Rosanne D'Arrigo is a professor at Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University known for her research into climate change using
dendrochronology
Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of chronological dating, dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed in a tree. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, ...
, or dating based on tree rings.
Education and career
D'Arrigo grew up in the Bronx and describes herself as a "winter weather enthusiast" when large amounts of snow required shoveling and kept her home from school.
She earned her bachelors' degree and her M.A. (1980) from the
State University of New York at Binghamton. She returned to New York City and became the first graduate student in
Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory's Tree Ring Laboratory where she was one of the few women working in the field on tree ring research.
Her graduate class work included classes in geology and climate courses, and in 1989 she completed her Ph.D. from
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
.
In 2019, D'Arrigo was elected a fellow of the
American Geophysical Union
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that ...
who cited her "for insightful, rigorous, and original contributions to the development of high-resolution paleoclimatology, particularly dendroclimatology".
Research
D'Arrigo is known for her research into past climate and atmospheric conditions using tree rings, a research area called
dendroclimatology. Her research includes investigations into the Asian
monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...
and the impact of volcanic activity on the rainfall in Asia,
linking cool weather in Scotland during the 1690s with volcanic activity, and connecting temperatures in the tropics with volcanic eruptions. Using tree-ring data from trees in Canada and Alaska, D'Arrigo has established a timeline for annual temperatures in North America over the past 300 years. In Alaska, her research has shown that cool years follow volcanic activity. During the
2009 controversy on climate change, D'Arrigo's noted that her research dating to 1995 had already published details on the
divergence problem, which is the issue where warming since the 1950s does not appear in tree ring datasets. In 2020, D'Arrigo was part of the team that assessed the potential for future flooding of the
Brahmaputra River under future climate change.
Selected publications
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Awards and honors
* Fellow, American Geophysical Union (2019)
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Arrigo, Rosanne
Fellows of the American Geophysical Union
Binghamton University alumni
Columbia University alumni
Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory people
Women climatologists
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people