Research

My research focusses on the role of vegetation in past climates, whether it be the interactions with the climate system or the impacts on human evolution. I love using various modeling and statistical techniques to see what stories the data tells us. These are my current projects:

Paleo weather

Extreme weather events undeniably affect societies, yet our understanding of their behavior in high-CO₂ climates is still lacking. This project addresses that critical gap using paleoclimate data and advanced modeling techniques. We focus on ancient climate periods from the Pliocene to the Cretaceous. This work is part of my postdoc under the guidance of Jessica Tierney and in collaboration with NCAR. I focus on the interaction between paleo vegetation and climate. By studying how extreme weather events impacted vegetation and how those vegetation change feed back into the climate system, we hope to gain valuable insights that can help us make better projections for the future and improve our strategies for climate adaptation and resilience.

Climate and human evolution

Climate change has significantly influenced human evolution by driving adaptations and migration patterns. As early humans encountered changes in environmental conditions, they either had to adapt to those new conditions or migrate to a more favorable location. This project explores the relationship between paleoecology/paleoclimate and human populations by combining climate modeling and statistical data analysis with archaeological data from hominin sites. My research explores the adaptability of our ancestors to shifting climates and diverse environments. This was my primary PhD research project and is part of an ongoing collaboration with the climate and life team at ICCP.