Nicholas McKay
Associate Professor
Nick has a lot of research interests, but they are mostly aimed at using natural records of past climate variability to inform our understanding of climate dynamics, or developing better ways to do so. We work on understanding natural climate variability in observations and models, in places ranging from the tropics to the Arctic, on timescales ranging years to millennia.
Cody Routson
Assistant Research Professor
Cody researches, develops, and uses natural climate archives to extend observational records, establish baseline conditions, and characterize the climate system and risks of climate-related natural hazards. Cody's work helps characterize the risk of extreme events and inform adaptation strategies to cope with climate change.
Michael Erb
Assistant Research Professor
Michael received his doctoral degree from Rutgers University, where he worked with Dr. Tony Broccoli to understand the response of climate feedbacks, equatorial Pacific seasonality, and wetlands to past changes in the earth’s orbit. Currently, Michael uses a data assimilation technique to leverage the strengths of general circulation model output and data from proxy records to better quantify climate variations over the past several millennia. His research interests include hydroclimate topics such as monsoons and drought, which affect people across the world.
Allison Cluett
NSF-AGS Postdoc
Allison is an NSF-AGS postdoctoral fellow studying long-term hydroclimate change in the Arctic through proxy data synthesis and model comparison. She received her PhD in Geological Sciences from the University at Buffalo, studying late Quaternary temperature and precipitation dynamics on Greenland using precipitation isotope and organic geochemical proxies.
Chris Hancock
Ph.D. Student - Earth Science and Environmental Sustainability
Chris is a PhD Student interested in past and present changes to hydroclimate. His dissertation research focuses on understanding how patterns in regional moisture availability shifted throughout the Holocene using a data assimilation approach. This methodology combines information recorded by paleo-proxies with that of climate-model simulations to create an integrated view of paleoclimate. Chris holds a M.A. in Geography from the University of Denver and B.S. in Geology from George Washington University.
Laura Schley
Ph.D. Student - Earth Science and Environmental Sustainability
Laura is a Ph.D. student in Earth Sciences & Environmental Sustainability. She received her BS in Geographical Sciences (2018) and MS in Geographical Environmental Research (2021) from Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. Laura is researching past climate variability and periods of rapid warming in the Arctic over the last ~ 14,500 years."
Franklyn Telles
Ph.D. Student - Earth Science and Environmental Sustainability
Frank Telles is a PhD student in the School of Earth and Sustainability at Northern Arizona University. He received his BS in Geology from the University of California, Los Angeles, his MS in Geology from California State University, Northridge, and his MAT Earth Science from the American Museum of Natural History. He is interested in using proxy and model data to improve our understanding of the Earth’s climate focusing on the Arctic region for the last 14,500 years, and developing a Next Generation Science Standards-aligned curriculum.
Ethan Yackulic
Ph.D. Student - Ecoinformatics (T3)
Ethan completed his M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy in December 2017, focused on reconstructing paleoclimatic conditions through analysis and interpretation of hyperspectral spectroscopy at Crater Lake in the San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado. In fall 2020 Ethan returned to the lab as a Ph.D. student in the informatics program, pursuing research on paleoclimate informatics and paleoproductivity in New Zealand.
Sela Patterson
M.S. Student - Geology
Sela has a BS in Geology-Environmental Sciences from Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA. Sela's Master's research is focused on understanding what drives variability in the surface sediments of lakes in the San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado.
Alumni
Stephanie Arcusa
Alumnus (Ph.D. Student - Earth Sciences & Environmental Sustainability)
Stephanie has a BSc in Earth Sciences from University College Cork, Ireland and a MSc in Climate Sciences from University Bern, Switzerland. Her PhD research focused on reconstructing drought and dustiness over the past 10,000 years for the Four Corners region of the U.S. southwest.
Chris Heiser
Alumnus (Application System Analyst)
Chris has a BSc in Computer Science from Northern Arizona University. He's interested in cyberinfrastructure for paleoclimatology, and helped to develop and improve the Linked PaleoData framework. Chris was the lead developer of LiPD utilities, and is part of the Linked Earth team. He's still involved in the LiPD project, but is also employed as a Software Engineer for Carvana.
Hannah Kolus
Alumnus (Research Assistant)
Hannah has a BSc in physics from Brown University and and MSc in Environmental Science from Northern Arizona University. Hannah worked as a research assistant in the PDL on abrupt climate change in the Holocene, and using process models to better understand glacier-hydrology-lake-sedimentation systems, and continues to contribute to research on these projects. Hannah works for the Rhodium Group in Oakland, CA.
Charlotte Wiman
Alumnus (Master's Student - Environmental Science & Policy)