Benjamin Cook

Benjamin Cook is an Adjunct Research Scientist at the Earth Institute’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. In addition to his position at Lamont, he also serves as a Research Physical Scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, where he researches drought, hydroclimate, and interactions between the land surface and climate system. He holds a B.S. degree in Environmental and Forest Biology from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia.

Dr. Cook’s work involves the analysis of large-scale climate datasets and model simulations to investigate regional climate and ecosystem dynamics. To address these questions, he draws from his diverse training in climatology, land surface processes, and ecology. He is particularly interested in using long-term observations and the paleo record to better understand variability and risks of extreme events (droughts), and applying mechanistic models to the same problems to investigate the underlying physical processes. The complementary union of empirical data and mechanistic models offers significant advantages, providing opportunities to evaluate and potentially improve models while also helping us better understand the processes driving past, modern, and future events. Such an approach is critically needed in order to place climate projections within the broader context of natural variability and to determine whether processes important in the past will continue to play a major role in a much warmer future.