Julie Brigham-Grette

Brigham-Grette received a BA in Geology from Albion College in 1976, graduating Magna cum laude.{{cite web |title=Julie Brigham-Grette |url=https://www.umass.edu/earth-geography-climate/about/directory/julie-brigham-grette |website=University of Massachusetts Amherst |access-date=April 21, 2025}} While enrolled in a course on Glaciers and the Pleistocene, Professor Lawrence D. Taylor inspired her to study glacial geology and paleoclimatology.{{cite web |title=Julie Brigham-Grette |url=https://works.bepress.com/julie_brigham_grette/ |website=bepress.com |publisher=Berkeley Electronic Press |access-date=April 21, 2025}}

In 1977, Brigham-Grette began her graduate studies at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) at the University of Colorado Boulder. There, she worked with Professor John T. Andrews, investigating the glacial and sea-level record of a region in the Cumberland Peninsula on Baffin Island. Brigham-Grette received her M.Sc. in Geology in August 1980 with the thesis titled: "Stratigraphy, Amino Acid Geochronology, and Genesis of Quaternary Sediments, Broughton Island, S.E. Baffin Island, Canada."{{Cite thesis|title=Stratigraphy, amino acid geochronology, and genesis of quaternary sediments, Broughton Island, E. Baffin Island, Canada|url=https://libraries.colorado.edu/record=b1533455~S3|date=1980|first=Julie|last=Brigham-Grette}} Her master's research led to her dissertation project, where she continued to focus on Arctic climate change and investigated the Pliocene–Pleistocene sea level history of the Alaskan Arctic Coastal Plain, working under the direction of Professor Gifford H. Miller (University of Colorado Boulder) and Dr. David M. Hopkins (U.S. Geological Survey).{{Cite thesis|title=Marine stratigraphy and amino acid geochronology of the Gubik formation, western Arctic Coastal Plain, Alaska|url=https://libraries.colorado.edu/record=b1700296~S3|date=1985|first=Julie|last=Brigham-Grette}}

Brigham-Grette received her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado Boulder in May 1985, with the dissertation titled "Marine Stratigraphy and Amino Acid Geochronology of the Gubik Formation, Western Arctic Coastal Plain, Alaska."{{Dead link|date=April 2025}} Her graduate degrees incorporated amino acid geochronology (amino acid dating),{{Cite journal|last=Brigham|first=Julie K.|date=1983-09-01|title=Intrashell variations in amino acid concentrations and isoleucine epimerization ratios in fossil Hiatella arctica|journal=Geology|language=en|volume=11|issue=9|pages=509–513|doi=10.1130/0091-7613(1983)11<509:iviaac>2.0.co;2|bibcode=1983Geo....11..509B |issn=0091-7613}}{{Cite journal|last=Brigham|first=Julie K.|date=1983-04-01|title=Stratigraphy, amino acid geochronology, and correlation of Quaternary sea-level and glacial events, Broughton Island, arctic Canada|journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences|volume=20|issue=4|pages=577–598|doi=10.1139/e83-055|bibcode=1983CaJES..20..577B |issn=0008-4077}} a technique based on changes in indigenous proteins preserved in carbonate shells. The technique estimates the time that's passed since an organism's death.{{Cite journal|title=Amino acid geochronology: Resolution and precision in carbonate fossils|journal=Quaternary International|volume=1|pages=111–128|doi=10.1016/1040-6182(89)90011-6|year=1989|last1=Miller|first1=Gifford H.|last2=Brigham-Grette|first2=Julie|bibcode=1989QuInt...1..111M }} Brigham-Grette utilized this technique to correlate regional stratigraphic sections in order to resolve glacial geologic and sea level history.

Following her graduate work, Brigham-Grette was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Bergen from November 1983 to December 1984, where she worked with Dr. Hans-Petter Sejrup on the Geochronology of Quaternary sediments in the North Sea.{{cite web |title=Julie Brigham-Grette |url=https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Brigham-Grette |website=German Wikipedia |access-date=April 21, 2025 |language=de}} Brigham-Grette was subsequently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Geology at the University of Alberta, as well as the Geological Survey of Canada from May 1985 to May 1987, where she worked with Dr. Steven Blasco (Bedford Institute of Oceanography) on the stratigraphy and geochronology of the Canadian Beaufort Sea Continental Shelf.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025|reason=Cannot make statements about living persons without citation}}

