Principal Investigator
Kevin J Anchukaitis
Director and Professor, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research
Professor of Earth Systems Geography
Joint Appointment, Department of Geosciences
Affiliate, Latin American Studies
Bannister Tree-Ring Lab Building, Office 419
email: kanchukaitis@arizona.edu
github: kanchukaitis
Google Scholar: [link]
cv: [PDF]
Kevin is the Director of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research and Professor of Dendrochronology. He is a climate scientist, paleoclimatologist, dendroclimatologist, and earth systems geographer specializing in the reconstruction and analysis of climate variability and change over the Common Era and the interactions between climate and human society. He uses an array of techniques to develop and interpret evidence for past, present, and future climate 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, forward and numerical modeling of paleoclimate proxies, and the integration of paleoclimate data with climate models. He holds a joint faculty appointment in Geosciences and is Affiliated Faculty in Latin American Studies.
Director and Professor, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research
Professor of Earth Systems Geography
Joint Appointment, Department of Geosciences
Affiliate, Latin American Studies
Bannister Tree-Ring Lab Building, Office 419
email: kanchukaitis@arizona.edu
github: kanchukaitis
Google Scholar: [link]
cv: [PDF]
Kevin is the Director of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research and Professor of Dendrochronology. He is a climate scientist, paleoclimatologist, dendroclimatologist, and earth systems geographer specializing in the reconstruction and analysis of climate variability and change over the Common Era and the interactions between climate and human society. He uses an array of techniques to develop and interpret evidence for past, present, and future climate 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, forward and numerical modeling of paleoclimate proxies, and the integration of paleoclimate data with climate models. He holds a joint faculty appointment in Geosciences and is Affiliated Faculty in Latin American Studies.
Graduate Students
Kira Harris
Ph.D. student, Geography
M.A. 2022, Geography
email: kiraharris@email.arizona.edu
Kira received a B.S. in Earth Systems Sciences from the Ohio State University. Her previous research focused on how sedimentology and riverbed morphology affect surface water-groundwater interactions. She also helped develop the Virtual Ice Explorer, a virtual field experience tool that allows people to explore remote polar and alpine field sites visited by researchers at the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center. She is interested in multi-proxy paleoclimatology, organic geochemistry, dendroclimatology, and climate field reconstructions. Her Masters thesis research was on variability and trends across multiple timescales (decadal to millennial) in the North American Monsoon during the Holocene. Her Ph.D. research continues to focus on Pleistocene and Holocene climate variability in the North American Monsoon region using novel geochemical proxies. Outside of research, she enjoys running, hiking, and learning about new plants and rocks.
Ph.D. student, Geography
M.A. 2022, Geography
email: kiraharris@email.arizona.edu
Kira received a B.S. in Earth Systems Sciences from the Ohio State University. Her previous research focused on how sedimentology and riverbed morphology affect surface water-groundwater interactions. She also helped develop the Virtual Ice Explorer, a virtual field experience tool that allows people to explore remote polar and alpine field sites visited by researchers at the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center. She is interested in multi-proxy paleoclimatology, organic geochemistry, dendroclimatology, and climate field reconstructions. Her Masters thesis research was on variability and trends across multiple timescales (decadal to millennial) in the North American Monsoon during the Holocene. Her Ph.D. research continues to focus on Pleistocene and Holocene climate variability in the North American Monsoon region using novel geochemical proxies. Outside of research, she enjoys running, hiking, and learning about new plants and rocks.
Isabel González Méndez
Ph.D. student, Geography
Master's 2024, Geography
email: aigonzalezmendez@arizona.edu
Isabel joined the lab in Fall 2022. She graduated from Universidad Rafael Landivar, Guatemala, with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences. She then worked at the National Institute of Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology,and Hydrology (INSIVUMEH) as the research coordinator of the Climate Change unit in the department of Research and Meteorological Services. Her Master's research focused on lowland tropical dendrochronology in Mesoamerica and pioneering the use of new species in order to study the climate mechanisms that shape precipitation and temperature variability in this region. She received her Master's in May 2024 and continues on in the Ph.D. program, with new research on tropical dendroclimatology, stable isotopes, and radiocarbon, as well as climate model simulations and proxy systems modeling.
Ph.D. student, Geography
Master's 2024, Geography
email: aigonzalezmendez@arizona.edu
Isabel joined the lab in Fall 2022. She graduated from Universidad Rafael Landivar, Guatemala, with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences. She then worked at the National Institute of Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology,and Hydrology (INSIVUMEH) as the research coordinator of the Climate Change unit in the department of Research and Meteorological Services. Her Master's research focused on lowland tropical dendrochronology in Mesoamerica and pioneering the use of new species in order to study the climate mechanisms that shape precipitation and temperature variability in this region. She received her Master's in May 2024 and continues on in the Ph.D. program, with new research on tropical dendroclimatology, stable isotopes, and radiocarbon, as well as climate model simulations and proxy systems modeling.
Research Staff
Postdoctoral Reseachers
Would you like to join us as a postdoctoral research scholar working on paleoclimatology? Check out our Opportunities page for national fellowships or current openings
Undergraduate Students and Interns
B.A., Environmental Studies and Law (2024)
B.A., Geography and Chinese Language (2025 expected)
Former Lab Members
Ph.D. Geography (2024)
Now - NOAA Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Research Fellow, UCLA
B.A., Anthropology and History
Ph.D. Geosciences (2022)
Now - USGS Mendenhall Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Golden, CO
Postdoctoral Fellow
Now - Assistant Curator (tenure track) of AI for Biological and Cultural Diversity at the Florida Museum of Natural History at University of Florida
Undergraduate Honors Student
B.A. Environmental Studies (2022)
Postdoctoral Fellow
Now - Marine Projects Supervisor, Cowichan Tribes, British Columbia
Undergraduate Honors Student
B.A., B.S. Political Science & Urban and Regional Development (2021)
Now - Graduate student, University of California, Berkeley
SOARS Protege/WHOI Summer Student
Now - Catastrophe Analyst, Liberty Mutual
Undergraduate Co-op Student (Northeastern University)
& Graduate Student, MIT/WHOI Joint Program
Now - The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard