Greg Pederson, Ph.D.
Greg Pederson is a research scientist working primarily on the role of climate variability in driving changes in water resources, and other biological and physical components of mountainous ecosystems in western North America.
Research Interests
Of particular interest is the magnitude of low-frequency hydroclimatic variability and its implications for drought risk, as well as the climatic drivers associated with observed changes in mountain snowpack, streamflow, glaciers, and forest disturbance events. Understanding the time intervals and spatial scales over which these processes operate requires a long-term perspective, and for that I rely on proxy records primarily from tree-ring and lake sediments along with instrumental and modeled climate records. Recent and ongoing studies have addressed the susceptibility of natural resources to climate variability and change, and sought to apply both the modern and paleoclimatic records to present day resource management problems.
Current Research Projects Include:
- Drivers of Drought in the Upper Colorado River Basin [DOI Southwestern CSC]
- Multi-century perspectives on current and future streamflow in the Missouri River Basin [NSF P2C2]
- Reconstructions of Columbia River flow from winter and summer precipitation sensitive proxies in the Northwestern U.S. with implications for 21st century flow [CSC and CLU]
- A Broader view of North American climate over the past two millennia: Synthesizing paleoclimate records from diverse archives [USGS Powell Center]
- Holocene climate variability in Alaska from relict wood [DOI Alaska CSC]
- Holocene climates of the Northern Rockies from relict wood emerging from ice patches [CLU]
- Megadroughts and uncertainty in Upper Colorado River flow low-frequency variability [CLU]
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. Watershed Management & Ecohydrology. 2010. University of Arizona, School of Natural Resources.
M.S. Environmental Science. 2004. Montana State University
B.S. Ecology and Evolution in Botany & Zoology. 2000. Michigan State University
Affiliations and Memberships*
Greg is affiliate faculty with the Earth Sciences department and the Institute on Ecosystems (IoE) at Montana State University.
Science and Products
A global multiproxy database for temperature reconstructions of the Common Era
Reassessment of the Upper Fremont Glacier ice-core chronologies by synchronizing of ice-core-water isotopes to a nearby tree-ring chronology
Reconstructions of Columbia River streamflow from tree-ring chronologies in the Pacific Northwest, USA
Increasing influence of air temperature on upper Colorado River streamflow
Coherent late-Holocene climate-driven shifts in the structure of three Rocky Mountain lakes
The shifting climate portfolio of the Greater Yellowstone Area
Climate-induced changes in lake ecosystem structure inferred from coupled neo- and paleoecological approaches
Assessing the risk persistent drought using climate model simulations and paleoclimate data
Variability common to first leaf dates and snowpack in the western conterminous United States
The continuum of hydroclimate variability in western North America during the last millennium
Regional patterns and proximal causes of the recent snowpack decline in the Rocky Mountains, U.S.
Leveraging modern climatology to increase adaptive capacity across protected area networks
Science and Products
A global multiproxy database for temperature reconstructions of the Common Era
Reassessment of the Upper Fremont Glacier ice-core chronologies by synchronizing of ice-core-water isotopes to a nearby tree-ring chronology
Reconstructions of Columbia River streamflow from tree-ring chronologies in the Pacific Northwest, USA
Increasing influence of air temperature on upper Colorado River streamflow
Coherent late-Holocene climate-driven shifts in the structure of three Rocky Mountain lakes
The shifting climate portfolio of the Greater Yellowstone Area
Climate-induced changes in lake ecosystem structure inferred from coupled neo- and paleoecological approaches
Assessing the risk persistent drought using climate model simulations and paleoclimate data
Variability common to first leaf dates and snowpack in the western conterminous United States
The continuum of hydroclimate variability in western North America during the last millennium
Regional patterns and proximal causes of the recent snowpack decline in the Rocky Mountains, U.S.
Leveraging modern climatology to increase adaptive capacity across protected area networks
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government