Upcoming Events
PhD Dissertation Defense
Aug 5, 2020, 2:00 - 4:00 PM
Virtual
Candidate: Peter Jacobs
Defense Date and Time: August 5, 2020, 2:00-4:00pm
Defense Location: WebEx (Please RSVP to slister1@gmu.edu for link)
Title: Interrogating Late Cenozoic Proxy-Model Agreement Through Novel Climate and Ecological Model Simulations
Dissertation Director: Dr. Kim de Mutsert
Committee: Dr. Harry Dowsett, Dr. Natalie Burls, Dr. Bette Otto-Bliesner
ABSTRACT
Understanding the climate of the past can help us better understand our present and future climate. This dissertation uses ecological and climate simulations to compare proxies and climate model output in a more coherent, like-for-like framework, with an emphasis on Late Cenozoic climates (e.g. the Pliocene, Last Glacial Maximum, mid-Holocene, etc.) and planktic foraminifera as a proxy. Results include habitat change for foraminifera taxa over the past 20,000 years; changes in carbon isotopes, foraminifera, and ocean biogeochemistry in a Pliocene-like ocean; and constraining a source of error in a widely used ocean temperature reconstruction method.