Marie R Champagne
Marie is a Physical Scientist in the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center in Menlo Park, CA. She works in the Quaternary Paleoenvironmental Research Laboratory. She focuses on multi-proxy studies of late Pleistocene and Holocene sediment cores. Analysis of these sediments allows reconstruction of the ecological and climate history of the region.
Marie Champagne first became interested in paleoclimate research at UC Berkeley. She worked with Dr. Roger Byrne on many projects studying lake sediment records from North America. Since joining USGS in 2016, she has worked on paleoecological studies as a part of David Wahl’s research project.
Education and Certifications
B.A., Physical Geography, University of California Berkeley, 2014.
Science and Products
Drivers and Impacts of North Pacific Climate Variability
Climate model forecasts indicate an increase in extreme hydrologic events, including floods and droughts, for California and the western U.S. in the future. To better understand what the consequences of this future change in climate may be, USGS scientists are studying the frequency, magnitude, and impacts of past hydroclimate variability and extremes in the region. This project produces well...
Data release for Independent age estimates resolve the controversy of ancient human footprints at White Sands
Human footprints at White Sands National Park, New Mexico, USA, reportedly date to between ~23,000 and 21,000 years ago according to radiocarbon dating of seeds from the aquatic plant Ruppia cirrhosa. These ages remain controversial because of potential old carbon reservoir effects that could compromise their accuracy. We present new calibrated 14C ages of terrestrial pollen collected from the sam
Twentieth century extreme precipitation detected in a high-resolution, coastal lake-sediment record from California
California faces increasing economic and societal risks from extreme precipitation and flooding associated with atmospheric rivers (ARs) under projected twenty-first century climate warming. Lake sediments can retain signals of past extreme precipitation events, allowing reconstructions beyond the period of instrumental records. Here, we calibrate AR-related extreme precipitation from the last cen
Authors
Clarke Alexandra Knight, David Wahl, Jason A. Addison, Mark Baskaran, R. Scott Anderson, Marie Rhondelle Champagne, Lysanna Anderson, Liubov S. Presnetsova, Beth Elaine Caissie, Scott W. Starratt
Atmospheric river activity during the late Holocene exceeds modern range of variability in California
Atmospheric rivers are associated with some of the largest flood-producing precipitation events in western North America, particularly California. Insight into past extreme precipitation can be reconstructed from sedimentary archives on millennial timescales. Here we document atmospheric river activity near Leonard Lake, California, over 3,200 years, using a key metric of atmospheric river intensi
Authors
Clarke Alexandra Knight, Lysanna Anderson, Liubov S. Presnetsova, Marie Rhondelle Champagne, David Wahl
Independent age estimates resolve the controversy of ancient human footprints at White Sands
Human footprints at White Sands National Park, New Mexico, USA, reportedly date to between ~23,000 and 21,000 years ago according to radiocarbon dating of seeds from the aquatic plant Ruppia cirrhosa. These ages remain controversial because of potential old carbon reservoir effects that could compromise their accuracy. We present new calibrated 14C ages of terrestrial pollen collected from the sam
Authors
Jeffrey S. Pigati, Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Honke, David Wahl, Marie Rhondelle Champagne, Susan R.H. Zimmerman, Harrison J. Gray, Vincent L. Santucci, Daniel Odess, David Bustos, Matthew R. Bennett
Methods for robust estimates of tree biomass from pollen accumulation rates: Quantifying paleoecological reconstruction uncertainty
Pollen accumulation rates (PAR, grains cm–2 year–1) have been shown to be a reliable but methodologically complex bioproxy for quantitative reconstruction of past tree abundance. In a prior study, we found that the PARs of major tree taxa – Pseudotsuga, Pinus, Notholithocarpus, and the pollen group TC (Taxaceae and Cupressaceae families) – were robust and precise estimators of contemporary tree bi
Authors
Clarke Alexandra Knight, John J. Battles, M. Jane Bunting, Marie Rhondelle Champagne, James A. Wanket, David Wahl
Land management explains major trends in forest structure and composition over the last millennium in California’s Klamath Mountains
For millennia, forest ecosystems in California have been shaped by fire from both natural processes and Indigenous land management, but the notion of climatic variation as a primary controller of the pre-colonial landscape remains pervasive. Understanding the relative influence of climate and Indigenous burning on the fire regime is key because contemporary forest policy and management are informe
Authors
Clarke Alexandra Knight, Lysanna Anderson, M. Jane Bunting, Marie Rhondelle Champagne, Rosie M. Clayburn, Jeffrey N. Crawford, Anna Klimaszewski-Patterson, Eric E. Knapp, Frank K. Lake, Scott A. Mensing, David Wahl, James Wanket, Alex Watts-Tobin, Matthew D. Potts, John J. Battles
Linking modern pollen accumulation rates to biomass: Quantitative vegetation reconstruction in the western Klamath Mountains, NW California, USA
Quantitative reconstructions of vegetation abundance from sediment-derived pollen systems provide unique insights into past ecological conditions. Recently, the use of pollen accumulation rates (PAR, grains cm−2 year−1) has shown promise as a bioproxy for plant abundance. However, successfully reconstructing region-specific vegetation dynamics using PAR requires that accurate assessments of pollen
Authors
Clarke A. Knight, Mark Baskaran, M. Jane Bunting, Marie Rhondelle Champagne, Matthew D. Potts, David Wahl, James Wanket, John J. Battles
Science and Products
Drivers and Impacts of North Pacific Climate Variability
Climate model forecasts indicate an increase in extreme hydrologic events, including floods and droughts, for California and the western U.S. in the future. To better understand what the consequences of this future change in climate may be, USGS scientists are studying the frequency, magnitude, and impacts of past hydroclimate variability and extremes in the region. This project produces well...
