Benjamin V. Gaglioti

Research Interest
Current Research Projects
Publications
Education
Appointments
Outreach and Media Coverage

My research lies at the intersection of Geology, Ecology, and Climate Science. I employ a variety of geochemical, biological-, and sedimentary-based proxy methods to reconstruct past climate change, and then test how keystone environmental processes responded to this change. The methods I use involve paleobotany, dendrochronology, lake sedimentology, stable isotope analysis, and Quaternary Geology. My past projects range from identifying the remains of ice age plants, quantifying permafrost carbon release during past warming events, identifying the causes of ice age mammal extinctions in Arctic Alaska, testing how humans and climate influenced boreal wildfire activity, developing new tree-ring records to understand climate change in winter, and dating Little Ice Age glacier advances in Southeast Alaska. I enjoy working in remote places.

2022-2025: Tracking Divergent Warming and Tree Growth at Arctic Treeline
Funded By: NSF Arctic Natural Sciences
Principal Investigator: Rosanne D’Arrigo (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory). Co-
Investigators: Kevin Anchukaitis (University of Arizona), Laia Andreu-Hayles (Lamont-
Doherty Earth Observatory), Benjamin Gaglioti (UAF)
NSF Project Page

2022-2024: RII Track-4: NSF: Does warming-driven root damage lead to drought
stress in declining yellow-cedar trees?
Funded By: NSF EPSCoR
Principal Investigator: Benjamin Gaglioti (UAF). Co-Investigator: Kevin Anchukaitis
(University of Arizona)
NSF Project Page

2020-2023: Evaluating recently burned areas as fuel breaks in the rapidly warming boreal forest of Interior Alaska
Funded By: Joint Fire Science Program, Department of Interior
Principal Investigator: Benjamin Gaglioti (UAF). Co-Investigators: Daniel H. Mann (UAF); Jennifer Barnes (National Park Service).
JFSP Project Page

2020-2023: Collaborative Research: Extending Key Records of Holocene Climate Change and Glacier Fluctuations in the North Pacific Region Using Subfossil Wood from Southeastern Alaska
Funded By: The National Science Foundation Paleoclimate Program
Principal Investigator: Benjamin Gaglioti (UAF). Co-Investigators: Daniel H. Mann (UAF); Gregory Wiles (College of Wooster).
NSF Project Award Page

2019-2022: Emergence of Beavers as Ecosystem Engineers in the New Arctic
Funded By: The National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs
Principal Investigator: Kenneth Tape (UAF). Co-Investigators: Benjamin Jones (UAF); Benjamin Gaglioti (UAF).
NSF Project Award Page

2018-2020: Ancient ghost forests reveal how Alaska’s glaciers and cedar trees responded to past warming events
Funded By: National Geographic
Principal Investigator: Benjamin Gaglioti (UAF). Co-Investigators: Daniel H. Mann (UAF); Benjamin Jones (UAF); Gregory Wiles (College of Wooster); Laia Andreu-Hayles (Columbia University); Lauren Oakes (Stanford University).
Gaglioti’s National Geographic Explorer Page

2016-2020: Alaskan Tundra Fires during a Time of Rapid Climate Change
Funded By: Joint Fire Science Program
Principal Investigator: Daniel H. Mann (UAF). Co-Investigators are Benjamin Jones (UAF); Benjamin Gaglioti (UAF); Eric Miller (BLM Alaska Fire Service)
JFSP Project ID: 16-1-01-8

Gaglioti, B.V., Mann, D.H. and Wiles, G.C., 2022. Ecosystems at Glacier Margins Can Serve as Climate‐Change Laboratories. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(13), p.e2022GL098574. Link to Publication

Tape, K.D., Clark, J.A., Jones, B.M., Kantner, S., Gaglioti, B.V., Grosse, G., Nitze, I., 2022. Expanding beaver pond distribution in Arctic Alaska, 1949 to 2019 Scientific Reports 12(1), pp.1-9. Link to Publication

