Dr. Huan Cui
Assistant Professor
2020-2022, Postdoctoral Researcher, IPGP, Université Paris Cité, France
2018-2020, Postdoctoral Researcher, Free University of Brussels (VUB), Belgium
2016-2018, Postdoctoral Researcher, NASA Astrobiology Institute and WiscSIMS, Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
2011-2015, Ph.D., Geology, University of Maryland, College Park
2008-2011, M.S., Geology, Peking University, Beijing, China
2004-2008, B.S., Geology/Petroleum Geology, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, China
The Paleo-CAT (Paleo-Climate Adventures through Time) Research Group is led by Huan Cui, Assistant Professor in the School of Earth and Environment at Kansas State University. Together with students and collaborators, our group integrates sedimentology, stratigraphy, stable isotope geochemistry, and paleontology to investigate global and planetary change throughout Earth’s deep-time history. Our research addresses fundamental questions surrounding biogeochemical cycles and the processes that govern planetary habitability. By reconstructing ancient environments and major events in Earth history, we seek to advance understanding of Earth’s long-term sustainability and its broader implications for planetary systems.
GEOL 630 Sedimentology and Stratigraphy
GEOL 540 Geologic Record of Climate Change
GEOL 730 Geoenergy Exploration
GEOL 200 - Earth Through Time
GEOL 706 – Environmental Stable Isotope Geochemistry (under review)
K-State Microcredential: Earth's Past and Future Climate
Dr. Huan Cui is an Assistant Professor of Sedimentology and Geochemistry at Kansas State University, where he joined the faculty in 2024. His multidisciplinary research integrates sedimentology, stratigraphy, geochemistry, and paleontology to investigate global and planetary changes through Earth’s deep time.
Dr. Cui earned his Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Maryland, College Park, where he combined field and laboratory approaches to study the biogeochemical cycles associated with early animal evolution. He conducted postdoctoral research in Wisconsin (2016–2018), Brussels (2018–2020), and Paris (2020–2022) before holding faculty appointments at Mississippi State University (2022–2024) and Kansas State University (2024–present).
Born and raised in Renqiu, China—an oil city well known for its petroliferous Mesoproterozoic carbonate reservoirs—Dr. Cui is a first-generation college graduate. He earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Geology from Southwest Petroleum University (Chengdu) and Peking University (Beijing), respectively, before moving abroad in 2011.
He currently serves as the Associate Editor of Sedimentology, and is a Voting Member in the Subcommission on Ediacaran Stratigraphy.