In 1987, she became an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in what was then the Department of Geology & Geography (now Geosciences). Brigham-Grette was a visiting professor at the Alaska Quaternary Center, University of Alaska Museum of the North, Fairbanks from January to June 1990.{{cite web |title=Julie Brigham-Grette |url=https://www.umass.edu/earth-geography-climate/about/directory/julie-brigham-grette |website=University of Massachusetts Amherst |access-date=April 21, 2025}} In 1993, she became the third tenured female faculty member in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=89GZjwEACAAJ|title=An Informal History of Geosciences at UMass Amherst|last=Hubert|first=John F.|date=2016-02-13|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform|isbn=9781523473304|language=en}} and in 2001 was promoted to Professor. Brigham-Grette teaches courses in glacial geology, quaternary glacial stratigraphy, geochronology, and oceanography, and is the first woman to serve as the Graduate Program Director for the Department of Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences (in the College of Natural Sciences) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (2013–present).{{cite web |title=Staff Directory |url=https://www.umass.edu/earth-geography-climate/about/directory/julie-brigham-grette |website=University of Massachusetts |access-date=30 January 2025}}

Brigham-Grette has served in numerous leadership roles in the international Arctic science community. She has been a member of the Polar Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences since 2008 and has been the chairman since 2014.{{Cite web |title=Polar Research Board Members |url=http://dels.nas.edu/global/prb/Board-Members |access-date=2019-05-15 |website=dels.nas.edu}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=269122438&privcapId=6123540&previousCapId=0&previousTitle=|title=Julie Brigham-Grette: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg|website=www.bloomberg.com|access-date=2019-05-15}} She co-chaired the DOSECC Scientific Steering Committee to direct the renewed US Continental Drilling Program from 2010 to 2012 and was Vice-Chair of the DOSECC Board of Directors from 2011 to 2013. Since 2013, Brigham-Grette has been a member of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Governance Board.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Throughout her career, Brigham-Grette has also served on and directed panels and committees for the American Quaternary Association, U.S. Arctic Research Commission Logistics Joint Task Force, National Science Foundation, Geological Society of America, Past Global Changes (PAGES), the National Lacustrine Core Facility (LacCore), and the National Research Council, among others.{{cite web |title=Julie Brigham-Grette |url=https://expertfile.com/experts/julie.brighamgrette/julie-brighamgrette |website=ExpertFile |access-date=April 21, 2025}} Brigham-Grette has also been an editor and served on the editorial board for the following scientific journals: Quaternary International, Quaternary Science Reviews, Climate of the Past.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Brigham-Grette's research contributions to the fields of glaciology and Arctic paleoclimatology are recognized internationally, particularly her role in the Lake El'gygytgyn Drilling Project.{{Cite journal |last1=Melles |first1=Martin |last2=Brigham-Grette |first2=Julie |last3=Minyuk |first3=Pavel |last4=Koeberl |first4=Christian |last5=Andreev |first5=Andrei |last6=Cook |first6=Timoth |last7=Fedorov |first7=Grigory |last8=Gebhardt |first8=Catalina |last9=Haltia-Hovi |first9=Eeva |date=2011-03-28 |title=The Lake El'gygytgyn Scientific Drilling Project Conquering Arctic Challenges through Continental Drilling |url=http://www.sci-dril.net/11/29/2011 |journal=Scientific Drilling |volume=11 |issue=11, March 2011 |pages=29–40 |doi=10.2204/iodp.sd.11.03.2011 |doi-access=free}}

The sedimentary sequence from Lake El'gygytgyn, a meteorite impact crater lake formed 3.6 million years ago,{{Cite journal|last=Layer|first=Paul W.|date=2000|title=Argon-40/argon-39 age of the El'gygytgyn impact event, Chukotka, Russia|journal=Meteoritics & Planetary Science|language=en|volume=35|issue=3|pages=591–599|doi=10.1111/j.1945-5100.2000.tb01439.x|bibcode=2000M&PS...35..591L |s2cid=129281139 |issn=1945-5100}} was recovered in 2009 through an international research effort funded by the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP), the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany), the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research. Lake El'gygytgyn contains the longest continuous record of Arctic climate from a continental location. Brigham-Grette was a lead principal investigator for the Lake El'gygytgyn Drilling Project, along with Dr. Martin Melles (Germany), Dr. Pavel Sergeevich Minuyk (Russia) and Dr. Christian Koeberl (Austria). Brigham-Grette first received funding from NSF to conduct a pilot investigation of Lake El'gygytgyn in 1996.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9615768&HistoricalAwards=false|title=NSF Award Search: Award#9615768 - The Paleoclimatic Record of Elgygytgyn Lake, Ne Russia: A Pilot Study|website=www.nsf.gov|access-date=2019-05-15}} Following a successful field season and notable initial results, she was awarded another NSF grant in 2000{{Cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9905813&HistoricalAwards=false|title=NSF Award Search: Award#9905813 - Paleoclimate Record of El|website=www.nsf.gov|access-date=2019-05-15}} to conduct sediment coring and to investigate the modern limnological conditions of the lake. In 2005, ICDP funded the full proposal for scientific drilling at Lake El'gygytgyn, and in the winter of 2009 during a 5-month field season, Lake El'gygytgyn was drilled through the ice and the entire sedimentary sequence was recovered; drilling also recovered the rocks from the impact crater.

