Daphne Kuta, B.S.
Geologist / Geochemist
Hello, I'm Daphne.
I'm a geologist at Heirloom, a startup in South San Francisco working on direct air capture of carbon dioxide into carbonate rock. I'm helping determine the best environment for rock to uptake and cycle carbon.
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I created this site to track my career. Check out my blog and research to find out more.
Research Interests
Early career research looked for isotopes and trace metals (climatic proxies) which could tell us about the atmosphere and climate history of California. We attempted to discover fire and flood event markers using these various proxies in karst soils.
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Currently, I am analyzing carbonate rocks to determine the most effective environment for carbonation and regeneration processes of the rock. At Heirloom, we are pushing carbonate material through the carbon cycle at top speed, and to do so we need to maximize uptake and turnover of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
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Early efforts look promising, and I am excited to continue this journey of geochemistry research.
Publications
Wortham, B.E., Montañez, I.P., Bowman, K.C., Kuta, D., Soto Contreras, N., Brumage, E., Pang, A., Vasquez, A., Monitoring of Sierra Nevada Caves Reveals the Potential for Stalagmites to Archive Seasonal Variability. Frontiers In. (paper) ​
Linol, B., Montañez, I. P., Lombardo, A., Kuta, D., Upadhyay, D., Arnold, A., Tripati, A., Bauer, A. M., Musa, S. Towards Disentangling Climatic and Tectonic Changes of Southernmost Africa Using Strontium Isotope Stratigraphy and Clumped Isotope Thermometry. South African Journal of Geology. (paper)