People
The Paleoclimate Dynamics Laboratory at Northern Arizona University.
Nick McKay
Professor & Lab Director
Nick's research interests are mostly aimed at using natural records of past climate variability to inform our understanding of climate dynamics, or developing better ways to do so, in places ranging from the tropics to the Arctic and on timescales ranging from years to millennia.
Cody Routson
Associate Research Professor
Cody researches, develops, and uses natural climate archives to extend observational records, establish baseline conditions, and characterize the climate system and risks of climate-related natural hazards, helping inform adaptation strategies for climate change.
Michael Erb
Assistant Research Professor
Michael uses data assimilation to leverage the strengths of climate model output and proxy records, quantifying climate variations over the past several millennia. His interests include hydroclimate topics such as monsoons and drought. He received his doctorate from Rutgers University.
Chris Hancock
Postdoctoral Researcher
Chris completed his PhD in the lab with the first global data assimilation of Holocene hydroclimate, built around lake level records. He continues to develop paleoclimate data assimilation methods, including the reconstructions behind our North American ecoclimate work.
Dave Edge
Assistant Research Professor
Dave develops data science and machine learning approaches for paleoclimate research, including AI-based downscaling of climate model output and statistical tools for detecting abrupt change in paleoclimate records.
Delila Medlin
Research Scientist
Delila works on statistical downscaling of paleoclimate model output, including precipitation quantile mapping, for high-resolution North American climate reconstructions.
Eli Allred
MS Student
Eli studies proglacial lake sediments in Alaska to reconstruct past glacier and climate variability.
Alumni
Lab alumni have gone on to positions in academia, climate analytics, and technology.
Frank Telles
PhD 2026, Earth Sciences & Environmental Sustainability
Frank used proxy and model data to improve our understanding of Arctic climate over the last 14,500 years, and developed Next Generation Science Standards-aligned curricula, including education partnerships with tribal environmental professionals.
Stephanie Arcusa
PhD 2020 · now at ASU's Center for Negative Carbon Emissions
Stephanie's PhD research reconstructed drought and dustiness over the past 10,000 years for the Four Corners region of the U.S. Southwest. Her work now focuses on carbon removal and sequestration policy at Arizona State University.
Allison Cluett
NSF-AGS Postdoc 2021-2022 · now at NOAA in Santa Cruz
Allison studied long-term Arctic hydroclimate change through proxy data synthesis and model comparison as an NSF-AGS postdoctoral fellow in the lab. She is now at NOAA in Santa Cruz, California.
Ethan Yackulic
MS 2017 · PhD 2026 · now at the American Forest Foundation
Ethan worked on paleoclimate informatics and paleoproductivity in New Zealand, after an MS reconstructing paleoclimate from hyperspectral scanning of Crater Lake sediments in Colorado. He is now at the American Forest Foundation, using remote sensing to measure forest carbon across the western US.
Hannah Kolus
Research Assistant · now Senior Analyst at Rhodium Group
Hannah worked on abrupt climate change in the Holocene and process models of glacier-hydrology-lake systems. She is now a Senior Analyst in Rhodium Group's Energy & Climate practice, where she leads US energy system modeling.
Charlotte Wiman
MS 2019 · now a postdoc at Northeastern University
Charlotte's thesis focused on varved sediments in Columbine Lake in southern Colorado. She completed her PhD at Northeastern University, where she is now a postdoctoral researcher studying paleofloods and paleohydrology.
Chris Heiser
Lead LiPD Developer · now Senior Software Engineer at Carvana
Chris was the lead developer of the LiPD utilities and helped build the Linked Paleo Data framework and the LinkedEarth cyberinfrastructure.
Want to join the lab?
Three funded PhD positions are open for Spring or Fall 2027.
See open positions