The first paleoclimate results of the Lake El'gygytgyn Drilling Project were presented in the journal Science (journal) by Melles, Brigham-Grette and co-authors,{{Cite journal|last1=Melles|first1=M.|last2=Brigham-Grette|first2=J.|last3=Minyuk|first3=P. S.|last4=Nowaczyk|first4=N. R.|last5=Wennrich|first5=V.|last6=DeConto|first6=R. M.|last7=Anderson|first7=P. M.|last8=Andreev|first8=A. A.|last9=Coletti|first9=A.|date=2012-07-20|title=2.8 Million Years of Arctic Climate Change from Lake El'gygytgyn, NE Russia|journal=Science|language=en|volume=337|issue=6092|pages=315–320|doi=10.1126/science.1222135|pmid=22722254|bibcode=2012Sci...337..315M |s2cid=729119 |issn=0036-8075|url=https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.783340|doi-access=free}} who investigated Arctic climate history from the Lake El'gygytgyn record during the past 2.8 Ma (the Pleistocene). This paper was followed by another publication in Science (journal) in 2013 by Brigham-Grette and co-authors,{{Cite journal|last1=Brigham-Grette|first1=J.|last2=Melles|first2=M.|last3=Minyuk|first3=P.|last4=Andreev|first4=A.|last5=Tarasov|first5=P.|last6=DeConto|first6=R.|last7=Koenig|first7=S.|last8=Nowaczyk|first8=N.|last9=Wennrich|first9=V.|date=2013-06-21|title=Pliocene Warmth, Polar Amplification, and Stepped Pleistocene Cooling Recorded in NE Arctic Russia|journal=Science|language=en|volume=340|issue=6139|pages=1421–1427|doi=10.1126/science.1233137|pmid=23661643|bibcode=2013Sci...340.1421B |s2cid=35454967 |issn=0036-8075|url=https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.808829}} where Arctic climate history of the Pliocene portion of the Lake El'gygytgyn record was presented (2.6 to 2.8 million years ago). A key finding from both papers demonstrated the significant impact of polar amplification. During the Pleistocene, Lake El'gygytgyn experienced numerous "super interglacials" with temperatures approximately 4-5°C higher and precipitation approximately 300mm higher than during the Holocenes. In the mid-Pliocene Warm Period, when atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were likely similar to today, summer temperatures at Lake El'gygytgyn were approximately 8°C higher. Some of the subsequent results of the Lake El'gygytgyn Drilling Project {{Citation|last=FrontierScientists|title=Julie Brigham-Grette presents Lake El' gygytgyn Research|date=2012-07-09|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxbOSB7zDgY|access-date=2019-05-15}} were presented by over 50 scientists in a special issue of Climate of the Past{{Cite journal|title=CP – Special issue – Initial results from lake El'gygytgyn, western Beringia: first time-continuous Pliocene-Pleistocene terrestrial record from the Arctic|url=https://www.clim-past.net/special_issue48.html|language=English}} and a special issue of Meteoritics and Planetary Science.{{Cite journal|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19455100/2013/48/7|title=The 2009 ICDP drilling project at the El'gygytgyn impact structure in Arctic Russia.: Meteoritics & Planetary Science : Vol 48, No 7|website=onlinelibrary.wiley.com|language=en|access-date=2019-05-15}} Research on materials recovered from Lake El'gygytgyn Drilling Project continues today.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Brigham-Grette teaches about Arctic climate change and since 2003 has been the leader or co-leader of a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) training program in Svalbard (Norway).{{Cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1263005|title=NSF Award Search: Award#1263005 - Collaborative Research: REU Site: Svalbard REU: Holocene and Modern Climate Change in the Norwegian High Arctic|website=www.nsf.gov|access-date=2019-05-15}} This program provides undergraduates with hands on research investigating the links between climate, glacial mass balance, sediment transport, and lake and fjord sedimentation from a location that has warmed during the past 90 years.{{Cite journal|last1=Roof|first1=Steve|last2=Werner|first2=Al|last3=Brigham-Grette|first3=Julie|last4=Powell|first4=Ross|last5=Retelle|first5=Mike|date=2011-09-01|title=The Svalbard REU Program: A High-Latitude Undergraduate Research Experience in Glacial, Marine, and Lacustrine Processes Relevant to Arctic Climate Change|journal=Oceanography|volume=24|issue=3|pages=51|doi=10.5670/oceanog.2011.54|issn=1042-8275|url=https://tos.org/oceanography/assets/docs/24-3_roof.pdf|doi-access=free|bibcode=2011Ocgpy..24c..51R }} Brigham-Grette has worked with four Polar TREC teachers since 2009,{{Cite web|url=https://www.polartrec.com/member/julie-brigham-grette|title=Julie Brigham-Grette|last=Brigham-Grette|first=Julie|date=2009-02-16|website=PolarTREC|language=en|access-date=2019-05-15}}{{Citation|last=PolarTREC|title=Lake E Wildlife|date=2011-02-11|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA_cZBG-5v4|access-date=2019-05-15}} taking high school teachers to the Arctic to participate in field research expeditions.

