Adam Csank

Geography Department Chair, Associate Professor
Adam Csank
He/him/his

Summary

Dr. Csank is a paleoclimatologist & paleoecologist with expertise in stable isotope geochemistry and dendrochronology. His primary research involves the use of stable isotope dendrochronology to reconstruct past climates and the impacts of climate change on trees over time periods ranging from the Pliocene to the present. Past projects include studies ranging from climate reconstructions to land use change to studies of drought and tree mortality. Ongoing projects include reconstructions of climate and ecosystems in the Arctic, the response of trees to climatic change, and reconstructions of large-scale atmospheric patterns, streamflow and lake levels. Dr. Csank also works at the intersection of human and physical geography on projects to provenance timbers in order to study historic timber trade patterns, to understand historic land use patterns and to find novel ways to use paleodata to inform climate adaptation and vulnerability. In his research Dr. Csank has worked in diverse settings both locally and internationally including the Canadian Arctic, Greenland, throughout the western US, eastern Canada, Bermuda, Jamaica and Italy.

Research interests

  • Paleoclimatology
  • Paleoecology
  • Plant-climate interactions
  • Stable isotope geochemistry
  • Dendrochronology
  • Ecohydrology
  • Arctic environmental change

Courses taught

  • GEOG 103 Physical Geography of Earth’s Environments
  • GEOG 321 Understanding Climate
  • GEOG 335 Earth Resources & The Environment
  • GEOG 435/635 Conservation of Natural Resources
  • GEOG 437/637 Geography of Past Environments
  • GEOG 701R Graduate seminar in Paleoclimatology

Education

  • Ph.D. Geosciences, University of Arizona 2011
  • M.Sc. Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan 2006
  • B.Sc. Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University 2003

Selected publications

  • Manning, A.L., Harpold, A., Csank, A. (2022) Spruce Beetle Outbreak Increases Streamflow From Snow‐Dominated Basins in Southwest Colorado, USA, Water Resources Research, e2021WR029964
  • Keen, R., Voelker, S., Wang, S.-Y., Bentz, B., Goulden, M., Dangerfield, C., Reed, C., Hood, S., Csank, A., Dawson, T., Merschel, A., Still, C. (2022) Changes in tree drought sensitivity provided early warning signals to the California drought and forest mortality event. Global Change Biology, 28, 1119-1132.
  • Schook, D.M., Friedman, J.M., Stricker, C.A., Csank, A.Z., Cooper, D.J. (2020) Short- and long-term responses of riparian cottonwoods (Populus spp.) to flow diversion: Analysis of tree-ring radial growth and stable carbon isotopes. Science of the Total Environment, 735, 139523 
  • Chellman, N., Csank, A.Z., Gustin, M.S., Arienzo, M.M., Estrada Vargas, M., McConnell, J.R. (2020) Comparison of co-located ice-core and tree-ring mercury records indicates potential radial translocation of mercury in whitebark pine. Science of the Total Environment, 743, 140695 
  • Csank, A.Z., Czimczik, C., Xu, X., Welker, J.M. (2019) Seasonal patterns of riverine carbon sources and export in NW Greenland. JGR-Biogeosciences, 124 (4), 840-856.
  • Fletcher, T.L., Csank, A.Z., Ballantyne, A.P. (2019) Identifying bias in cold season temperature reconstructions by beetle mutual climatic range methods in the Pliocene Canadian Arctic. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 514, 672-676.