Roger Buick

About

Professor Roger Buick is a faculty member in the Department of Earth & Space Sciences at the University of Washington, specializing in astrobiology with a focus on the origin and earliest evolution of life on Earth. His research techniques intersect geology, biology, and chemistry, examining the oldest and best-preserved rocks from various locations including the Australian outback, Greenland ice-cap, South African veld, and Canadian woods. His work aims to understand when the main forms of microbial metabolism first arose, how early atmospheric conditions were modulated, and how these factors influenced environmental change in Earth's history. Professor Buick's research encompasses multiple projects such as studying the early evolution of bacterial metabolism through paleontology and stable isotope geochemistry, investigating early atmospheric composition and pressure via mineral and sediment analysis, and analyzing secular trends in marine nutrient fluxes to understand ecosystem evolution. He also explores the early evolution of continental crust through geochemical analysis, and searches for molecular fossils in Precambrian rocks to uncover organic biomarkers that inform the phylogenetic history of microbial ecosystems. His contributions have advanced understanding of Earth's early atmosphere, biosphere, and tectonic development, providing insights into the conditions that fostered the emergence of life and its evolution over billions of years.

Research topics

• Earth science
• Geology
• Geochemistry
• Astrobiology
• Paleontology
• Meteorology
• Physics
• Atmospheric sciences
• Environmental science
• Environmental chemistry

Selected publications

• Pervasive aerobic nitrogen cycling in the surface ocean across the Paleoproterozoic Era

  Earth and Planetary Science Letters · 2018-08-17 · 106 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Transient surface ocean oxygenation recorded in the ∼2.66-Ga Jeerinah Formation, Australia

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2018-07-09 · 78 citations

  articleOpen access

  Significance Understanding how and when Earth’s surface became oxygenated is essential for understanding its biogeochemical evolution. Incipient oxygenation of Earth’s surface environments before the Great Oxidation Event (GOE; ∼2.4 Ga) has been well-documented, but the nature of these redox changes, whether protracted or transient, is poorly understood. We present nitrogen isotope ratios, selenium abundances, and selenium isotope ratios from the Jeerinah Formation (∼2.66 Ga; Fortescue Group, We…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Mercury abundance and isotopic composition indicate subaerial volcanism prior to the end-Archean “whiff” of oxygen

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2021 · 55 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  sinks, followed by enhanced nutrient supply to the ocean from weathering of volcanic rocks causing increased biological productivity.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Atmospheric CO ₂ levels from 2.7 billion years ago inferred from micrometeorite oxidation

  Science Advances · 2020 · 34 citations

  level indicated by our model result would help resolve how the Late Archean Earth remained warm when the young Sun was ~20% fainter.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Basinal hydrographic and redox controls on selenium enrichment and isotopic composition in Paleozoic black shales

  Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta · 2019-12-23 · 27 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Presaging Paleoproterozoic Global Change: Geobiology of the Late Archean Eon

  NSF · $80k · 2004–2008

• Selenium biogeochemistry as a deep-time redox proxy and biosignature

  NSF · $300k · 2009–2014

Frequent coauthors

• Eva E. Stüeken

  University of St Andrews

  159 shared

• Michael A. Kipp

  88 shared

• Ariel D. Anbar

  University of Louisiana at Lafayette

  81 shared

• Alan J. Kaufman

  73 shared

• Timothy W. Lyons

  69 shared

• Jessica Garvin

  68 shared

• Gail Lee Arnold

  The University of Texas at El Paso

  68 shared

• David C. Catling

  Earth and Space Research

  65 shared

Labs

• Roger Buick LabPI

Education

• Ph.D., Astrobiology

  University of Washington

  2000

• M.S., Astronomy

  University of Washington

  1994

• B.A., Physics

  University of California, San Diego

  1991

Awards & honors

• Fellow of the Geological Society of America (2019)

Similar researchers at University of Washington

• Eric Agolh-88
• Cecilia Bitzh-74
• Jody Demingh-64