Lora Stevens

Lora Stevens serves as Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Earth Science at California State University, Long Beach. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1997 and B.A. from Pomona College in 1989. Dr. Stevens teaches courses including Historical Geology, Earth Systems and Global Change, Paleoclimatology, Physical and Chemical Oceanography, Biogeochemical Cycles, and Environmental Science Capstone projects.

Her research specializes in paleoclimatology using multi-proxy analysis of lake sediments to reconstruct past climate variability. Primary methodologies include oxygen-isotope composition of carbonates, biogenic silica analysis, grain-size measurements, C/N ratios, and mineralogy. Recent work incorporates compound-specific isotopes of leaf waxes and fecal stanols as human population indicators. Research focuses on ENSO dynamics, Pacific Decadal Oscillation, Asian monsoon systems, Mediterranean precipitation patterns, and drought reconstruction through high-resolution sediment records.

Active projects include investigations at Lechaion Harbor (Greece), climate-civilization interactions in western Iran, monsoon variability in Vietnam, and biomarker validation studies. Her publication record demonstrates consistent focus on hydroclimatic reconstruction using lacustrine archives across global regions including Vietnam, Iran, and North America.

Dr. Stevens maintains the CSULB Lechaion Harbor Project website and can be contacted at HSCI 306 office (phone: 562.985.4817, email: lora.stevens@csulb.edu).