Joellen L. Russell

Joellen L. Russell is a Joint University Distinguished Professor and Department Head at the University of Arizona, with affiliations across multiple departments including Geosciences (home department), Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Applied Mathematics - GIDP, and Global Change - GIDP. She specializes in ocean-climate interactions, leveraging robotics, satellites, and supercomputers to study past, present, and future climate dynamics. Her groundbreaking work on westerly winds reshaped climate science, explaining carbon cycle mechanisms during glacial cycles. Russell co-authored a pivotal Supreme Court amicus brief in 2007 that led to EPA regulation of CO2.

Education includes a PhD in Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography (UC San Diego) and an A.B. in Environmental Geoscience from Harvard University.

Research focuses on Southern Ocean carbon dynamics through leadership in the SOCCOM project and model intercomparison initiatives. She chairs NOAA’s Climate Working Group and advises the National Center for Atmospheric Research on Earth system modeling. Her expertise spans climate modeling, biogeochemical cycles, planetary hydrology, and hydro-diplomacy.