Jones, B.M., Grosse, G., Farquharson, L.M., Roy-Léveillée, P., Veremeeva, A., Kanevskiy, M.Z., Gaglioti, B.V., Breen, A.L., Parsekian, A.D., Ulrich, M. and Hinkel, K.M., 2022. Lake and drained lake basin systems in lowland permafrost regions. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 3(1), pp.85-98. Link to Publication

Monteath, A.J., Gaglioti, B.V., Edwards, M.E. and Froese, D., 2021. Late Pleistocene shrub expansion preceded megafauna turnover and extinctions in eastern Beringia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(52). Link to Publication

Gaglioti, B.V., Mann, D.H., Wiles, G. and Wiesenberg, N., 2021. Is the modern-day dieback of yellow-cedar unprecedented? Canadian Journal of Forest Research 51(12), pp.1953-1965. Link to Publication

Jones, B.M., Tape, K.D., Clark, J.A., Bondurant, A.C., Ward Jones, M.K., Gaglioti, B.V., Elder, C.D., Witharana, C. and Miller, C.E., 2021. Multi-dimensional remote sensing analysis documents beaver-induced permafrost degradation, Seward Peninsula, Alaska. Remote Sensing, 13(23), p.4863. Link to Publication

Bergstedt, H., Jones, B.M., Hinkel, K., Farquharson, L., Gaglioti, B.V., Parsekian, A.D., Kanevskiy, M., Ohara, N., Breen, A.L., Rangel, R.C. and Grosse, G., 2021. Remote Sensing-Based Statistical Approach for Defining Drained Lake Basins in a Continuous Permafrost Region, North Slope of Alaska. Remote Sensing, 13(13), p.2539. Link to Publication

Rangel, R.C., Parsekian, A.D., Farquharson, L.M., Jones, B.M., Ohara, N., Creighton, A.L., Gaglioti, B.V., Kanevskiy, M., Breen, A.L., Bergstedt, H. and Romanovsky, V.E., 2021. Geophysical Observations of Taliks Below Drained Lake Basins on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth126(3), p.e2020JB020889. Link to Publication

Gaglioti, B.V., Berner, L.T., Jones, B.M., Orndahl, K.M., Williams, A.P., Andreu‐Hayles, L., D’Arrigo, R.D., Goetz, S.J. and Mann, D.H., 2020. Tussocks enduring or shrubs greening: Alternate responses to changing fire regimes in the Noatak River Valley, Alaska. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, p.e2020JG006009. Link to Publication

Andreu-Hayles, L., Gaglioti, B.V., Berner, L.T., Levesque, M., Anchukaitis, K.J., Goetz, S.J. and D’Arrigo, R., 2020. A narrow window of summer temperatures associated with shrub growth in Arctic Alaska. Environmental Research Letters15(10), p.105012. Link to Publication

Berner, L.T., Massey, R., Jantz, P., Forbes, B.C., Macias-Fauria, M., Myers-Smith, I., Kumpula, T., Gauthier, G., Andreu-Hayles, L., Gaglioti, B.V. and Burns, P., 2020. Summer warming explains widespread but not uniform greening in the Arctic tundra biome. Nature Communications11(1), pp.1-12. Link to Publication

Wiles, G.C., Charlton, J., Wilson, R.J., D’Arrigo, R.D., Buma, B., Krapek, J., Gaglioti, B.V., Wiesenberg, N. and Oelkers, R., 2019. Yellow-cedar blue intensity tree-ring chronologies as records of climate in Juneau, Alaska, USA. Canadian Journal of Forest Research49(12), pp.1483-1492. Link to Publication

Gaglioti, B.V., Mann, D.H., Wiles G.C., Jones B.M., Charlton, J., Weisenberg N., Andreu-Hayles L. (2019) Timing and causes of coastal Alaska glacier advances during the 19th century as documented by tree-ring dating and historical accounts. Frontiers in Earth Science 7, 82. Link to Publication

