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Alena Giesche, Ph.D.

Alena is a Geologist at the Alaska Science Center, specialized in climate science.

Alena researches past, present, and future climate change and the evolution of Earth's landscapes. She has investigated a wide range of environments (arctic, alpine, desert, tropical, marine) using a diverse array of methods and archives (geochemical analyses, lake sediments, speleothems from caves, marine microfossils, ecological monitoring, snow depth and permafrost studies). She has focused on studying Holocene (past 11,700 years) paleoenvironmental conditions using geochemical proxies (stable isotopes, trace elements), linking these findings to archaeological studies, as well as creating surficial maps with environmental datasets.

Professional Experience

  • July 2021 – June 2023   Visiting Assistant Professor, Geology at Colby College, ME

  • Dec 2020 – May 2021   Guest Scientist, GIP at Denali National Park, AK

  • Aug 2020 – Dec 2020   Visiting Assistant Professor, Geology at Middlebury College, VT

  • Oct 2019 – Jan 2020     Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship at University of Waikato, New Zealand

Education and Certifications

  • Ph.D.   2020   Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

  • M.Sc.   2014   Climate Science, University of Bern, Switzerland

  • B.A.     2011    Environmental Geology, Middlebury College, Vermont

Science and Products

Non-USGS Publications**

Giesche, A., Hodell, D. A., Petrie, C. A., Haug, G. H., Adkins, J. F., Plessen, B., Marwan, N., Bradbury, H. J., Hartland, A., French, A. D., and Breitenbach, S. F. M. (2023). Recurring summer and winter droughts from 4.2-3.97 thousand years ago in north India. Communications Earth & Environment, 4: 103.
Angourakis, A., Bates, J., Baudouin, J., Giesche, A., Walker, J. R., Ustunkaya, M. C., Wright, N., Singh, R. N., Petrie, C. A. (2022). Weather, Land and Crops in the Indus Village Model: A Simulation Framework for Crop Dynamics under Environmental Variability and Climate Change in the Indus Civilisation. Quaternary, 5(2).
Giesche, A., Lombardo, U., Finsinger, W., and Veit, H. (2020) Reconstructing landscape and environmental changes during the last 8000 years at Lago Rogaguado, Bolivian Amazon. Journal of Paleolimnology, 65: 235-253.
Angourakis, A., Bates, J., Baudouin, J., Giesche, A., Ustunkaya, M. C., Wright, N., Singh, R., Petrie, C. A. (2020) How to ‘downsize’ a complex society: an agent-based modelling approach to assess the resilience of Indus Civilisation settlements to past climate change. Environmental Research Letters, 15(11).
Giesche, A., Staubwasser, M., Petrie, C. A., and Hodell, D. A. (2019) Indian winter and summer monsoon strength over the 4.2 ka BP event in foraminifer isotope records from the Indus River delta in the Arabian Sea. Climate of the Past, 15: 73-90.
Dixit, Y., Hodell, D. A., Giesche, A., Tandon, S. K., Gázquez, F., Saini, H. S., Skinner, L., Mujtaba, S., Pawar, V., Singh, R. N., and Petrie, C. (2018) Intensified summer monsoon and the urbanization of Indus Civilization in northwest India. Scientific Reports, 8 (4225).
Brügger, S.O., Gobet, E., van Leeuwen, J.F.N., Ledru, M., Colombaroli, D., can der Knaap, W.O., Lombardo, U., Escobar-Torrez, K., Finsinger, W., Rodrigues, L., Giesche, A., Modesto, Z., Veit, H., and Tinner, W. (2016) Long-term man-environment interactions in the Bolivian Amazon: 8000 years of vegetation dynamics. Quaternary Science Reviews, 132: 114-128.
Brönnimann, S., Giesche, A., Hunziker, S., Jacques-Coper, M. (2016) CLIMANDES Climate science e-learning course. Geographica Bernensia, DOI: 10.4480/GB2015.U27.
Munroe, J.S., Crocker, T.A., Giesche, A. M., Rahlson, L.E., Duran, L.T., Bigl, M.F., and Laabs, B.J.C. 2012 A lacustrine-based Neoglacial record for Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. Quaternary Science Reviews, 53: 39-54.
Scherhag, R., Voken, E., Giesche, A. M., & Brönnimann, S. (2016). On the theory of high and low pressure areas: The significance of divergence in pressure areas. Meteorologische Zeitschrift, 25(4), 511-519.
Findeisen, W., Volken, E., Giesche, A. M., & Brönnimann, S. (2015). Colloidal meteorological processes in the formation of precipitation. Meteorologische Zeitschrift, 24(4): 443-454.

