Prof. Ingram describes the tumultuous climate of the American West where extended droughts and catastrophic floods have occurred with regularity over the past two millennia. Looking at the region’s current water crisis from the perspective of its climate history, she asks the central question of what is a “normal” climate for the West, and whether the relatively benign climate of the past century will continue into the future. The impact of future climate change on water resources predicts a future in which fresh water may be less reliable. This will have a major impact on the flora and fauna (including humans) of our region.

Dr. B. Lynn Ingram is a professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science at UC Berkeley, California. The primary goal of her research is to assess how climates and environments have changed over the past several thousand years based on the geochemical and sedimentologic analysis of aquatic sediments and archaeological deposits, with a particular focus on the western US. She is the co- author of The West without Water: What Past Floods, Droughts, and Other Climatic Clues Tell Us about Tomorrow together with Dr. Frances Malamud-Roam.