Four close-up images of a longer sediment core (bottom). The light coloring indicates coarser sand that likely occurred from overwash flooding during a previous hurricane. This is one of a few cores collected in northwest Florida by the USGS and partners to help understand past hurricane activity in the Gulf of Mexico and northern Atlantic Ocean.
Jessica Rodysill, Ph.D.
Jessica Rodysill is a Research Geologist at the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center.
Biography
Jess Rodysill is a Research Geologist specializing in reconstruction of past environmental conditions using geophysical and geochemical properties of lacustrine sediments. The goals of this work are to improve understanding of the mechanisms that drive natural hazards at the regional and local scales, which will aid in improving preparation for hazards and disaster mitigation for vulnerable populations. Jess is the Project Chief of the Natural Drought and Flood Histories from Lacustrine Archives project, which utilizes lacustrine sedimentology to reconstruct floods, droughts, and hurricanes. She leads the USGS Holocene Synthesis working group, which integrates multi-proxy data from North American continental archives to reconstruct spatial patterns of wet, dry, warm, and cool conditions through time. This research is used to better understand the mechanisms driving natural climate variability and millennial and centennial timescales and to improve computer model forecasts. Jess is leading a pilot study in the central and eastern United States aimed at understanding the long-term, millennial-scale history of earthquakes at active fault zones to better assess the risk of future earthquakes.
Education and Research Experience
Research Geologist, USGS (Reston, VA), 2015-Present
Postdoctoral Associate, University of Minnesota, 2013-2015
Ph.D., Geological Sciences, Brown University, 2013
Sc.M., Geological Sciences, Brown University, 2010
B.S., Geology, University of Minnesota, 2008
Science and Products
Complex sedimentary processes in large coastal embayments and their potential for coastal morphological and paleo tropical cyclone studies: A case study from Choctawhatchee Bay Western Florida, U.S.A
Historically unprecedented Northern Gulf of Mexico hurricane activity from 650 to 1250 CE
A multiproxy database of western North American Holocene paleoclimate records
La Niña-driven flooding in the Indo-Pacific warm pool during the past millennium
Mid-latitude net precipitation decreased with Arctic warming during the Holocene
A North American Hydroclimate Synthesis (NAHS) of the Common Era
Non-USGS Publications**
**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.
Natural Drought and Flood Histories from Lacustrine Archives Project
Natural Drought and Flood Histories from Lacustrine Archives
Holocene Synthesis Project
Four close-up images of a longer sediment core (bottom). The light coloring indicates coarser sand that likely occurred from overwash flooding during a previous hurricane. This is one of a few cores collected in northwest Florida by the USGS and partners to help understand past hurricane activity in the Gulf of Mexico and northern Atlantic Ocean.
Equipment used by USGS scientists and partners to collect sediment cores at Basin Bayou in Florida. This is part of research by the USGS and partners to understand past hurricane activity in the Gulf of Mexico and northern Atlantic Ocean. Credit: Jessica Rodysill, USGS.
Equipment used by USGS scientists and partners to collect sediment cores at Basin Bayou in Florida. This is part of research by the USGS and partners to understand past hurricane activity in the Gulf of Mexico and northern Atlantic Ocean. Credit: Jessica Rodysill, USGS.
Science and Products
- Publications
Complex sedimentary processes in large coastal embayments and their potential for coastal morphological and paleo tropical cyclone studies: A case study from Choctawhatchee Bay Western Florida, U.S.A
Storminess and sea-level can both have a significant impact on landforms in cyclone-prone coastal regions, although much of our understanding comes from short-timescale modern observations. This study aims to understand the variability of sediment transport and deposition in the Choctawhatchee Bay/Santa Rosa Island in the northern Gulf of Mexico, establishing the dominant sediment transport procesAuthorsP. N. Ranasinghe, Jeffrey P. Donnelly, R. L. Evans, Jessica R. Rodysill, N. U. Nanayakkara, Peter J. van Hengstum, Andrea D. Hawkes, Richard Sullivan, Michael ToomeyHistorically unprecedented Northern Gulf of Mexico hurricane activity from 650 to 1250 CE
Hurricane Michael (2018) was the first Category 5 storm on record to make landfall on the Florida panhandle since at least 1851 CE (Common Era), and it resulted in the loss of 59 lives and $25 billion in damages across the southeastern U.S. This event placed a spotlight on recent intense (exceeding Category 4 or 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale) hurricane landfalls, prompting questionsAuthorsJessica R. Rodysill, Jeffrey P. Donnelly, Richard Sullivan, Philip D. Lane, Michael Toomey, Jonathan D. Woodruff, Andrea D. Hawkes, Dana MacDonald, Nicole d’Entremont, Kelly McKeon, Elizabeth Wallace, Peter J. van HengstumA multiproxy database of western North American Holocene paleoclimate records
Holocene climate reconstructions are useful for understanding the diverse features and spatial heterogeneity of past and future climate change. Here we present a database of western North American Holocene paleoclimate records. The database gathers paleoclimate time series from 184 terrestrial and marine sites, including 381 individual proxy records. The records span at least 4000 of the last 12 0AuthorsCody C. Routson, Darrell S. Kaufman, Nicholas P. McKay, Michael Erb, S. H. Arcusa, Kendrick Brown, Matthew E. Kirby, Jeremiah Marsicek, R. Scott Anderson, Gonzalo Jimenez-Moreno, Jessica R. Rodysill, M. S. Lachniet, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Joseph Bennett, Michelle F. Goman, Sarah E. Metcalfe, J. M. Galloway, G. Schoups, David Wahl, Jesse L. Morris, F. Staines-Urias, A. Dawson, B. N. Shuman, Daniel G. Gavin, Jeffrey S. Munroe, Brian F. CummingLa Niña-driven flooding in the Indo-Pacific warm pool during the past millennium
