Amy Hessl
Professor of Geography
Categorized As
Paleoclimate — Dr. Hessl uses the environmental information stored in the growth rings of trees to study Earth’s climate variability, solar storms, ecosystem processes, and human activities over the last 2000 years. She has worked in the American West, Mongolia and Southern Australia and has published more than 60 peer-reviewed papers. Her research has been covered by the international press including outlets such as The Economist, The New York Times, USA Today, and the LA Times. She is passionate about supporting the next generation of geoscientists.
Montane Forest Dynamics Lab
PI: Amy Hessl, Professor of Geography
Current and ongoing research projects
- Empowering Appalachian Students through the Exploring Geosciences Solutions Curriculum and the Appalachian Geoscience Learning Ecosystem – funded by the National Science Foundation Research Infrastructure for Science and Engineering Division (2023-2026)
- Collaborative Research: Resolving Uncertainty in Past Delta-14C Spikes from Tree Rings – funded by the National Science Foundation (2024-2026).
Representative Publications
*Designates student authors
*Walker, M. R., Shobe, C. M., Andreu-Hayles, L., Dey, L., Suran, B., Nachin, B., and A. E. Hessl. 2025. Reconstructing annual Δ14C during Miyake events using deciduous and evergreen trees. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 39(6): e2024GB008423 https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GB008423.
King, J., Anchukaitis, K., Allen, K., Vance, T., and A. Hessl. 2023. Trends and variability in the Southern Annular Mode over the Common Era. Nature Communications 14:2324. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37643-1
*Walker, M., Mueller, A. Allen, K., Fenwick, P., Anchukaitis, K. and A. Hessl. 2023. High resolution radiocarbon spike confirms tree ring dating with low sample depth. Dendrochronologia 77: 126048. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dendro.2022.126048.
Hessl, A., Anchukaitis, K.J., Jelsema, C., Cook, B., Byambasuran, O., Leland, C., Nachin, B., Pederson, N., Tian, H., Andreu Hayles, L. 2018. Past and future drought in Mongolia. Science Advances 4, e1701832. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1701832.
de Graauw*, K. and Hessl, A. 2020. Do historic log buildings provide evidence of reforestation following the depopulation of indigenous peoples? Journal of Biogeography. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13769
Pederson, N., A. Hessl, K. Anchukaitis, Nachin Baatarbileg, and N. Di Cosmo. 2014. Pluvials, Droughts, the Mongol Empire, and Modern Mongolia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111(12):4375–4379. 10.1073/pnas.1318677111
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