Gaglioti, B.V., Mann, D.H., Williams, A.P., Wiles, G.C., Stoffel, M., Oelkers, R., Jones, B.M. and Andreu‐Hayles, L., 2019. Traumatic resin ducts in Alaska mountain hemlock trees provide a new proxy for winter storminess. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences124(7), pp.1923-1938.Link to Publication

Arp, C.D., and 16 others (Gaglioti B.V.) (2019) Ice roads through lake-rich arctic watersheds: Integrating climate uncertainty and freshwater habitat responses into adaptive management. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research 51 9–23. Link to Publication

Mann, D.H., Groves, P., Gaglioti, B.V. and Shapiro, B.A., 2019. Climate‐driven ecological stability as a globally shared cause of Late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions: The Plaids and Stripes Hypothesis. Biological Reviews94(1), pp.328-352. Link to Publication

Gaglioti, B.V., Mann, D.H., Groves, P., Kunz, M.L., Wooller, M.J., Farquharson, L.M., Jones, B.M., & Reanier R., 2018. Aeolian stratigraphy describes ice-age paleoenvironmental in unglaciated Arctic Alaska. Quaternary Science Reviews182, 175-190. Link to Publication

Elder, C.D., Xu, X., Walker, J., Schnell, J.L., Hinkel, K.M., Townsend-Small, A., Arp, C.D., Pohlman, J.W., Gaglioti, B.V. and Czimczik, C.I., 2018. Greenhouse gas emissions from diverse Arctic Alaskan lakes are dominated by young carbon. Nature Climate Change8(2), pp.166-171. Link to Publication

Gaglioti, B.V., Mann, D.H., Wooller, M.J., Jones, B.M., Wiles, G.C., Groves, P., Kunz, M.L., Baughman C.A., & Reanier R., (2017). Younger-Dryas cooling and sea-ice feedbacks were prominent features of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in Arctic Alaska. Quaternary Science Reviews. 169, 330-343. Link to Publication

Stackpoole, S.M., Butman, D.E., Clow, D., Verdin, K., Gaglioti, B.V., Genet, H., & Striegl, R. (2017) Inland waters and their role in the carbon cycle of Alaska. Ecological Applications, (25) 1403–1420. Link to Publication

Gaglioti, B.V., Mann, D.H., Jones, B.M., Wooller, M.J. & Finney, B.P., 2016. High-resolution records detect human-caused changes to the boreal forest wildfire regime in interior Alaska. The Holocene, 26(7), 1064-1074. Link to Publication

Elvert, M., Pohlman, J.W., Becker, K.W., Gaglioti, B.V., Hinrichs, K.U. & Wooller, M.J., (2016). Methane turnover and environmental change from Holocene lipid biomarker records in a thermokarst lake in Arctic Alaska. The Holocene, 26(11), 1766-1777. Link to Publication

Mann, D.H., Groves, P., Reanier, R.E., Gaglioti, B.V., Kunz, M.L., & Shapiro, B.A. (2015). Life and extinction of megafauna in the ice-age Arctic. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2015, 165-173. Link to Publication

Wooller, M. J., Gaglioti, B.V., Fulton, T. L., Lopez, A., & Shapiro, B. (2015). Post-glacial dispersal patterns of Northern pike inferred from an 8800 year old pike (Esox cf. lucius) skull from interior Alaska. Quaternary Science Reviews 120, 118-125. Link to Publication

Arp, C. D., Whitman, M. S., Jones, B. M., Grosse, G., Gaglioti, B. V., & Heim, K. C. (2014). Beaded streams of Arctic permafrost landscapes. Biogeosciences Discussions, 11(7), 11391-11441. Link to Publication

Gaglioti, B. V., Mann, D. H., Jones, B. M., Pohlman, J. W., Kunz, M. L., & Wooller, M. J. (2014). Radiocarbon age-offsets in an arctic lake reveal the long-term response of permafrost carbon to climate change. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 119(8), 1630-1651. Link to Publication

Tape, K.T., Flint, P.L., Meixell, B.W., & Gaglioti, B.V. (2014) Inundation, sedimentation, and subsidence creates goose habitat along the Arctic coast of Alaska. Environmental Research Letters, 8(4) 045031. Link to Publication

