Post-Doc, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
NASA Postdoctoral Fellow
Thesis Title: Reconstructing Holocene Hydroclimate in Eastern North America Using Ombrotrophic Peatland Sediments
Dorothy Peteet
About
The goal of my research is to understand how Earth’s changing climate influences the hydrological cycle and carbon cycle. More specifically, I aim to create reconstructions of hydroclimate that are most useful for understanding climate change mechanisms and for water resource planning. Further, I aim to understand the impacts of changing hydroclimate on terrestrial carbon storage. To this end, I develop and implement geochemical methods for quantitative reconstruction of decadal-scale climate change. These methods include the modeling of hydroclimate parameters by compound-specific stable isotope ratios of plant biomarkers. I am further working to understand how changes in carbon flux from wetlands are recorded in sediments.
The over-arching goal for my research is not simply the reconstruction of climate parameters, but to synthesize reconstructions to define mechanisms of hydroclimate change. In this way, reconstructions are most applicable to predictive modeling and water resource planning.
Contact Information
http://www.giss.nasa.gov/staff/jnichols.html