Clarke Knight, PhD

Clarke is a Research Geographer at the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center. She received a PhD in Environmental Science (Paleoecology) from UC Berkeley. Since joining the USGS in 2021, she has been researching hydroclimate variability and anthropogenic environmental change in western North America during the Holocene.

Since starting at the Menlo Park office of GMEG, Clarke is currently focused on producing well-dated, high-resolution reconstructions of past climate to understand climate variability in western North America, particularly extreme hydrologic events. This work is part of the Drivers and Impacts of North Pacific Climate Variability in the Climate Research and Development Program.

Professional Experience

2021 - Present, Postdoctoral Scholar, USGS, Menlo Park, CA
2019-2021, Graduate Research Fellow, Center for Ecosystem Climate Solutions, CA
2016-2021, Graduate Research Fellow, UC Berkeley, CA

Education and Certifications

Ph.D., Environmental Science, UC Berkeley, 2021
M.Sc., Biodiversity Conservation, University of Oxford, 2016 (Rhodes Scholar)
M.Sc., Water Policy, University of Oxford, 2015
B.A., Chemistry, Smith College, 2014 (summa cum laude)

Science and Products

August 25, 2022

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

Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

March 14, 2022

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

Climate Research and Development Program, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

January 13, 2021

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

Climate Research and Development Program, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

Science and Products

Publications

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August 25, 2022
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

By

Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

March 14, 2022
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

By

Climate Research and Development Program, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

January 13, 2021
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

By

Climate Research and Development Program, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
Data

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July 29, 2022
Pollen data from seven lakes in the Klamath Mountains, California: a case study for paleoecological reconstruction

The dataset include raw pollen counts, age model data, and pollen accumulation rates with uncertainty estimates for seven lake sites in the Klamath Mountains, California, USA. The raw pollen counts reflect the relative abundance of major taxa from the vegetation surrounding each lake site (n=7) at 5 different time periods. The age model data provides a Bayesian-based estimate of the sediment's age

By

Climate Research and Development Program, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
Multimedia

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