I study climate and environmental change, primarily through the lens of paleolimnology (the study of lake sediments and past lake environments). My current work is aimed at understanding the impacts of climate change in Arctic and alpine environments. Periods of past climate change provide opportunities to observe -- via the geologic record -- how natural systems including ecosystems and glaciers tend to respond to changing climate. Much of my research has focused on the Holocene (the past 11,000 years of Earth's history), but I study timescales ranging from the Pliocene to the present.

* Prospective graduate students - please click here for lab & program information *

Some current & recent study sites. Click pins for field photos.

* NEWS: New Quaternary Sediment Lab*

Construction of Northwestern's new Quaternary Sediment Lab was completed in November 2012. The lab hosts microscopy facilities and cold storage for sediment cores, and will be equipped with a range of instrumentation for geochemical, sedimentological, and magnetic analysis of lake cores and other sediments.

Move-in day, Quaternary Sediment Lab.

* FEATURED LINKS*
*NU Dept of Earth & Planetary Sciences *
* NUCO₂ - real-time CO₂ measurements from the Northwestern campus *
* 2012 NU Climate Change Symposium - videotaped talks now available *
* Initiative for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern (ISEN) *

My mailing address:
Yarrow Axford
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Northwestern University
Technological Institute, 2145 Sheridan Road
Evanston IL 60208-3130

email: axford at northwestern dot edu