Jones, B. M., Breen, A. L., Gaglioti, B. V., Mann, D. H., Rocha, A. V., Grosse, G., & Walker, D. A. (2013). Identification of unrecognized tundra fire events on the north slope of Alaska. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 118(3), 1334-1344. Link to Publication

Jones, B. M., Gusmeroli, A., Arp, C. D., Strozzi, T., Grosse, G., Gaglioti, B. V., & Whitman, M. S. (2013). Classification of freshwater ice conditions on the Alaskan Arctic Coastal Plain using ground penetrating radar and TerraSAR-X satellite data. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 34(23), 8267-8279. Link to Publication

Mann, D. H., Groves, P., Kunz, M. L., Reanier, R. E., & Gaglioti, B. V. (2013). Ice-age megafauna in Arctic Alaska: extinction, invasion, survival. Quaternary Science Reviews, 70, 91-108. Link to Publication

Wooller, M.J., Kurek, J., Gaglioti, B.V., Cwynar, L.C., Bigelow, N., Reuther, J. D., & Smol, J. P. (2012). An ~11,200 year paleolimnological perspective for emerging archaeological findings at Quartz Lake, Alaska. Journal of Paleolimnology, 48(1), 83-99. Link to Publication

Wooller, M. J., Pohlman, J. W., Gaglioti, B. V., Langdon, P., Jones, M., Anthony, K. M. W., & Elvert, M. (2012). Reconstruction of past methane availability in an Arctic Alaska wetland indicates climate influenced methane release during the past ~12,000 years. Journal of Paleolimnology, 48(1), 27-42. Link to Publication

Blinnikov, M. S., Gaglioti, B. V., Walker, D. A., Wooller, M. J., & Zazula, G. D. (2011). Pleistocene graminoid-dominated ecosystems in the Arctic. Quaternary Science Reviews, 30(21), 2906-2929. Link to Publication

Gaglioti, B.V., Barnes, B.M., Zazula, G.D., Beaudoin, A.B., & Wooller, M.J. (2011). Late Pleistocene paleoecology of arctic ground squirrel (Urocitellus parryii) caches and nests from Interior Alaska's mammoth steppe ecosystem, USA. Quaternary Research, 76(3), 373-382. Link to Publication

Wooller, M.J., Zazula, G.D., Blinnikov, M., Gaglioti, B.V., Bigelow, N., Sanborn, P., & La Farge, C. (2011). The detailed palaeoecology of a mid-Wisconsinan interstadial (ca. 32 000 14C yr BP) vegetation surface from interior Alaska. Journal of Quaternary Science, 26(7), 746-756. Link to Publication

Gaglioti, B. V., Severin, K., & Wooller, M. J. (2010). Developing graminoid cuticle analysis for application to Beringian palaeoecology. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 162(1), 95-110. Link to Publication

  • 2016: Ph.D. Paleoecology (Interdisciplinary Studies; Geosciences Department), University of Alaska Fairbanks.
    Dissertation title: Landscape sensitivity to climate change in northern Alaska: Lessons from the past 
  • 2010: M.S. Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
    Thesis title: The flora of fossil and modern arctic ground squirrel burrows
  • 2007: B.A. Northern Studies, Sterling College and the Center for Northern Studies.
    Senior thesis title: The modern pollen rain along an Elevational Gradient in Northern Arizona: A tool for interpreting paleoclimate records
  • 2019-Present: Assistant Research Professor, Water and Environmental Research Center, Institute of Northern Engineering, University of Alaska Fairbanks
  • 2019-Present: Affiliate Research Faculty, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University
  • 2016-2019: Postdoctoral Fellow, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University
  • 2011-2016: Research Ecologist SCEP Employee, Alaska Science Center, US Geological Survey.
  • 2009-2010: Research Biologist, National Park Service.
  • 2008-2016: Research Assistant, Alaska Stable Isotope Facility, University of Alaska Fairbanks.