Data release for Independent age estimates resolve the controversy of ancient human footprints at White Sands
Human footprints at White Sands National Park, New Mexico, USA, reportedly date to between ~23,000 and 21,000 years ago according to radiocarbon dating of seeds from the aquatic plant Ruppia cirrhosa. These ages remain controversial because of potential old carbon reservoir effects that could compromise their accuracy. We present new calibrated 14C ages of terrestrial pollen collected from the sam
Twentieth century extreme precipitation detected in a high-resolution, coastal lake-sediment record from California
California faces increasing economic and societal risks from extreme precipitation and flooding associated with atmospheric rivers (ARs) under projected twenty-first century climate warming. Lake sediments can retain signals of past extreme precipitation events, allowing reconstructions beyond the period of instrumental records. Here, we calibrate AR-related extreme precipitation from the last cen
Authors
Clarke Alexandra Knight, David Wahl, Jason A. Addison, Mark Baskaran, R. Scott Anderson, Marie Rhondelle Champagne, Lysanna Anderson, Liubov S. Presnetsova, Beth Elaine Caissie, Scott W. Starratt
Atmospheric river activity during the late Holocene exceeds modern range of variability in California
Atmospheric rivers are associated with some of the largest flood-producing precipitation events in western North America, particularly California. Insight into past extreme precipitation can be reconstructed from sedimentary archives on millennial timescales. Here we document atmospheric river activity near Leonard Lake, California, over 3,200 years, using a key metric of atmospheric river intensi
Authors
Clarke Alexandra Knight, Lysanna Anderson, Liubov S. Presnetsova, Marie Rhondelle Champagne, David Wahl
Independent age estimates resolve the controversy of ancient human footprints at White Sands
Human footprints at White Sands National Park, New Mexico, USA, reportedly date to between ~23,000 and 21,000 years ago according to radiocarbon dating of seeds from the aquatic plant Ruppia cirrhosa. These ages remain controversial because of potential old carbon reservoir effects that could compromise their accuracy. We present new calibrated 14C ages of terrestrial pollen collected from the sam
Authors
Jeffrey S. Pigati, Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Honke, David Wahl, Marie Rhondelle Champagne, Susan R.H. Zimmerman, Harrison J. Gray, Vincent L. Santucci, Daniel Odess, David Bustos, Matthew R. Bennett
Methods for robust estimates of tree biomass from pollen accumulation rates: Quantifying paleoecological reconstruction uncertainty
Pollen accumulation rates (PAR, grains cm–2 year–1) have been shown to be a reliable but methodologically complex bioproxy for quantitative reconstruction of past tree abundance. In a prior study, we found that the PARs of major tree taxa – Pseudotsuga, Pinus, Notholithocarpus, and the pollen group TC (Taxaceae and Cupressaceae families) – were robust and precise estimators of contemporary tree bi
Authors
Clarke Alexandra Knight, John J. Battles, M. Jane Bunting, Marie Rhondelle Champagne, James A. Wanket, David Wahl
Land management explains major trends in forest structure and composition over the last millennium in California’s Klamath Mountains
For millennia, forest ecosystems in California have been shaped by fire from both natural processes and Indigenous land management, but the notion of climatic variation as a primary controller of the pre-colonial landscape remains pervasive. Understanding the relative influence of climate and Indigenous burning on the fire regime is key because contemporary forest policy and management are informe
Authors
Clarke Alexandra Knight, Lysanna Anderson, M. Jane Bunting, Marie Rhondelle Champagne, Rosie M. Clayburn, Jeffrey N. Crawford, Anna Klimaszewski-Patterson, Eric E. Knapp, Frank K. Lake, Scott A. Mensing, David Wahl, James Wanket, Alex Watts-Tobin, Matthew D. Potts, John J. Battles
Linking modern pollen accumulation rates to biomass: Quantitative vegetation reconstruction in the western Klamath Mountains, NW California, USA
Quantitative reconstructions of vegetation abundance from sediment-derived pollen systems provide unique insights into past ecological conditions. Recently, the use of pollen accumulation rates (PAR, grains cm−2 year−1) has shown promise as a bioproxy for plant abundance. However, successfully reconstructing region-specific vegetation dynamics using PAR requires that accurate assessments of pollen
Authors
Clarke A. Knight, Mark Baskaran, M. Jane Bunting, Marie Rhondelle Champagne, Matthew D. Potts, David Wahl, James Wanket, John J. Battles