**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.

Science and Products

Non-USGS Publications**

Giesche, A., Hodell, D. A., Petrie, C. A., Haug, G. H., Adkins, J. F., Plessen, B., Marwan, N., Bradbury, H. J., Hartland, A., French, A. D., and Breitenbach, S. F. M. (2023). Recurring summer and winter droughts from 4.2-3.97 thousand years ago in north India. Communications Earth & Environment, 4: 103.
Angourakis, A., Bates, J., Baudouin, J., Giesche, A., Walker, J. R., Ustunkaya, M. C., Wright, N., Singh, R. N., Petrie, C. A. (2022). Weather, Land and Crops in the Indus Village Model: A Simulation Framework for Crop Dynamics under Environmental Variability and Climate Change in the Indus Civilisation. Quaternary, 5(2).
Giesche, A., Lombardo, U., Finsinger, W., and Veit, H. (2020) Reconstructing landscape and environmental changes during the last 8000 years at Lago Rogaguado, Bolivian Amazon. Journal of Paleolimnology, 65: 235-253.
Angourakis, A., Bates, J., Baudouin, J., Giesche, A., Ustunkaya, M. C., Wright, N., Singh, R., Petrie, C. A. (2020) How to ‘downsize’ a complex society: an agent-based modelling approach to assess the resilience of Indus Civilisation settlements to past climate change. Environmental Research Letters, 15(11).
Giesche, A., Staubwasser, M., Petrie, C. A., and Hodell, D. A. (2019) Indian winter and summer monsoon strength over the 4.2 ka BP event in foraminifer isotope records from the Indus River delta in the Arabian Sea. Climate of the Past, 15: 73-90.
Dixit, Y., Hodell, D. A., Giesche, A., Tandon, S. K., Gázquez, F., Saini, H. S., Skinner, L., Mujtaba, S., Pawar, V., Singh, R. N., and Petrie, C. (2018) Intensified summer monsoon and the urbanization of Indus Civilization in northwest India. Scientific Reports, 8 (4225).
Brügger, S.O., Gobet, E., van Leeuwen, J.F.N., Ledru, M., Colombaroli, D., can der Knaap, W.O., Lombardo, U., Escobar-Torrez, K., Finsinger, W., Rodrigues, L., Giesche, A., Modesto, Z., Veit, H., and Tinner, W. (2016) Long-term man-environment interactions in the Bolivian Amazon: 8000 years of vegetation dynamics. Quaternary Science Reviews, 132: 114-128.
Brönnimann, S., Giesche, A., Hunziker, S., Jacques-Coper, M. (2016) CLIMANDES Climate science e-learning course. Geographica Bernensia, DOI: 10.4480/GB2015.U27.
Munroe, J.S., Crocker, T.A., Giesche, A. M., Rahlson, L.E., Duran, L.T., Bigl, M.F., and Laabs, B.J.C. 2012 A lacustrine-based Neoglacial record for Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. Quaternary Science Reviews, 53: 39-54.
Scherhag, R., Voken, E., Giesche, A. M., & Brönnimann, S. (2016). On the theory of high and low pressure areas: The significance of divergence in pressure areas. Meteorologische Zeitschrift, 25(4), 511-519.
Findeisen, W., Volken, E., Giesche, A. M., & Brönnimann, S. (2015). Colloidal meteorological processes in the formation of precipitation. Meteorologische Zeitschrift, 24(4): 443-454.

**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.