Hi, I'm Nick McKay.
I'm a climate scientist working to understand how Earth's climate system has changed in the past and what that means for our future.
I'm a Professor in the School of Earth and Sustainability at Northern Arizona University, where I direct the Paleoclimate Dynamics Laboratory. My research uses natural records of past climate variability to inform our understanding of climate dynamics and help prepare for future climate changes.
Human activity has caused large changes to Earth's climate and landscapes, and has committed us to even more dramatic climatic and environmental changes in the not-so-distant future. To better prepare for, and adapt to these changes, we must better understand the complex details of our climate and earth systems. I study natural climate variability in places ranging from the tropics to the Arctic, on timescales ranging from years to millennia and on spatial scales ranging from hemispheres to meters.
Interested in paleoclimate research? Check out our opportunities or get in touch!
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Introducing Nick at a seminar or writing about his work? Use this bio and photo.
Nick McKay is a Professor in the School of Earth and Sustainability at Northern Arizona University, where he directs the Paleoclimate Dynamics Laboratory. His research uses natural archives such as lake sediments to reconstruct climate over the past centuries to millennia, from the tropics to the Arctic, and to test what those changes reveal about the climate system's future. He co-leads international synthesis efforts through the Past Global Changes (PAGES) project and develops widely used open-source tools and data standards for paleoclimatology, including the LiPD framework, LiPDverse, and geoChronR. He received his PhD from the University of Arizona.
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