I earned a PhD in geology from the University of Bern (Switzerland), working on characterization of dolomite reservoirs in Oman. This was followed by postdoctoral research projects on Precambrian carbonates at MIT (USA) and the University of Johannesburg (South Africa). Most recently, I worked as a carbonate and subsurface geologist for Total SA in France. In this role, I was involved in reservoir studies, regional exploration studies and research applied to reservoir characterization. I worked on depositional systems from southern Africa to Mauritania, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and eastern Asia.

My background is in carbonate sedimentology and diagenesis, with integration of regional, outcrop, subsurface, and laboratory analytical data to characterize depositional systems and paleoclimates. Specific research areas are the geodynamic and sedimentary evolution of continental rifts, and the reconstruction of Precambrian environmental conditions via the sedimentary and geochemical study of carbonate and microbial depositional systems.

My current research interests are:

• Geodynamic context, deposition, source to sink analysis, and fluid flow in the Atlantic rifts of Africa and South America, and relation with volcanism
• Depositional systems in the Archean-Paleoproterozoic transition and how they record environmental changes associated with the rise of atmospheric oxygen
• Paleoclimate and biotic response during the Paleogene warm period
• Microbial carbonates and carbonates in modern environments, strategies for waste remediation