Kevin Anchukaitis

I am a dendrochronologist, climate scientist, paleoclimatologist, and earth systems geographer specializing in the reconstruction and analysis of climate variability and change over the Common Era and the interaction between past environments and human society.

My research uses an array of techniques to develop and interpret evidence for past, present, and future climate and environmental dynamics across a range of temporal and spatial scales, from local to global and interannual to millennial. These include dendroclimatology, climate field reconstruction and spatiotemporal data analysis, stable and radiogenic isotopes, proxy systems and numerical modeling, and the integration of paleoenvironmental data with Earth System Modeling. 

I hold joint or affiliate appointments in the Department of Geosciences, the Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Global Change, and Latin American Studies.  I am currently the Director of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research in the College of Science. 

Students in my lab work on a diverse set of projects related to climate and environmental variability and change across a range of temporal and spatial scales. Possible thesis or dissertation projects include:  paleoenvironmental reconstruction; internal and forced variability in drought, temperature, and ocean-atmosphere circulation; integrating earth system models and data to better understand how the climate system works and how it is likely to change in the future; coupled human and natural systems, particularly in Asia and the Americas; adaptation to climate variability and extreme events; improved statistical, proxy system, and climate modeling approaches for understanding climate dynamics and environmental change in the past, present, and future.