Climate Science

Climate change has entered mainstream awareness as a pressing issue facing humanity.  At USC we have active programs studying processes in the current climate system and ‘proxy’ archives of past climate variability, beyond the short reach of historical instrumental records.  Studies of past climate have revealed climate modes very different from our current climate.  These records of past climate provide important insights into the nature and magnitude of climate shifts that we might expect in the future. 

The USC Earth Science department offers strong training in ocean and climate science and isotope geochemistry and biogeochemistry.  Close ties with the Geobiology Program and the USC Wrigley Institute of Environmental Studies enable exciting opportunities for interdisciplinary research and personal growth. 

USC Earth Sciences has an active and diverse group of climate scientists reconstructing past climate variability.

Lowell Stott	Paleoclimateology and Paleoceanography
Sarah Feakins	Compound specific stable isotopes in biomarkers
Doug Hammond	Radiogenic isotopes in the oceans and sediments
Robert Douglas	Marine micropaleontology
Steve Lund	Geomagnetic age models and rock magnetic proxies
Julien Emile-Geay	Reconstruction and numerical modeling of past climate

 

Studies in the modern ocean system are providing insights into life in the upper ocean and deep ocean sediments with key implications for nutrient cycles, climate and life on this and other planets. 

Will Berelson	C, N, and metal cycling and preservation in laminated anoxic sediments
Doug Hammond	Factors affecting oceanic CO2 cycles and ocean mixing rates
Katrina Edwards	Water-rock reactions, autotrophic microbes, deep biosphere
Sergio Sañudo	Biogeochemistry of trace metals and other bioactive substances

 

USC Earth Scientists are also making new discoveries about climate trace metals and other bioactive substances

Frank Corsetti	Life during "Snowball Earth"; climate and mass extinctions
David Bottjer	Role of climate during times of major mass extinctions

 

For students with oceanographic interests, it is possible to pursue a degree through the Graduate Program in Ocean Sciences that several of our climate-related faculty are affiliated with.

We seek students with interests in any of these areas of climate science, with a background in atmospheric science, ocean science, fluid dynamics, biogeochemistry, geochemistry, geobiology or mathematical sciences. Students with broad interests in climate science are urged to apply