Climate Science Research Opportunities
The below list features profiles of USGS scientists who are looking for interns to assist with their research in climate science and adjacent fields of study. Interested students should reach out to the individual researcher via the contact information provided.
Alena Giesche, Geologist - Arctic Climate Researcher
Contact: agiesche@usgs.gov
Broadly, my research focuses on past, present, and future climate change and the evolution of Earth's landscapes. I have worked in a wide range of environments (arctic, alpine, desert, tropical, marine) and have collaborated with archaeologists on projects that explore past human-environment interactions. Currently, I am most focused on Arctic climate (both modern and past). My toolbox is diverse and includes GIS-based surficial mapping and geochemical analyses (stable isotopes and trace elements) of environmental archives such as lake sediments, cave speleothems, and shells/microfossils. I am currently involved in a project to reconstruct past intervals of permafrost thaw across the Arctic using speleothems from high latitude caves. This involves both exploratory fieldwork to find more caves in northern Alaska as well as micromilling samples in the lab for analysis. I have also done modern climate change assessments focused on snow depth (Denali National Park) and ground temperature. I have recently started working on a project to digitize legacy permafrost data from Utqiagvik from the 1940s-60s that will provide an unparalleled opportunity to compare modern and past ground temperatures with a set of meteorological variables such as wind, snow depth, and air temperatures. I am also actively integrating terrain maps and engineering datasets to map permafrost.
Michelle Staudinger, Ecologist and Science Coordinator of the Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center
Contact: mstaudinger@usgs.gov
My research program spans a broad range of questions related to the ecology and conservation of coastal ecosystems with a focus on understanding climate change impacts on biodiversity, ecosystems, and ecosystem services. I employ a variety of approaches including statistical modeling, synthesis, field surveys, and molecular techniques such as environmental DNA and stable isotopes as ecological tracers of biodiversity and trophic processes. Much of my research takes place in the Gulf of Maine region, which is experiencing rapid rates of warming. Ongoing projects in my research group are evaluating long-term historical datasets to investigate the underlying environmental drivers influencing seasonal migratory patterns of diadromous fishes, predator-prey relationships between colonial nesting seabirds and forage fish, and seasonal habitat use of endangered and protected marine mammals. I am also developing novel field methods to establish ecological baselines and track changes in the abundance and distribution of intertidal biodiversity threatened by sea level rise and coastal storms. In all of these projects, I work cooperatively with diverse partners from federal, state, academic and Tribal organizations to co-produce science that assesses risk and vulnerability and seeks to develop adaptation strategies to sustain natural and cultural resources in the face of global change.
Miriam Jones, Research Geologist
Contact: miriamjones@usgs.gov
I take peat and sediment cores from wetlands to reconstruct past changes in climate and environment and to examine the role of wetlands in the global carbon cycle. I use a range of proxies (plant macrofossils, pollen, charcoal, stable isotopes) to interpret climate and landscape change over centennial to millennial timescales. Current topics include responses to abrupt permafrost thaw, sea-level rise, sea-ice retreat, and centennial-scale land-use change.
Marci Robinson, Research Geologist (marine micropaleontologist)
Contact: mmrobinson@usgs.gov
My research is focused on intervals of past global warmth that are similar to our modern climate in terms of the rate of change and (or) the magnitude of atmospheric CO2 concentration and average global temperature. With a focus on foraminifera, I examine the response of marine ecosystems and coastal geomorphology along the mid-Atlantic coast to changes in climate, with an eye toward identifying tipping points. I examine the mid-Piacenzian Wwarm Period (MPWP, ~3.3 – 3.0 Ma), the Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO, ~17– 15 Ma) and the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM, ~56 Ma). While Pliocene and Miocene warm intervals better represent the modern and near future climate states, the PETM more closely resembles the current rate of change of atmospheric CO2 and temperature. We compare these warm intervals and their impacts on the mid-Atlantic coast through documenting the rate and magnitude of sea level rise, coastal resilience, and biological sensitivity, recognizing the potential economic damage that modern sea level rise and ocean acidification can cause to coastal communities. These past warm periods provide a baseline for the impact of changes to the shallow marine environment that can be used to prepare for the effects of the modern warming trend.