If you’ve ever wanted to travel back in time—like way back in time—we have got the science for you. 

USGS scientists who study paleoclimate and paleoecology piece together what ancient climate and ecosystems were like on our planet long ago.

This paleo research is vital to understanding how climate and ecosystems interact and have changed over time. But it’s a complicated puzzle to figure out. It can take a team of scientists working on the puzzle with diverse specializations to accurately piece together what ancient life was like.

Enter the powerhouse of paleo.

Despite what the name might imply, not every “paleo” scientist is a paleontologist—there are contributions from many disciplines that advance our understanding of this field. And even the paleontologists at the USGS don’t line up with the Hollywood stereotypes. 

Robinson’s research is important because records from past warm periods provide evidence of climate tipping points, like the thresholds of when an ecosystem will change from one to another or when they collapse. Paleoenvironmental data also provide an essential “ground-truth” to improve global and regional climate and ecological modeling efforts.

Like Robinson, marine micropalentologist Laura Gemery also studies ancient microfossils. In addition to foraminifera, Gemery studies teeny tiny bivalved crustaceans called ostracodes. In the fossil record, these resilient creatures provide robust evidence of past ocean conditions. Gemery’s research in the Arctic is giving detailed insight into how changing climate impacted the oceans and sea ice in the past and how it may impact them into the future, which can inform national, state, and regional management agencies.

Wetlands remain an important ecosystem in the global carbon cycle and Jones’s work helps scientists understand how the changes we’re seeing today might impact how much greenhouse gas they store and emit. 

Because of its ability to provide localized views of past ecosystems, Jones and Willard’s research has helped inform the management strategies on public lands, like national wildlife refuges and national parks. For instance, they can show what an ecosystem was like before Europeans arrived to the continent which has been used to help inform restoration efforts and fire management strategies.

Kehrwald’s research is foundational in that it will be used by other scientists to model things like fire intervals. It will also inform understanding of past ecosystems and future management at Denali National Park, where some of her research takes place.

In addition, Margolis often teams up with other scientists and one of those is terrestrial paleoecologist Paul Henne. Henne likes to describe his work as studying natural experiments from the past. His research involves weaving together the evidence scientists, like Margolis, find about paleo-ecosystems to figure out why climate and ecosystem change happen and how they are linked.

Henne’s work is a great example of how much of the research paleoclimatologists and paleoecologists do is built off previous work and is, in turn, used to inform future work. And many of these scientists use computer modeling.

But how do scientists ensure that the techniques they are using and the tools they are producing are the most robust possible, that will lead to the best possible future models related to climate change?

Finally, the one capability that sets USGS paleo research above the rest is the ability to synthesize these findings. USGS scientists studying paleoclimate and paleoecology often come together to advance the most comprehensive understanding of past climate and ecosystems available. These syntheses are only possible with such a diverse collection of scientists. 

This is what makes USGS such a powerhouse of paleo—and it’s the reason that USGS paleo research is being used by DOI and federal partners, other scientists and academics, and larger international efforts like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC. 

This was just a small sampling of USGS paleo research. Head to our science explorer webpage to learn more about how USGS scientists travel back in time to unravel the mysteries of the past to better understand the present and predict the future.

Learn more about some of the scientific methods mentioned in this story and the Ecosystems Land Change Science Program, which funds much of the USGS paleoclimate research, by clicking on the following images: