Cole Cochran portrait from fieldwork
MS Student
• Fluvial geomorphology • Carbon • Geochemistry •
Geological Sciences

Cole is a master’s student in the Department of Geology and a research assistant at INSTAAR advised by Dr. Suzanne Anderson. He is investigating the organic carbon stored in floodplain surface units of the Canning River in Alaska. His project asks how surface age and vegetation community relate to the amount of carbon stored within the soils of a fluvial surface. He is interested in applying geochemistry, fluvial geomorphology, and plant ecology to address environmental questions. Cole graduated from William & Mary in 2022 with a B.S. in geology before beginning his M.S. at CU Boulder. There he completed an honors thesis evaluating honey's effectiveness as a bioindicator for air pollution from coal-fired power plants.