# @vanderbiltu on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/B8cZlFpBBFe
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/9038153-vanderbiltu-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/a1b5760c26.jpg
- **Posted:** 2020-02-11T22:42:09.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Vanderbilt University (@VanderbiltU) — https://gondola.cc/VanderbiltU

## Caption

#repost • @vuartsci

Elli Ronay is a climate detective. A Ph.D. student in Earth and Environmental Science, she uses chemical clues in stalagmites to decipher past climate events. Her research can help predict climate activity and its impacts, such as how future monsoons might affect India’s farmers.⠀
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Q: What’s something interesting about you?
A: I lived in Meramec State Park when I was seven. I got to explore caves, I got to stick my feet in the river all the time and pick up tiny spring frogs.⠀
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Q: Why did you decide to study paleoclimatology and geochemistry?⠀
A: I started as an [undergraduate] engineering major, but I wanted to be able to go outside. What I like about earth sciences is that you have to think about how everything interacts. It’s a great way to combine my love of caves, my enjoyment of chemistry, and build these stories about past climates. ⠀
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Q: For you personally, what’s the most interesting thing about your work?⠀
A: The chemical indicators I study can mean different things. I like teasing apart what can cause these signals, whether that’s past rainfall or vegetation above the cave or something else.
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Q: Why did you want to come to Vanderbilt?
A: When I was looking at Ph.D. programs, Vanderbilt had the best community, especially the EES department. It immediately felt like home.⠀
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Q: What’s been your favorite Vanderbilt moment so far?⠀
A: We got to take a group of high school girls to a cave in East Tennessee. I remember being that age, and that would have been something totally new to me.⠀
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Q: What would you say to girls who are interested in science?⠀
A: It’s really fun, but more than that, it's fulfilling to go through the process of collecting a sample, taking all the data, and interpreting it. What is the story, what does it mean, and what can we tell others about it?⠀
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(📸 courtesy @elliwrongway )⠀
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#womenscienceday #vandyees #phdresearch #cavescience #earthsciences #climatechange #vuartscistudents #intellectualomnivore #vuartsci #vandygram

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## Tags

intellectualomnivore, vuartsci, earthsciences, climatechange, womenscienceday, vandyees, phdresearch, cavescience, repost, vandygram, vuartscistudents

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