Brigham-Grette has discussed how paleoclimate data can help us understand current and future climate change. She has given numerous lectures {{Citation|last=greenmanbucket|title=Back to the Pliocene with Dr. Julie Brigham Grette|date=2014-11-08|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9GWAv3en7A|access-date=2019-05-15}}{{Citation|last=Beyond One Degree|title=Professor Julie Brigham-Grette on how to learn from history|date=2018-06-27|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8aZYfJkGZ4|access-date=2019-05-15}}{{Citation|last=Arctic Research Consortium of the United States|title=Julie Brigham-Grette, Sea Level and Polar Warming - 15 January 2016|date=2016-01-21|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fwEEU8r1Lc|access-date=2019-05-15}}{{Citation|last=Understanding Climate Change|title=Tracing Arctic Climate Evolution: Prof Julie Brigham-Grette (May 2015)|date=2016-08-08|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2QJIuYzP9s|access-date=2019-05-15}}{{Citation|last=Qian Li|title=Science for Alaska Lecture Series 2016 - Julie Brigham-Grette, University of Massachusetts-Amherst|date=2016-03-24|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J24nzRhaZc|access-date=2019-05-15}}{{Citation|last=Southampton Education School|title=Tracing Arctic Climate Evolution from a Forested Arctic to the Present; Prof Julie Brigham-Grette|date=2015-03-13|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_h4TfGB9EA|access-date=2019-05-15}}{{Citation|last=Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth|title=Seminar: The Roadless Pursuit of Scientific Drilling at El'gygytgyn Crater Lake, Arctic Russia|date=2012-12-04|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDWUzWAtiyQ|access-date=2019-05-15}}{{Citation|last=CEOAS - Oregon State|title=Tracing Arctic Climate Evolution: From a forested arctic to the present|date=2015-06-01|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvMF3kuDTfo|access-date=2019-05-15}} and appeared on radio shows{{Citation|last=Cat April Watters|title=Geologist Julie Brigham Grette- "Sea Level is Rising. It's Not reversible"|date=2017-03-24|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kHWOkh_Ip0|access-date=2019-05-15}} talking about how Arctic climate has changed since the Pliocene and what can be expected as climate change continues.

• 2002 Elected Fellow Geological Society of America{{Cite web|url=https://www.geosociety.org/GSA/About/awards/GSA_Fellows/GSA/Awards/Fellows.aspx|title=GSA Fellowship|website=www.geosociety.org|access-date=2019-05-15}}
• 2003 Albion College Distinguished Alumni Award{{Cite web|url=https://www.albion.edu/alumni/alumni-awards/distinguished-and-young-alumni-awards/daa-recipients/1941-distinguished-alumni-award-recipients|title=Past Award Recipients - Albion College|website=www.albion.edu|access-date=2019-05-15}}
• 2011-2012 UMASS Samuel F. Conti Faculty Research Fellowship{{Cite web|url=https://www.umass.edu/research/recipients-faculty-fellowship-awardsamuel-f-conti-faculty-fellowship-awards|title=Recipients of Faculty Fellowship Award/Samuel F. Conti Faculty Fellowship Awards {{!}} Research and Engagement|website=www.umass.edu|access-date=2019-05-15}}
• 2015 Austrian Academy of Sciences Suess Lecture{{Cite web|url=https://www.oeaw.ac.at/geok/suess2014_geok_en.html|title=Suess Lectures 2014-15_en|website=www.oeaw.ac.at|access-date=2019-05-15}}
• 2015 University of Southampton Gregory Lecture{{Cite web|url=https://www.southampton.ac.uk/geography/news/2015/05/14-world-renowned-arctic-change-researcher-23rd-gregory-lecturer.page|title=Arctic researcher lecture {{!}} Geography and Environmental Science {{!}} University of Southampton|website=www.southampton.ac.uk|access-date=2019-05-15}}
• 2015 AGU Global Environmental Change Tyndall Lecturer{{Cite web|url=https://gec.agu.org/lectures/tyndall-lectures/|title=Tyndall Lectures|website=Global Environmental Change|language=en|access-date=2019-05-15}}
• 2016 Elected Fellow American Geophysical Union{{Cite web|url=https://honors.agu.org/fellows/fellows-alpha-list/|title=Fellows Alphabetical List|website=Honors Program|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-15}}

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