JOSEPH R. McCONNELL

EDUCATION:

Ph.D., Hydrogeology and Water Resources, University of Arizona
M.S., Exploration Geophysics, Stanford University
B.S., Geology and Geophysics, Yale University

ACADEMIC AFFILIATIONS:

Graduate Program of Hydrologic Sciences – University of Nevada Reno

PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS:

Dr. McConnell’s research interests include snow and global-scale hydrology, ice core and atmospheric chemistry, glaciology, and ice sheet mass balance - with particular emphasis on understanding the role of human activities in global climate and sea level change. Current NSF, NASA, and internally funded research projects include ice core chemistry-based studies in Greenland, Antarctica, and the Americas. Central to this research are national and international collaborations (e.g., British Antarctic Survey, Australian Antarctic Division, Instituto Antártico Argentino, Norwegian Polar Institute) and DRI’s unique ultra-trace ice core analytical laboratory. This laboratory is capable of simultaneously measuring in ice cores a broad suite of elements in quantities as low as parts per quadrillion and at very high depth resolution. McConnell’s group also conducts collaborative research in hydrology and water balance in snow-dominated, semiarid regions such as the American West as part of the NSF-funded SAHRA Science and Technology Center.

AWARDS AND HONORS:

• Inaugural Nazir and Mary Ansari Medal for Excellence in Science, Desert Research Institute (2008)
• Regent's Researcher Award, Board of Regents, Nevada System of Higher Education (2006)
• Fulbright Traditional Scholars Program: Collaboration in Snow and Ice Chemistry: Industrial Pollution in the Antarctica Peninsula during Recent Centuries (2005/2006)

• Global Environmental Hydrology
• Integrated Watershed System

PROJECT LINKS:

• Norweigian-U.S. Traverse
• WAIS Divide
• GEOSUMMIT Observatory
• Program for Arctic Regional Climate Assessment (PARCA)
• Greenland: PARCA
• SAHRA
• Life in the Field: Frozen in Time
• Patagonian dust clouds settle on the Antarctic
• Biodiversite urbaine en Siene-Saint-Denis

• McConnell, Joseph R., and George Wood, 1993. Apparatus and method for marine seismic surveying utilizing adaptive signal processing, Proprietary U.S. Patent Number 5,251,183, Issued Oct. 5, 1993.

Bales, R.C., Guo, Q., Shen, D., McConnell, J.R., Du, G. , Burkhart, J.F. , Spikes, V.B., Hanna, E. , Cappelen, J. , 2009 (in press).

Annual accumulation for Greenland updated using ice core data developed during 2000-2006 and analysis of daily coastal meteorological data. Journal of Geophysical Research.

Banta, J.R., McConnell, J.R. , Edwards, R., Engelbretch, J. , 2008.

Delineation of carbonate dust, aluminous dust, and sea salt deposition in a Greenland glaciochemical array using positive matrix factorization. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (G3). 19(7). doi:10.1029/2007GC001908.

Thomas, E.R., Marshall, G.J., McConnell, J.R., 2008.

A doubling in accumulation in the western Antarctic Peninsula since 1850. Geophysical Research Letters. doi:10.1029/2007GL032529.

Banta, J.R., McConnell, J.R. , Frey, M., Taylor, K. , 2008.

Spatial and temporal variability in snow accumulation at WAIS Divide over recent centuries. Journal of Geophysical Research. 113. doi:10.1029/2008JD01235. Small, E.E., McConnell, J.R., 2008.

Comparison of soil moisture and meteorological controls on pine and spruce Transpiration. Ecohydrology. 1, 205-214. doi:10.1002/eco.25.

Banta, J.R. , McConnell, J.R., 2007.

Annual accumulation over recent centuries at four sites in central Greenland. Journal of Geophysical Research. DOI 10.1029/2006JD007887.

Burkhart, J.F. , Bales, R.C., McConnell, J.R., Hutterli, M.A., 2006.

Influence of North Atlantic Oscillation on anthropogenic transport recorded in northwest Greenland ice cores. Journal of Geophysical Research. doi:10.1029/2005JD006771.

McConnell, J.R., 2006. Microparticle and Trace Element Studies. Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science.

McConnell, J.R., 2005.

Role and Importance of Cryospheric Processes in Climate System. Encyclopedia of Hydrologic Sciences.

Davis, C.H., Li, Y., McConnell, J.R., Frey, M.M., Hanna, E., 2005.

Snowfall-driven growth in East Antarctic ice sheet mitigates recent sea-level rise. Science. 308(5730), 1898 - 1901, DOI: 10.1126/science.1110662.

McConnell, J.R., Lamorey, G.W., Hutterli, M.A., 2002.

A 250-year high-resolution record of Pb flux and crustal enrichment in central Greenland. Geophysical Research Letters. 29(23), 2130.

McConnell, J.R., Lamorey, G.W., Lambert, S.W., Taylor, K.C., 2002.

Continuous ice-core chemical analyses using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Environmental Science & Technology. 36(1), 7-11.

McConnell, J.R., Arthern, R.J., Mosley-Thompson, E., Davis, C.H., Bales, R.C., Thomas, R., Burkhart, J.F., Kyne, J.D., 2000.

Changes in Greenland ice-sheet elevation attributed primarily to snow-accumulation variability. Nature. 406, 877-879.

PUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD:

McConnell, J.R., and R. Edwards, 2008. Coal burning leaves toxic heavy metal legacy in the Arctic. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, doi:10.1073/pnas.0803564105.
Press Release

McConnell, J.R., R. Edwards, G.L. Kok, M.G. Flanner, C.S. Zender, E.S. Saltzman, J.R. Banta, D.R. Pasteris, M.M. Carter, and J.D.W. Kahl, 2007. 20th century industrial black carbon emissions altered Arctic climate forcing. Science, August 9, 2007, DOI: 10.1126/science.1144856.  
Abstract | Reprint | Supporting Online Material | Podcast

McConnell, J.R., A.J. Aristarain, J.R. Banta, P.R. Edwards, and J.C. Simoes, 2007. 20th century doubling in dust archived in an Antarctic peninsula ice core parallels climate change and desertification in South America. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(14):5732-5468.
Article

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Hydrologic Sciences Division Desert Research Institute 2215 Raggio Parkway Reno, NV 89512 (775) 673-7348 Email: Joe.McConnell@dri.edu