Ethan Grossman
  • Professor and Michel T. Halbouty Chair
  • Stable isotope geochemistry
  • Clumped isotopes
  • Global change
  • Paleoclimates
  • Hydrogeochemistry
Google Scholar Profile
Research Areas
  • Ancient Life & Environments
  • Earth Resources & Resilience

Research Interests

Areas of Specialization

  • Global Change and Paleoclimates
  • Stable isotope geochemistry
  • Clumped isotopes
  • Basin Thermal Histories
  • Biogeochemistry and geomicrobiology of aquifer systems

Educational Background

  • Ph.D. (Geochemistry), University of Southern California, 1982, Stable Isotopes in Live Benthic Foraminifera from the Southern California Borderland (Teh-Lung Ku, thesis advisor)
  • B.S. (Geology; magna cum laude), State University of New York at Albany, 1976

Awards & Honors

  • Recognized as a 2021 "Exceptional Reviewer" for the GSA journal Geology
  • Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2018)
  • Co-author of paper receiving the Smithsonian Secretary's 2017 Research Award (O'Dea et al., 2016, Science Advances)
  • 2nd Place, Gordon I. Atwater Award for poster: Hendricks, Yancey, Flis, Flis, and Grossman, Formation of Barrel Concretions around Methane Seepage Pathways in Upper Middle Eocene Shelf Sediments, Stone City Bluff, Texas,” 2012 GCAGS Convention in Austin, TX (2012)
  • Awarded Michel T. Halbouty Chair in Geology (2010, renewed in 2015, 2020 and 2025)
  • Elected Fellow of the Geological Society of America (2007)

  • Dean's Distinguished Achievement Award for Faculty Research, College of Geosciences (2005)

Selected Publications

  • 2020-2025 (*Student author; #post-doc author)

    • Grossman, E.L., Barney, B.B., Sun, Z., Henkes, G.A., Gao, Y., and Joachimski, M.M., 2025. Cold low-latitude Ordovician paleotemperatures in may be in hot water. PNAS (Letter), v. 122 (11), e2424291122, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2424291122.
    • Pohl, A. , Wong Hearing, T.W., Brayardi, A., Grossman, E., Joachimski, M., Le Hir, G., LeTulle, T., Lunt, D.J., Martinez, M., Puceat, E., Suan, G., Valdes, P., Donnadieu, Y., 2025, Spatial biases in oxygen-based Phanerozoic seawater temperature reconstructions, EPSL
    • Wang*, X., Grossman, E.L., and Becker, M., 2024, High-resolution Chemofacies and Pore System Characterization of the Pennsylvanian Cline Shale, Midland Basin, Texas. Marine and Petroleum Geology, v. 170, 107120.
    • Brewer*, M.A., Grossman, E.L., and Randklev, C.R., 2024. Reconstructing freshwater mussel growth, temperature, and discharge in rivers using clumped isotopes. Scientific Reports, v. 14, 7653, doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58246.
    • Sun*, Z., Perez-Beltran#, S., Zaheer*, W., Defliese, W.F., Banerjee, S., and Grossman, E.L.^, 2023, Clumped isotope reordering kinetics in strontianite and witherite: experiments and first-principles simulations. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., v. 624, 118467, doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118467.
    • Baskoro*, A.S., Yu, A., and Grossman, E. L., 2023. Mass balance calculation for the Wolfcamp-Sourced hydrocarbon in Permian Delaware Basin: Insight on remaining recoverable resource and expulsion efficiency. Interpretations doi/abs/10.1190/int-2022-0119.1.
    • Perez-Beltran, S., Zaheer, W., Sun, Z., Defliese, W.F., Banerjee, S., andGrossman, E.L.^, 2023, Density functional theory and ab-initio molecular dynamics reveal atomistic mechanisms for carbonate clumped isotope reordering. Science Advances v. 9, no. 26  doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.adf1701.
    • Baskoro*, A.S., Baur,, Yu, A., and Grossman, E. L., 2023, Source Rock Restoration Using a Multi-Well Inversion Approach Tested for the Wolfcamp Play in the Permian Delaware Basin of West Texas and New Mexico, Marine and Petroleum Geology doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2023.106143.
    • Judd, E.J., Tierney, J.E, Huber, B.T. Wing , S.L., Lunt, D.J, Ford, H.L., Inglis, G.N., McClymont, E.L., O’Brien, C.L., Rattanasriampaipong, R., Si, W., Staitis, M.L., Thirumalai, K., Anagnostou, E., Cramwinckel, M.J., Dawson, R.R., Evans, D., Gray, W.R., Grossman, E.L., Henehan, M.J., Hupp, B.N., MacLeod, K.G. O’Connor, L.K., , S´anchez Montes, M.L., Song, H., and Zhang, Y.G., 2022, The PhanSST global database of Phanerozoic sea surface temperature proxy data. Scientific Data. doi: https://doi-org.srv-proxy1.library.tamu.edu/10.1038/s41597-022-01826-0
    • Grossman, E.L.,and Joachimski, M.M., 2022. Ocean temperatures through the Phanerozoic Reassessed. Scientific Reports, v. 12, p. 1-13.
    • Barney*, B., and Grossman, E.L.,  Reassessment of ocean paleotemperatures during the Late Ordovician. Geology, v. 50, p. 572-576.
    • Figuerola#, B., Grossman, E.L.,Lucey, N., Leonard, N.D., O'Dea, A., 2021. Millennial-scale change on a Caribbean reef system that experiences hypoxia.  Ecography, v. 44, p. 1270-1282.
    • Grossman, E.L.,and Joachimski, M.M., 2020. Ch. 10. Oxygen isotope stratigraphy. In Gradstein, F.M., Ogg, J.G., Schmitz, M., and Ogg, G., eds., The Geologic Time Scale 2020, Elsevier, p. 279-307.
    • Legett*, S.A., Rasbury, E.T., Grossman, E.L., Hemming, N.G., and Penman, D.E., 2020. The brachiopod δ11B record across the Carboniferous-Permian climate transition. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 35, e2019PA003838. https://doi.org/ 10.1029/2019PA003838
    • Naylor*, H.N., #Defliese, W.F., Grossman, E.L., and Maupin, C.R., 2020. Investigation of the thermal history of the Delaware Basin (West Texas, USA) using carbonate clumped isotope thermometry. Basin Research, v. 32, p. 1140–1155.
    • Johnson*, D.L., Grossman, E.L., Webb, S.M., and Adkins, J., 2020. Brachiopod δ34SCAS microanalyses indicate a dynamic, climatically-influenced Permo-Carboniferous sulfur cycle. Earth and Planetary Science Letters , v. 546, p. 116428 //doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116428.

