dater des sites archéologiques africains" (in French). Sciences et Avenir . May 12, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  14. 1 2 Debbia, Leonardo (June 16, 2021). "Gusci d'uovo di struzzo per datare antichi siti umani" (in Italian). gaianews.it. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  15. ↑ Holder, Kathleen (February 28, 2022). "Did a Tough Environment Shape the Evolution of Human Creativity?". University of California, Davis . Retrieved April 6, 2023.
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