COG3

Visiting Assistant Professor
MIT
"Lacustrine cave carbonates: novel archives of climate and lake chemistry in the U.S. Great Basin"


David McGee is currently visiting MIT pending joining the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Paleoclimate at the beginning of next year.

McGee's research uses methods of isotope geochemistry to reconstruct important aspects of past climates. His work includes the determination of high-resolution, precisely dated records of past changes of the water balance in arid areas; these records form the basis of developing predictions of future changes in suh areas. He also studies the historical record of dust deposition in order to reconstruct ancient wind and circulation patterns, which provides important constraints on models of climate dynamics. He has posited that levels of global dust reflect primarily changes in the frequency and intensity of high-speed wind gusts in dust source regions. A significant component of David's research is the application of high-precision geochronology to assemble accurate timing of events.

McGee received a Bachelor's degree in Geology from Carleton College, a Master's in Teaching from Chatham College, an M.S. in Earth and Environmental Science from Tulane University, and a Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Columbia University. He comes to MIT following a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Minnesota.