Robert K. Poirier, Ph.D.
I am a Paleoclimate and Paleoceanographic researcher with a primary focus on reconstructing sea-level from past time periods particularly relevant to modern and future sea-level rise predictions. Such reconstructions are accomplished by applying a variety of methods, including various forms of geochronology, micropaleontology, and sedimentology.
Robert Poirier is a Research Geologist at the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center of the U.S. Geological Survey. He received a Batchelor of Science degree from the College of William & Mary, a Master of Science degree from the University of Delaware, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Robert was a USGS Pathways intern from 2010 to 2017, and rejoined USGS in 2020 after spending two years as a post-doctoral researcher at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. Since rejoining USGS, Robert has primarily focused on reconstructing sea level from the Quaternary period, spanning approximately the last 2.5 million years. Specifically, he has sought to identify periods during which sea level was higher than present along the Atlantic Coast. These include periods in which global sea level was both higher and lower than today. The aim of the project is ultimately to: 1) help elucidate what processes presently contribute to elevated rates of sea-level rise throughout the Mid-Atlantic region; 2) determine how those processes have changed (or not) over the past 2.5 million years; and 3) what this new information can tell us about how sea-level rise will continue to change our coastlines decades, centuries, and millennia into the future. Robert’s current project titled “Sea-Level Hotspots of the U.S. Atlantic Coast” is funded through the U.S. Geological Survey’s Land Change Science Program within the Ecosystems Mission Area.
Professional Experience
2020-present, Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey
2017-2019, Post-doctoral Research Scientist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University
2016-2017, Schlanger Research Fellow, U.S. Science Support Program, Integrated Ocean Discovery Program
2014-2017, Teaching Assistant, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
2011-2013, Research Assistant, University of Delaware
2010-2017, Pathways Intern, U.S. Geological Survey
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. in Geology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2017
M.S. in Marine Studies with a focus in Oceanography, University of Delaware, 2013
B.S. in Geology, College of William and Mary, 2011
Science and Products
A new deglacial climate and sea-level record from 20 to 8 ka from IODP381 site M0080, Alkyonides Gulf, eastern Mediterranean
Roles of climatic and anthropogenic factors in shaping Holocene vegetation and fire regimes in Great Dismal Swamp, eastern USA
A 600-kyr reconstruction of deep Arctic seawater δ18O from benthic foraminiferal oxygen isotopes and ostracode Mg/Ca paleothermometry
Abrupt quaternary ocean-ice events in the Arctic: Evidence from the ostracode rabilimis
Quantifying diagenesis, contributing factors, and resulting isotopic bias in benthic foraminifera using the Foraminiferal Preservation Index: Implications for geochemical proxy records
Interglacial paleoclimate in the Arctic
Central Arctic Ocean paleoceanography from ∼50 ka to present, on the basis of ostracode faunal assemblages from the SWERUS 2014 expedition
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
A new deglacial climate and sea-level record from 20 to 8 ka from IODP381 site M0080, Alkyonides Gulf, eastern Mediterranean
Roles of climatic and anthropogenic factors in shaping Holocene vegetation and fire regimes in Great Dismal Swamp, eastern USA
A 600-kyr reconstruction of deep Arctic seawater δ18O from benthic foraminiferal oxygen isotopes and ostracode Mg/Ca paleothermometry
Abrupt quaternary ocean-ice events in the Arctic: Evidence from the ostracode rabilimis
Quantifying diagenesis, contributing factors, and resulting isotopic bias in benthic foraminifera using the Foraminiferal Preservation Index: Implications for geochemical proxy records
Interglacial paleoclimate in the Arctic
Central Arctic Ocean paleoceanography from ∼50 ka to present, on the basis of ostracode faunal assemblages from the SWERUS 2014 expedition
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.