Recent Grants

  • National Science Foundation (EAR-2241039) Into the icehouse: Dramatic changes at the Devonian-Mississippian Climate Transition (DMCT), 3/23-2/26. Ethan L. Grossman, Lucien Nana Yobo, and Shuang Zhang (OCNG), $586,098 (~$267,500 to ELG)
  • National Science Foundation (EAR-1902469). Clumped isotope reordering kinetics in carbonate minerals: The key to accurate ocean paleotemperatures and basin thermal histories, 7/19-6/21, L. Grossman, S. Banerjee (CHEM), $340,620.
  • Seed Grants for Water Research, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and the College of Engineering. Development of a Low-cost Compact In-water Isotope Gas Sensing Instrument Deployable on Autonomous or Remote-Operated Underwater Vehicles, 9/17-8/18, Han, Lin, Roark, and Grossman, ($100,000; $10,000 for ELG).
  • Passport to the Caribbean past: Historical ecology of microgastropods, SENACYT (Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación), A. O'Dea, Grossman, J. Todd, F. Rodriguez, 3/1/17-2/28/19, $118,053 (TAMU ~$5,000).
  • Stable Isotope Partnership for Ecology, Environment, and Energy Research (SIPEEER), TAMUS Research Development Fund, L. Grossman, J. Vogel, E.B. Roark, T. Boutton, N. Slowey, J. West, A. Hyodo, co-PIs, 8/1/2016-7/31/2020, $1,040,000 (SIGF $507,506).

Research Websites

Research Focus

  • Stable isotope geochemistry
  • clumped isotopes
  • global change
  • paleoclimates
  • hydrogeochemistry

Impact

My research involves the development and application of geochemical techniques, especially oxygen and carbon isotope distributions, to a broad suite of geologic and societal problems: extreme climate in Earth history, linkages between the carbon cycle and climate, the thermal history of sedimentary (petroleum) basins, origin of groundwater methane, river dynamics and climate, and more. With so many problems in the Earth system resolvable via H, C, N, O, S, and clumped isotopes, the opportunities are unlimited.

