Ed Brook

Ed Brook is a distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University (OSU). He leads the COLDEX initiative, an NSF-funded center aiming to recover the oldest Antarctic ice cores to study Earth's climate history. His research focuses on paleoclimatology, geochemistry, and ice core analysis, particularly investigating trace gases, cosmogenic isotopes, and extraterrestrial dust records.

Brook holds a B.S. in Geology from Duke University (1985), an M.S. in Geology from the University of Montana (1988), and a Ph.D. in Chemical Oceanography from MIT/Woods Hole (1993). He teaches courses on geoscience communication, Quaternary paleoclimatology, and global biogeochemical cycles.

His collaborations include major ice core projects like WAIS Divide, NEEM, and East GRIP. Key research themes include reconstructing past atmospheric gas concentrations, understanding glacial-interglacial transitions, and investigating climate feedback mechanisms. He directs the OSU Ice Core and Quaternary Geochemistry Lab, advancing techniques in ice core dating and gas analysis.

Recent work emphasizes millennial-scale climate variability, ocean heat content changes, and the role of dust in methane production. His leadership in COLDEX aims to locate ice over 1.5 million years old to improve understanding of long-term climate dynamics.