My research group investigates Earth’s climate history, primarily through the lens of paleolimnology (the study of lake sediments) and with a focus on the Arctic and periods of abrupt climate change in the U.S. Midwest and New England. Our field and laboratory work aims to uncover the causes and impacts of late Quaternary climate change, and to improve the methods used to reconstruct past climate. We are deeply curious about how climate works, and what that means for Earth’s future. Northwestern’s Quaternary Sediment Lab is equipped for diverse analyses of sediments, from whole-core scanning XRF to detailed studies of microfossils. Current projects are reconstructing Earth’s past using methods ranging from stable isotope analyses of chitin and plant lipids to paleoecological assessments of charcoal and insect assemblages to GIS analyses of historical Greenland expedition photos.
