Lesley Chesson
Analytical chemist
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Workphone: 581-8917
Office Address: 510 Aline Skaggs Biology

Education
B.S., 2002, Biology
Elon University, Elon, NC

M.S., 2009, Biology
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT



Research interests
After graduating from Elon University in 2002 with an undergraduate degree in Biology, I joined the Ehleringer Lab to work with Dr. Helen Kreuzer-Martin (now at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) on a microbial forensics project. I next worked on a hair forensics project, with Dr. Gabe Bowen (now at Purdue University) and Dr. David Podlesak (now at Los Alamos National Laboratory). In my current job, I work with Dr. Luciano Valenzuela investigating the effects of diet and drinking water on the stable isotopic composition of human hair. Our work is conducted in tandem with research currently led by Dr. Shannon O'Grady investigating the stable isotopic composition of human body water. I am also currently working with Dr. Brett Tipple, applying stable isotope analysis to questions of commodity authentication and traceability.

I recently completed thesis work for a master's degree in the Biology Department at the University of Utah, under the guidance of Dr. Jim Ehleringer. My researched focused on investigating the effects of changes in diet and drinking water on the stable isotope ratios of humans (e.g., hair, fingernails, body water). I explored the stable isotope composition of the modern American diet (namely fast food items) at local, regional, and national scales.

Posters
D.E.P.R.A.V.E.D.

Publications
Chesson, LA, DW Podlesak, BR Erkkila, TE Cerling, JR Ehleringer. 2009. Isotopic consequences of consumer food choice: hydrogen and oxygen stable isotope ratios in foods from fast food restaurants versus supermarkets. Food Chemistry available: doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2009.07.046   

Chesson, LA, DW Podlesak, TE Cerling, JR Ehleringer. 2009. Evaluating uncertainty in the calculation of non-exchangeable hydrogen fractions within organic materials. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 23:1275-1280.

Bowen, GJ, JR Ehleringer, LA Chesson, AH Thompson, DW Podlesak, TE Cerling. 2009. Dietary and physiological controls on the hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios of hair from mid-20th century indigenous populations. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 139:494-504.

Chesson, LA, DW Podlesak, AH Thompson, TE Cerling and JR Ehleringer.  2008.  Variation of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen stable isotope ratios in an American diet: fast food meals.  Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 56:4084-4091.

Ehleringer, JR, GJ Bowen, LA Chesson, AG West, DW Podlesak and TE Cerling. 2008. Hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios in human hair are related to geography. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 105:2788-2793.

Ehleringer, JR, TE Cerling, JB West, DW Podlesak, LA Chesson, GJ Bowen.  2007.  Spatial considerations of stable isotope analyses in environmental forensics.  In Issues in Environmental Science and Technology, Volume 26: Environmental Forensics.  RE Hester and RM Harrison, editors.  (pdf)

Bowen, GJ, L Chesson, K Nielson, TE Cerling and JR Ehleringer.  2005.  Treatment methods for the determination of δ²H and δ¹⁸O of hair keratin by cotinuous-flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry.  Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 19:2371-2378.  (pdf)

Bowen, GJ, JR Ehleringer, LA Chesson, E Stange, TE Cerling 2007.  Stable isotope ratios of tap water in the contiguous USA. Water Resources Research 43, W03419, doi:10.129/2006WR005186.

Kreuzer-Martin, HW, LA Chesson, MJ Lott, JV Dorigan and JR Ehleringer.  2004.  Stable isotope ratios as a tool in microbial forensics - Part 2.  Isotopic variation among different growth media as a tool for sourcing origins of bacterial cells or spores.  Journal of Forensic Science 49(5):961-967.  (pdf)

Kreuzer-Martin, HW, LA Chesson, MJ Lott, JV Dorigan and JR Ehleringer.  2004. Stable isotope ratios as a tool in microbial forensics - Part 1.  Microbial isotopic composition as a function of growth medium.  Journal of Forensic Science. 49(5):954-960.

Nardoto, GB, S Silva, C Kendall, JR Ehleringer, LA Chesson, ESB Ferraz, MZ Moreira, JPHB Ometto, LA Martinelli. 2006. Geographical patterns of human diet derived from stable-isotope analysis of fingernails.  American Journal of Physical Anthropology 131:137-146.

Bowen, GJ, JR Ehleringer, LA Chesson, E Stange, TE Cerling 2007.  Stable isotope ratios of tap water in the contiguous USA. Water Resources Research 43, W03419, doi:10.129/2006WR005186.