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Education

2019
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
Ph.D., Geosciences
Thesis: Reconstructions of Ediacaran putative biomineralizers via a novel serial grinding and imaging technique
Advisor(s): Adam Maloof
2011
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
B.Arch.
Thesis: Reclaiming the old Union Carbide factory site in Bhopal, India
Advisor(s): Vincent Mulcahy and Mary Woods

Professional Experience

2023 -
Assistant Professor
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
2019 - 2022
Neukom Postdoctoral Fellow
Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
2011 - 2013
Researcher
Situ Studio, Brooklyn, NY

Publications

In preparation

13.
Mehra, A., Busch, J., Strauss, J.V. 202x. A three-dimensional record of sea-level fall associated with the Hirnantian glaciation.
12.
Mehra, A., Eddy, M.P., Pamukcu, A., DesOrmeau, J.W., Maloof, A.C., and Schoene, B. 202x. Geochemical and textural evidence for efficient crystal settling in a large, silicic magma chamber.
11.
Mehra, A., Keller, B., Tosca, N.J., McLennan, S.M., Zhang, T., Sperling, E., Strauss, J.V. 202x. Orogenic controls of the global sedimentary archive, Geology.

In review

10.
Howes, B., Mehra, A., Geyman, E., Wilcots, J., Manzuk, R., Deutsch, C., Maloof, A.C., 202x. The where, when, and how of ooid formation: what ooids tell us about ancient seawater chemistry.

Published or in press

9.
Roest-Ellis, S., Richardson, J.A., Phillips, B.L., Mehra, A., Webb, S.M., Cohen, P.A., Strauss, J.V., Tosca, N.J. 2023. Tonian carbonates record phosphate-rich shallow seas, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, Link.
8.
Mehra, A., Howes, B., Manzuk, R., Samuels, B., and Maloof, A.C. 2022. A novel technique for producing three-dimensional data using serial sectioning and semi-automatic image classification, Microscopy and Microanalysis, Link.
7.
Manzuk, R.A., Singh, D., Mehra, A., Geyman, C., Edmonsond, S., Maloof, A.C. 2022. A high-resolution multispectral macro-imager for geology and paleontology, GSA Today, Link.
6.
Crockford, P.W., Mehra, A., Domack, E., and Hoffman, P.F. 2021. An occurrence of radially symmetric sedimentary structures in the basal Ediacaran cap dolostone (Keilberg Member) of the Otavi Group, Communications of the Geological Survey of Namibia.
5.
Mehra, A., Keller, B., Zhang, T., Tosca, N.J., McLennan, S.M., SGP Authors, Strauss, J.V. 2021. Curation and analysis of global sedimentary geochemical data to inform Earth history, GSA Today, doi:10.1130/GSATG484A.1.
4.
Howes, B., Mehra, A., Maloof, A.C. 2021. Three‐dimensional morphometry of ooids in oolites: a new tool for more accurate and precise paleoenvironmental interpretation, Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, doi:10.1029/2020JF005601.
3.
Mehra, A., Watters, W.A., Grotzinger, J.P., Maloof, A.C. 2020. Three-dimensional reconstructions of the putative metazoan Namapoikia show that it was a microbial construction, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, doi:10.1073/pnas.2009129117.
2.
MacLennan, S.A., Eddy, M.P., Merschat, A., Mehra, A., Crockford, P., Maloof, A.C., Southworth, S., Schoene, B. 2019. Geologic evidence for an icehouse Earth prior to the Sturtian global glaciation, Science Advances, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aay6647.
1.
Mehra, A. and Maloof, A.C. 2018. A multiscale approach reveals that Cloudina aggregates are detritus and not in situ reef constructions, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, doi:10.1073/pnas.1719911115.

Conference Proceedings (Since 2020)

2023
Mehra, A., Shah, S.H., Huang, Y., Kreiss, K., Powell, M., Setia, A., Dailey, D., Iverson, V., Data governance for water governance: Reflecting on the useability and accessibility of NASA's GRACE data product suite. World Water Week, August 2023.
2023
Larson Tevis, A.A. and Mehra, A., Accretionary growth? Exploring the evolution of the literature on stromatolite morphogenesis. GSA Cordilleran Section Meeting, May 2023.
2022
Mehra, A., Busch, J., Faehnrich, K., Jin, J., Leslie, S., Melchin, M., and Strauss, J.V., A change in sedimentation patterns in a Paleozoic reef revealed via three-dimensional reconstruction. GSA Annual Meeting, October 2022.
2020
Mehra, A., Keller, B., Zhang, T., Tosca, N.J., McLennan, S.M., and Strauss, J.V., Processing data and incorporating uncertainties in large geochemical compilations. GSA Annual Meeting, October 2020.
2020
Mehra, A., Eddy, M.P., Pamukcu, A.S., Schoene, B., and Maloof A.C., A method for extracting 3D modal mineralogy and textural data from plutonic rocks. GSA Annual Meeting, October 2020.

