Past ice sheet conditions are notoriously difficult to resolve, as the most recent ice advance razes geologic records of previous glaciations. One of my research initiatives combines geochronological and geochemical characterization of subglacial precipitates to link changes in the basal environment to ice sheet dynamics. 
Subglacial hydrology has a significant effect on ice sheet motion. Yet, the interaction between ice sheet dynamics and long-term changes in the subglacial hydrologic system beneath major ice sheets are virtually unconstrained. In my research, I leverage the subglacial precipitate record to reconstruct the timescales and triggering mechanisms of floods beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet. 
My research helped develop the first U-Pb dating of fluorite, which we applied to hydrothermal veins related to Rio Grande rifting in the Round Top Laccolith, Texas (below). Fluorite geochronology is a powerful tool to characterize hydrothermal fluid events, ore genesis, and late stage magmatic processes. 