Post-docs

Zeyang Sun (Ph.D., ’24, TAMU) Carbonate clumped isotope reordering kinetics

Students

Bryce Barney (Ph.D.) Into the icehouse: Dramatic changes at the Devonian-Carboniferous transition 

Queen Kalu (Ph.D.) Exploring the Cause(s) of the Mid-Pleistocene Transition Using Clumped Isotope Thermometry and Osmium Isotopes

Ximeng Wang (Ph.D., co-chair with Hadi Nasrabadi) Nanoporosity and hydrocarbon expulsion in shales: Application to the Delaware Basin

Student Awards

  • 2nd Place, Ph.D. students, Geology and Geophysics Graduate Society Symposium, Zeyang Sun* (Ph.D. student, 2024)
  • 1st Place, Graduate Student Poster, Life on a Dynamic Planet Symposium, TAMU College of Arts & Sciences, Melanie Brewer* (MS student, 2023)
  • 1st Place, Water Daze Poster Competition, TAMU, Melanie Brewer* (MS student, 2023)
  • 2nd Place, MS students, Geology and Geophysics Graduate Society Symposium, Melanie Brewer* (MS student, 2023)
  • 2nd Place, PhD students, Geology and Geophysics Graduate Society Symposium, Matthew Dorsey^ (PhD student, 2023)
  • 2022 Best Paper Award, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Bryce Barney* (MS, 2020; current PhD student)
  • University-wide Association of Former Students Distinguished Graduate Student Research Award, W. Cory Beck* (M.S., 2004)
  • University-wide Association of Former Students Distinguished Graduate Student Research Award, Takuro Kobashi* (M.S., 2001)

All Students

Ph.D. (12): Bryce Barney*, Anindito Satrio Baskoro (’22, Beicip-Franlab Asia), Queen Kalu*, Horng-sheng Mii ('96, Professor and Vice President of General Affairs, National Taiwan Normal University), Christopher Romanek ('91, Research Professor, Furman University, Joyanto Routh ('98, Professor, Linköping University, Sweden), Josiah Strauss (’10, Neptronic Corp., Montreal), Zeyang Sun (’24), Kai Tao (’12), Alexander van Plantinga (’15, Air Liquide R&D), Ximeng Wang*, Chuanlun Zhang ('94, Chair Professor, Southern University of Science and Technology)

M.S. (20):  David Adlis ('86, The Aerospace Corporation), Bryce Barney (’20), W. Cory Beck (’04, Dominion Exploration and Production^), Keith Bowers ('86), Melanie Brewer (’24), Judy Canova ('88, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control^), B. Keith Coffman ('88, Conoco-Philips), Meagan Depugh (‘19), Ryan Flake (’11, Exxon-Mobil), D. Keith Gentry ('06, Marathon Oil^), Lauren Graniero (’14, Ph.D. candidate, UNC), David Katz ('97, Phillips Petroleum^), Takuro Kobashi (’01, Renewable Energy Institute), Horng-sheng Mii ('92, National Taiwan Normal University), Howard “Nate” Naylor (’18, SM Energy), Andrew Roark (’15, Chevron), anon. (‘20, MGS), Jeannette Schlichenmeyer ('96, Roux Associates, Inc., Environmental Consulting and Management, Houston^), Brock Shenton (’14, Exxon-Mobil), Huayu Wang ('98), Chuanlun Zhang ('89, Southern University of Science and Technology, China)
^last known employer

Undergraduate theses (2): Jordan Noret (BS ’08, Ph.D., SMU; Geologist, Scout Energy Partners), Stephanie Noonan (Wood) (BS ’11, MS, University of Texas, Oxy Offshore Gulf of Mexico)

Post-docs/Visiting Scientists (8): Peter Bruckschen ('97, formerly of Ruhr University), William Defliese ’17-19, University of Queensland), Blanca Figuerola (’18-19; joint with Aaron O’Dea, Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC), Pg. Marítim de la Barceloneta), D. Jeffrey Over ('91-92, SUNY College at Geneseo), Paola Rachello-Denmon (’15-16), John Robbins (’11-13, Southern Methodist University), Hideki Wada ('87, Shizuoka University), Yasheng Wu ('02-03, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing)

Visiting students (4): Can Cui (’19, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology), Micha Horacek ('03, formerly of Erlangen University), Wenkun Qie (‘11, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan), Jackson White (’24, University of Queensland)

Google Scholar Profile