Sylvia Dee

Sylvia Dee is an Associate Professor in Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences at Rice University, with a joint appointment in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Her research focuses on climate change impacts on Earth's hydrological cycle, particularly extreme weather events like flooding in the Mississippi River Basin. She holds a B.S.E. from Princeton University and a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, followed by postdoctoral work at the University of Texas and Brown University.

Her work combines paleoclimate data with climate models to improve future projections. Key research interests include climate dynamics, paleoclimate reconstruction using water isotopes, and the interplay between natural variability (e.g., ENSO) and anthropogenic forcing. She leads the Climate & Water Lab, which develops tools like PRYSM for proxy system modeling and collaborates on environmental initiatives with organizations like the Girl Scouts of the USA.

Dr. Dee has received honors including the National Academies Gulf Research Program Fellowship (2021) and the Girl Scouts Global Leadership Award. She teaches courses on climate science, paleoclimate, and environmental policy, emphasizing undergraduate research engagement. Her lab actively seeks Ph.D. and postdoc candidates, with current projects exploring hydroclimate whiplash, tropical cyclone impacts, and Mars lacustrine environments.