Academic Credentials
  • Ph.D., Geochemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 2018
  • B.S., Environmental Sciences, University of Vermont, 2009
Professional Affiliations
  • Geochemical Society
  • European Association of Organic Geochemists

Dr. Emily Matys is a geochemist and geobiologist with expertise in applying advanced analytical techniques and data interpretation and management to assess the chemical compositions of complex environmental samples. She has over 7 years of experience in chemical fingerprinting (concentration and isotopic data) and transport and fate analysis of hydrocarbons and biogenic precursors (e.g., hopanoids). 

Dr. Matys has collaborated with academic and government groups including NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Antarctic Program, and the Geological Survey of Canada to evaluate chemical composition of organic matter in microbial biomass, sediments, rocks, and oils. Results informed the interpretation and development of molecular biomarkers, which have been applied to characterizations of the sources, relative ages, and depositional environments of organic matter in studies of the evolution of life on Earth, environmental forensics, and petroleum exploration.

Dr. Matys has also assessed environmental impacts associated with land use practices throughout the United States. She has evaluated the impacts of agriculture, residential development, and weather on the mobility of nutrients and formation and sustainability of harmful algal blooms, including Microcystis, in Lake Champlain, Vermont. Dr. Matys has also worked with the U.S. Forest Service to complete preliminary assessments of environmental and fuel loading conditions within experimental watersheds prior to the application of management treatments designed to evaluate the effects of forest fires on alpine hydrology and water resources in California.

Dr. Matys' expertise in field and advanced laboratory and analytical techniques includes experimental design, sample acquisition, curation, preparation, analysis, and data interpretation and management. Her experience includes identification and quantification of organic molecules in complex environmental samples (liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry; LC-MS/MS), isotopic analysis of total organic matter (elemental analyzer isotope ratio mass spectrometry; EA-IRMS), and quantitative evaluations of kerogen and fossil carbon chemistry (microRaman spectroscopy).