Mark Abbott

Mark Abbott is a Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, specializing in paleoclimatology and environmental science. He holds a PhD from the University of Minnesota (1997) and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Massachusetts. His research integrates stratigraphy, geochemistry, and isotopic analysis to study climate change impacts on human societies and environmental systems. Abbott leads projects recovering lake sediment cores to document Holocene climate variability, focusing on annual-resolution records for temperature and drought reconstructions. He has authored over 50 peer-reviewed articles, with recent work emphasizing monsoon dynamics, Arctic mercury deposition, and tropical Andean glacial retreat. His fieldwork spans North America, South America, and Asia, including collaborative projects in Alaska, Peru, and India.

• Education: PhD in Geology (Minnesota, 1997), MS (Colorado, 1991), BA in Biology (Colorado, 1987)
• Postdoctoral Training: Climate System Research Center (UMass)

Research interests include reconstructing past environmental changes via lacustrine archives, with emphasis on human-environment interactions. His lab analyzes stable isotopes, organic biomarkers, and sedimentology to address critical climate questions. Recent studies highlight climate-vegetation-fire linkages in the Pacific Northwest and Holocene lake-level changes in Canada/Yunnan.

Recent articles focus on decadal-to-millennial climate shifts in mountain regions, Arctic permafrost dynamics, and anthropogenic impacts on lake ecosystems. Abbott’s work is supported by grants from NOAA and the NSF, with field sites in the Canadian Rockies, Himalayas, and Alaskan Arctic.