Extreme precipitation events are one of the most consequential components of climate change for society. The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the dominant mode of precipitation variability in the tropics and causes severe flooding and drought in many socioeconomically vulnerable regions. It remains unclear how tropical rainfall extremes and ENSO are changing in response to anthropogenic forcAuthorsJessica Rodysill, James M. Russell, Mathias Vuille, Sylvia Dee, Brent D. Lunghino, Satria BijaksanaMid-latitude net precipitation decreased with Arctic warming during the Holocene
The latitudinal temperature gradient between the Equator and the poles influences atmospheric stability, the strength of the jet stream and extratropical cyclones. Recent global warming is weakening the annual surface gradient in the Northern Hemisphere by preferentially warming the high latitudes; however, the implications of these changes for mid-latitude climate remain uncertain. Here we show tAuthorsCody Routson, Nicholas McKay, Darrell Kaufman, Hugues Goosse, Bryan Shuman, Jessica Rodysill, Toby AultA North American Hydroclimate Synthesis (NAHS) of the Common Era
This study presents a synthesis of century-scale hydroclimate variations in North America for the Common Era (last 2000 years) using new age models of previously published multiple proxy-based paleoclimate data. This North American Hydroclimate Synthesis (NAHS) examines regional hydroclimate patterns and related environmental indicators, including vegetation, lake water elevation, stream flow andAuthorsJessica R. Rodysill, Lesleigh Anderson, Thomas M. Cronin, Miriam C. Jones, Robert S. Thompson, David B. Wahl, Debra A. Willard, Jason A. Addison, Jay R. Alder, Katherine H. Anderson, Lysanna Anderson, John A. Barron, Christopher E. Bernhardt, Steven W. Hostetler, Natalie M. Kehrwald, Nicole Khan, Julie N. Richey, Scott W. Starratt, Laura E. Strickland, Michael Toomey, Claire C. Treat, G. Lynn WingardByWater Resources Mission Area, Climate Research and Development Program, Energy Resources Program, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science CenterNon-USGS Publications**
Rodysill, J.R. et al. (2012) A paleolimnological record of drought from East Java, Indonesia during the last 1,400 years. Journal of Paleolimnology. Vol. 47. Pp. 125-139. DOI 10.1007/s10933-011-9564-3Konecky, B.L. et al. (2013) Intensification of southwestern Indonesian rainfall over the past millennium. Geophysical Research Letters. Vol.40. Pp. 386-391. DOI: 10.1029/2012GL054331Rodysill, J.R. et al. (2013) A severe drought during the last millennium in East Java, Indonesia. Quaternary Science Reviews. Vol. 80. Pp. 102-111.Vidal, C.M. et al. (2015) Dynamics of the major plinian eruption of Samalas in 1257 A.D. (Lombok, Indonesia). Bulletin of Volcanology. Vol. 77. doi:10.1007/s00445-015-0960-9.Cohen, A. et al. (2016) The Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project: Inferring the Environmental Context of Human Evolution from Eastern African Rift Lake Deposits. Scientific Drilling. Vol. 21. Pp. 1016.**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
Natural Drought and Flood Histories from Lacustrine Archives Project
Heavy rainfall, flooding, and drought frequently devastate North American populations and are predicted to continue posing serious threats over the next century. The nature of these phenomena at centennial and millennial timescales is not well constrained. Clarifying the spatial patterns of drought and moisture trends is fundamental for comparison with other datasets for the purposes of...Natural Drought and Flood Histories from Lacustrine Archives
Previous work performed as part of the USGS Holocene Synthesis project illuminated complex centennial-scale patterns of drought and wetter-than-average conditions across the North American continent interior during the past two millennia, where paleorecord data coverage is sparse. In order to explain the patterns of naturally-occurring drought, floods, and storms for the past, identified by the...Holocene Synthesis Project
The Holocene Synthesis Project integrates a variety of information about past climate variability across the North American continent for the past ~12,000 years to characterize the spatial patterns of previous climate states, advance our understanding about mechanisms that drive natural climate variability, and improve the quality of climate models that are used to predict future climate patterns... - Multimedia
Hurricane deposits in a sediment core
Four close-up images of a longer sediment core (bottom). The light coloring indicates coarser sand that likely occurred from overwash flooding during a previous hurricane. This is one of a few cores collected in northwest Florida by the USGS and partners to help understand past hurricane activity in the Gulf of Mexico and northern Atlantic Ocean.
Four close-up images of a longer sediment core (bottom). The light coloring indicates coarser sand that likely occurred from overwash flooding during a previous hurricane. This is one of a few cores collected in northwest Florida by the USGS and partners to help understand past hurricane activity in the Gulf of Mexico and northern Atlantic Ocean.
Equipment to collect sediment coresEquipment used by USGS scientists and partners to collect sediment cores at Basin Bayou in Florida. This is part of research by the USGS and partners to understand past hurricane activity in the Gulf of Mexico and northern Atlantic Ocean. Credit: Jessica Rodysill, USGS.
Equipment used by USGS scientists and partners to collect sediment cores at Basin Bayou in Florida. This is part of research by the USGS and partners to understand past hurricane activity in the Gulf of Mexico and northern Atlantic Ocean. Credit: Jessica Rodysill, USGS.
- News