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| Jonathan Overpeck | |
|---|---|
| Name | Jonathan Overpeck |
| Birth date | 1958 |
| Birth place | Michigan, United States |
| Fields | Paleoclimatology; Climate science; Earth system science |
| Workplaces | University of Michigan, University of Arizona, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Center for Atmospheric Research |
| Alma mater | Brown University, University of Arizona |
| Doctoral advisor | Unknown |
Jonathan Overpeck is an American paleoclimatologist and climate scientist noted for research on past and future climate variability, climate change impacts, and interdisciplinary Earth system studies. He has held faculty and leadership posts linking university research with national and international climate assessments, and has contributed to major scientific bodies and public policy discussions. Overpeck's work spans paleoclimatology, hydroclimate, extreme events, and regional climate projections relevant to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and U.S. federal agencies.
Overpeck was born in Michigan and received undergraduate and graduate training that combined field paleoclimate methods with numerical analysis. He earned degrees from Brown University and completed doctoral work at the University of Arizona, studying late Quaternary climate variability alongside researchers involved with lake sediment records, dendrochronology, and ice core comparisons. Early mentors and collaborators included scientists affiliated with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration programs, National Center for Atmospheric Research investigators, and faculty connected to regional paleoclimate initiatives in the Grand Canyon, Sierra Nevada, and Rocky Mountains.
Overpeck has held appointments at the University of Arizona and the University of Michigan, and has been affiliated with federal research organizations such as NOAA and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. His career integrates fieldwork on lacustrine and terrestrial archives with modeling efforts using coupled atmosphere–ocean models developed at institutions like GFDL, NCAR, and international centers participating in CMIP experiments. He has supervised graduate students who later worked at the U.S. Geological Survey, NASA, EPA, and international universities, and has served on editorial boards of journals produced by publishers such as American Geophysical Union and Elsevier.
Overpeck's research clarified links between past hydroclimate variations and societal impacts by combining proxy records from lake sediments, tree rings, and speleothems with climate model simulations used in IPCC assessments. He contributed to understanding abrupt climate events related to changes in monsoon systems affecting regions like the American Southwest, Amazon Basin, and East Africa, and to attribution studies connecting greenhouse gas forcing examined in IPCC Fifth Assessment Report cycles. Overpeck helped advance methods for reconstructing paleoclimate using multiproxy networks, collaborated on transient simulations using frameworks from CMIP5 and CMIP6, and worked with interdisciplinary teams examining effects of drought on resources tied to agencies including Bureau of Reclamation and USDA. His studies intersected with work by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
Overpeck has served in leadership roles linking academia and policy, including positions that engaged the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the National Academies, and state-level climate initiatives in places such as Arizona and Michigan. He participated in national assessments coordinated by the U.S. Global Change Research Program and advised federal agencies including NOAA, NASA, and the Department of the Interior. Overpeck contributed to public-facing efforts with media outlets and science communication partners such as National Geographic, The New York Times, PBS, and professional meetings of the American Meteorological Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Overpeck's recognition includes fellowships and awards from organizations like the American Geophysical Union, election to committees of the National Academy of Sciences, and honors from state and university bodies. He has been named to advisory panels for large-scale programs funded by entities such as NSF and has received prizes that acknowledge contributions to paleoclimate and climate impacts research, alongside peers affiliated with Columbia University, Princeton University, and Harvard University.
Overpeck has authored and coauthored numerous peer-reviewed articles in journals published by organizations such as the American Geophysical Union, Nature Publishing Group, and Science/AAAS, contributing to high-profile syntheses in IPCC reports and national climate assessments. He has appeared in interviews and documentaries alongside scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and has spoken at forums hosted by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, World Economic Forum, and regional stakeholder meetings with the Bureau of Reclamation and EPA.
Category:American climatologists Category:Living people Category:University of Arizona faculty Category:University of Michigan faculty