Lesleigh Anderson
I study past climates and environments using sediments from lakes, wetlands, and permafrost with an emphasis on water isotope tracers. The continuous records that I develop extend from the present through past decades, centuries, millennia, and previous glaciations and reflect hydroclimatic processes on global, regional, and local scales.
My main study areas are the North America cordilleran west, from Alaska to the southern Rockies. My main interests are to discover water isotope data which documents how and why changes in climate have affected alpine and arctic landscapes across space and through time. In addition to paleoclimatology and geochronological methods, my research also includes multiple perspectives from aspects of paleolimnology (lake sedimentology, geochemistry, hydrology), geomorphology, and the modern climatology of North Pacific ocean-atmosphere interactions.
Professional Experience
2005 – present, Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey Geoscience and Environmental Change Science Center
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Geosciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst (2005)
M.Sc., Geology, University of Massachusetts Amherst (2000)
B.Sc., Chemistry, University of Utah (1985)
Science and Products
High sensitivity of gross primary production in the Rocky Mountains to summer rain
A synthesis of thermokarst lake water balance in high-latitude regions of North America from isotope tracers
Lake oxygen isotopes as recorders of North American Rocky Mountain hydroclimate: Holocene patterns and variability at multi-decadal to millennial time scales
Water isotope systematics: Improving our palaeoclimate interpretations
Isotopes in North American Rocky Mountain snowpack 1993–2014
A multi-proxy record of hydroclimate, vegetation, fire, and post-settlement impacts for a subalpine plateau, Central Rocky Mountains U.S.A
Ocean-atmosphere forcing of centennial hydroclimatic variability in the Pacific Northwest
Controls on recent Alaskan lake changes identified from water isotopes and remote sensing
Rocky Mountain hydroclimate: Holocene variability and the role of insolation, ENSO, and the North American Monsoon
Enhanced Late Holocene ENSO/PDO expression along the margins of the eastern North Pacific
Lake carbonate-δ18 records from the Yukon Territory, Canada: Little Ice Age moisture variability and patterns
Holocene record of precipitation seasonality from lake calcite δ18O in the central Rocky Mountains, United States
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
High sensitivity of gross primary production in the Rocky Mountains to summer rain
A synthesis of thermokarst lake water balance in high-latitude regions of North America from isotope tracers
Lake oxygen isotopes as recorders of North American Rocky Mountain hydroclimate: Holocene patterns and variability at multi-decadal to millennial time scales
Water isotope systematics: Improving our palaeoclimate interpretations
Isotopes in North American Rocky Mountain snowpack 1993–2014
A multi-proxy record of hydroclimate, vegetation, fire, and post-settlement impacts for a subalpine plateau, Central Rocky Mountains U.S.A
Ocean-atmosphere forcing of centennial hydroclimatic variability in the Pacific Northwest
Controls on recent Alaskan lake changes identified from water isotopes and remote sensing
Rocky Mountain hydroclimate: Holocene variability and the role of insolation, ENSO, and the North American Monsoon
Enhanced Late Holocene ENSO/PDO expression along the margins of the eastern North Pacific
Lake carbonate-δ18 records from the Yukon Territory, Canada: Little Ice Age moisture variability and patterns
Holocene record of precipitation seasonality from lake calcite δ18O in the central Rocky Mountains, United States
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.