Department of Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences

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James Russell

Senior Associate Dean of Dean of the Faculty, Professor
James_Russell@brown.edu
401-863-6330
GeoChem Building
Room 143
Research Profile
Research Interests Earth History, Environmental Science, Oceans Ice and Atmospheres, Geochemistry
Pronouns he/him

Biography

I am a climate scientist and geochemist working to understand tropical environmental change. I received my bachelor’s degree in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Wesleyan University in 1998 and my Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Minnesota. Broadly, I am interested in the patterns and mechanisms of tropical climate variability and change, and the impacts of climate change on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. My research group develops and applies organic geochemical, isotopic, and sedimentological tools to lake sediments to reconstruct climate and environmental change, and we use these paleoenvironmental records to test predictions from climate models. I have active field programs on four continents and enjoy cooking, anything outdoors, and working with students.

Recent News

News from DEEPS

Student Research Stories: Gabriel Traietti

Gabriel Traietti ‘25, concentrating in Geochemistry, investigates the terrestrial paleoclimate of the Congo River Basin in Senior Associate Dean James Russell’s lab. He emphasizes how DEEPS gave him the tools to explore his passion for reconstructing ancient climate to help anticipate the effects of climate change on a local level.
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GSA Today

Jim Russell Elected to GSA Fellowship

Jim Russell, Senior Associate Dean of the Faculty and Professor of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, has been elected as a Geological Society of America Fellow. Society Fellowship is an honor in recognition of a sustained record of distinguished contributions to the geosciences.
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Yale Environment 360

For Uganda’s Vanishing Glaciers, Time Is Running Out

A trek through tropical forest, mud fields, and scree reveals the last remnants of the once-sprawling ice fields in Uganda’s Rwenzori Mountains. “The loss of these glaciers is the loss of a critical component of a system, and it isn’t going to come back any time in the foreseeable future,” said James Russell, who has led expeditions to the Rwenzoris almost every year since 2006.
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News from DEEPS

James Russell named Sr. Associate Dean of Faculty

The Brown University Dean of the Faculty has announced that James Russell, Professor of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, has been appointed Senior Associate Dean of the Faculty, effective July 1, 2023.
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