Meredith A. Kelly
Professor
Appointments
Faculty Director, Dartmouth Climate Collaborative
Chair, Department of Earth Sciences
Frederick Hall Professorship in Mineralogy and Geology
Professor of Earth Sciences
Area of Expertise
Quaternary paleoclimatology,
Glacial geology,
Cosmogenic nuclides,
Geochronology,
Climate change
Biography
My research interests and objectives center upon advancing the knowledge of the terrestrial record of past climate change on timescales that range from centuries to millions of years. This research will benefit our understanding of the modern climate and the mechanisms which cause climate change. I have undertaken research in various geographic locations in order to develop well-dated records of the past extents of glaciers and ice sheets. Although my research generally involves glacial geologic studies, I have broader interests in Quaternary studies and geomorphology.
Education
B.S., Tufts University (1995)
M.S., University of Maine (1999)
Ph.D., University of Berne, Switzerland (2003)
Publications
Herbert JM, Bromely GMR, Kelly MA, Restrepo-Moreno SA, Doughty AM, Ruiz-Carrascal D, Hidy AJ, Galloway P, 2025. Paleoclimatic implications of glacial fluctuations in the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, Colombia, during Termination 1: Quaternary Science Reviews 363, 109458. Link here
Kelly MA, Lowell TV, Hall BL, Levy LB, Smith CA, Salamido K, Schwartz R, Howley JA, 2025. Relative summer temperature changes from glacial fluctuations in the Scoresby Sund Region, Central East Greenland, during late-glacial time: Quaternary Science Reviews 367, 109531. Link here
Wilner JA, Doughty AM, Kelly MA, Morlighem M, 2025. Disentangling Topographic and Climatic Controls on Glacier Extent: a Case Study in Tropical Alpine Colombia: Earth and Planetary Science Letters 667, 119511. Link here
Mason A, Russell J, Garelick S, Kelly M, Nakileza, Anderson N, 2024. Hydroclimatic change and vegetation response in Tropical African alpine environments over the Holocene: Quaternary Science Reviews 344, 108947. Link here
Doughty AM, Kelly MA, Russell JM, Jackson MS, Anderson BM, Chipman J, Nakileza B, 2023. Last glacial maximum reconstructions of Rwenzori mountain glaciers. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology 38, e2022PA004527. Link here
Garelick S, Russell JM, Richards A, Smith J, Kelly MA, Anderson NC, Jackson MS, Doughty AM, Nakileza B, Ivory S, Marshall C, 2022. The dynamics of warming during the last deglaciation in high-elevation regions of Eastern Equatorial Africa. Quaternary Science Reviews 281, 107416. Link here
Lowell TV, Kelly MA, Howley JA, Fisher TG, Barnett PJ, Schwartz R, Zimmerman SRH, Norris N, Malone AGO, 2021. Near-constant retreat rate of a terrestrial margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the last deglaciation: Geology 49, 1511-1515. Link here
Jackson MS, Kelly MA, Russell JM, Doughty AM, Howley JA, Chipman JW, Cavagnaro D, Nakileza B, Zimmerman SH, 2019. High-latitude warming initiated the onset of the last deglaciation in the tropics: Science Advances 5, eaaw2610. Link here
Farnsworth LB, Kelly MA, Bromley GRM, Axford Y, Osterberg EC, Howley JA, Jackson MS, Zimmerman SR, 2018. Holocene history of the Greenland Ice Sheet margin in northern Nunatarssuaq, Northwest Greenland: Arktos 4, article #10, doi:10.1007/s41063-018-0044-0. Link here
Levy LB, Kelly MA, Howley JA, Virginia RA, 2018. Middle to late Holocene chronology of the southwestern margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet: a comparison with Holocene temperature and precipitation records: Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research 50 e1414477. Link here
McFarlin JM, Axford Y, Osburn MR, Kelly MA, Osterberg EC, Farnsworth LB, 2018. Pronounced summer warming in Northwest Greenland during the Holocene and Last Interglacial: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115, 6357-6362. Link here
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