DRI / DIRECTORY / SOPHIA WENSMAN
Sophia Wensman Profile Photo
Dr. Sophia Wensman [She/Her]
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Cryosphere & Climate Science
Phone 
775-673-7935
E-Mail 
Sophia.Wensman@www-dev.dri.edu
Campus 
Reno Campus
Division 
Hydrologic Sciences

Professional Interests:

My research focuses on tracing the pathways of heavy metals in the environment to consider and mitigate the consequences of environmental perturbations on life in the ocean and on land. I work in a diverse array of systems from West Coast estuaries to systems to Arctic environments, developing and applying high-resolution geochemical techniques. Currently, I am using lead isotopes in glacial ice to fingerprint historical (500 BCE to the present) changes in lead pollution sources.

Research Websites:

Education

Degree Institution Area
Ph.D. Oregon State University Ocean, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences
B.S.Ed. University of Michigan Chemistry and Earth & Space Science

Keywords

Ice core, trace metals, lead, history

 

Publications
2024
McConnell, J. R., Chellman, N. J., Wensman, S. M., Plach, A., Stanish, C., Santibáñez, P., Brugger, S., Eckhardt, S., Freitag, J., Kipfstuhl, S., & Stohl, A. (2024). Hemispheric-scale heavy metal pollution from South American and Australian mining and metallurgy during the Common Era. Science of The Total Environment, 912, 169431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169431

Zhang, B., Chellman, N. J., Kaplan, J., Mickley, L., Ito, T., Wang, X., Wensman, S. M., McCrimmon, D., Steffensen, J., McConnell, J. R., & Liu, P. (2024). Improved biomass burning emissions from 1750 to 2010 using ice core records and inverse modeling. Nature Communications, 15(1), 3651. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47864-7

2022
Wensman, S. M., Shiel, A. E., & McConnell, J. R. (2022). Lead isotopic fingerprinting of 250-years of industrial era pollution in Greenland ice. Anthropocene, 38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2022.100340

Conference Proceedings
2024
McCrimmon, D., Chellman, N. J., Wensman, S. M., Murphy, C. M., McConnell, J. R., Stohl, A., Plach, A., Holland, K., & Criscitiello, A. (2024). Assessing the utility of Arctic ice cores to reconstruct wildfire history in the Northern Hemisphere by modeling the transport of satellite-derived burning emissions to three Arctic ice core locations. 3rd US Ice Core Community Meeting: Portland, ME

Holland, K., Criscitiello, A., McConnell, J. R., Markle, B., Yousif, H., Jensen, B., Wensman, S. M., Skelton, E., Campbell, S., Winski, D., & Chellman, N. J. (2024). 20th-century δ18O record of the 2022 Mt. Logan ice core, southwest Yukon. American Geophysical Union: Washington, DC

2023
Wensman, S. M., Chellman, N. J., & McConnell, J. R. (2023). Impacts of the Black Death on lead pollution sources: Insights from northwest Greenland ice. 2nd Annual US Ice Core Open Science Workshop: Seattle, WA, May 1, 2023

Zhang, B., Chellman, N. J., Kaplan, J., Mickley, L., Ito, T., Wang, X., Wensman, S. M., McCrimmon, D., Steffensen, J., & McConnell, J. R. (2023). Improved Estimates of Biomass Burning Emissions from 1750 to 2010 using Ice Core Records and Inverse Modeling. American Geophysical Union: San Francisco, CA, December 11, 2023

Holland, K., Criscitiello, A., McConnell, J. R., Winski, D., Markle, B., Campbell, S., Kreutz, K., Chellman, N. J., Wensman, S. M., & McCrimmon, D. (2023). Age scale and preliminary findings of the 2022 Mt. Logan ice core, southwest Yukon. American Geophysical Union: San Francisco, CA, December 14, 2023

Svensson, A., McConnell, J. R., Chellman, N. J., Wensman, S. M., & Liu, P. (2023). Bipolar volcanic ice-core synchronization of the last glacial cycle. EGU General Assembly 2023: Vienna, Austria, April 24, 2023-April 28, 2023, Paper No. EGU23-6627. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-6627

Wensman, S. M., Chellman, N. J., McCrimmon, D., Wilson, A., & McConnell, J. R. (2023). 1100-year high-resolution ice-core record of Middle Ages and Early Modern lead provenance from NW Greenland reflect changing atmospheric emissions in response to societal events. AGU Fall Meeting: San Francisco, CA, December 11, 2023-December 15, 2023

2022
Wensman, S. M., Shiel, A. E., Chellman, N. J., Brügger, S., & McConnell, J. R. (2022). Lead Isotopic Fingerprinting of Industrial (1750-2010) Pollution in Central Greenland Ice. American Geophysical Union: Chicago, IL, December 12, 2022-December 16, 2022

Wensman, S. M., Shiel, A., Chellman, N. J., Brügger, S., & McConnell, J. R. (2022). Industrial Lead Pollution in Modern Central Greenland Ice. International Partnerships in Ice Core Science: Crans Montana, Switzerland, October 2, 2022-October 7, 2022

McConnell, J. R., Chellman, N. J., Brügger, S., Wensman, S. M., McDonald, B., Wilson, A., Stohl, A., Osman, M., Opel, T., Kipfstuhl, S., Steffensen, J., Vinther, B., Spolaor, A., & Barbante, C. (2022). Aerosols and Ancient History in Arctic Ice. International Partnerships in Ice Core Science: Crans Montana, Switzerland, October 2, 2022-October 7, 2022

McConnell, J. R., Sigl, M., Plunkett, G., Mastin, L., Chellman, N. J., Wensman, S. M., Brügger, S., McDonald, B., Burke, A., Kipfstuhl, S., Wilhelms, F., Opel, T., Meyer, H., Astrid Kjaer, H., Svensson, A., Steffensen, J., Raible, C., Wilson, A., & Manning, J. (2022). Assessing impacts of explosive volcanism on climate and society at the end of the Roman Republic and Ptolemaic Kingdom. International Partnerships in Ice Core Science: Crans Montana, Switzerland, October 2, 2022-October 7, 2022

Brügger, S., Chellman, N. J., Plach, A., Henne, P., Stohl, A., Vinther, B., Blunier, T., Wensman, S. M., & McConnell, J. R. (2022). Microfossils in Greenland ice cores reveal high-latitude ecosystem responses to past climate and human impact. International Partnerships in Ice Core Science: Crans Montana, Switzerland, October 2, 2022-October 7, 2022