Invited Talks

October 2023
Department seminar, University of Victoria
October 2023
Parents' weekend lecture, College of the Environment, University of Washington
May 2023
Department seminar, University of Witwatersrand
May 2023
SGP Proxy Primer
February 2023
PaleoLunch, University of Washington
April 2022
Department seminar, University of Washington
March 2022
COG3, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
March 2022
Department seminar, Appalachian State University
February 2022
Department seminar, Stanford University
January 2022
GaGgle, Purdue University

Funding

2023-2025
Collaborative Research: RUI: Exploring early metazoan reef evolution through a multi-scale approach
NSF Sedimentary Geo & Paleobiology
Mehra, A. (Lead PI, University of Washington), Cohen, P.A. (Co-PI, Williams College), and Strauss, J.V. (Co-PI, Dartmouth College)
$496523
2023-2024
Quantitative insights into the morphology of ancient microbially-mediated structures
Royalty Research Fund
Mehra, A. (PI, University of Washington)
$39297
2023
Generating regionally integrative datasets to understand groundwater insecurities in the Colorado River Basin
eScience Data Science for Social Good
Mehra, A. (Project lead, University of Washington) and Shah, S. (Project co-lead, University of Washington)
$60000
2020
Acquisition of fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles for training the next generation of scientists
CompX Faculty Grant
Mehra, A. (Lead PI, Dartmouth College) and Strauss, J.V. (Co-PI, Dartmouth College)
$40000
2019
Postdoctoral fellowship
Neukom Institute for Computational Science
Mehra, A. (Postdoctoral fellow, Dartmouth College)
$190000

Advisees

2023 -
Meghan King
Postdoctoral fellow
Quantitative descriptions of Precambrian reef architectures: Using descriptions of the past to predict the future effects of biodiversity collapse
2023 -
A Anders Larson Tevis
Undergraduate
Quantitative analyses of stromatolite morphology

Teaching

Winter 2024
Instructor
ESS 456: Sedimentary geology and depositional environments
Fall 2023
Instructor
ESS 469/569: Machine learning in geosciences
Spring 2023
Instructor
ESS 213: History of Earth
Fall 2021
Instructor
EARS 45: Field methods: Techniques of structural and stratigraphic analysis
Summer 2021
Instructor
EARS 272: Topics in historical geobiology
Spring 2020
Instructor
EARS 272: Topics in historical geobiology

Field Experience

2023
Great Slave Lake, Canada [3 weeks]
Morphological characteristics of a Mesoproterozoic stromatolitic platform
2022
Salient Mountain, Canada [2 weeks]
Evolution of a late Ediacaran carbonate platform
2021
Salient Mountain, Canada [2 weeks]
Evolution of a late Ediacaran carbonate platform
2021
Nopah Range, California [2 weeks]
Architecture of an Ordovician paleokarst
2019
Nadaleen Mountain, Yukon, Canada [2 weeks]
Three-dimensional morphology of an early Paleozoic clinoform succession
2019
Silver Peak Range, Nevada [4 weeks]
Stratigraphic and morphological expression of Archaeocyathid buildups
2018
Blue Ridge, Virginia, USA [1 week]
Evidence for a Neoproterozoic glaciation
2017
North Cascades, Washington, USA [2 weeks]
Textural evidence for the presence of a fossilized magma chamber
2017
Andros Island, The Bahamas [1 week]
Morphology and hydrology of a tidal channel network
2016
Labrador, Canada [1 week]
Stratigraphic and environmental context of Cambrian Archaeocyathid reefs
2015
Salient Mountain, Canada [6 weeks]
Mapping, measuring, and sampling from a fossil-bearing Ediacaran stromatolite reef system
2014
Southern Namibia [8 weeks]
Describing aggregates of Cloudina, one of the earliest biomineralizing organisms

Professional Activities

Co-founder
Engineering for social good: a community of practice for those interested in working on human rights concerns
Co-organizer
Data Justice Seminar Series, Dartmouth College, Spring 2021
Co-organizer
2020 Northeast Geobiology Symposium (delayed until April 2021 due to COVID 19)
Convener
2019 GSA Annual Meeting technical session: Hello (ancient) world!: Exploring the Neoproterozoic to Cambrian interval by quantitatively probing the rock record
Reviewer
NSF EAR IF; Geophysical Research Letters; Royal Society Open Science; Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology; iScience; Geophysical Research Letters

University Service

2023--2024
Member, ESS advancement committee
2023--2024
Co-organizer, ESS department colloquium
2023
Faculty advisor, Geoclub spring break trip
2023--2024
Member, ESS graduate admissions committee
2023
Member, ESS awards committee