About the Editors
Gilles Ramstein is a director of research at Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de
l’Environnement (LSCE, France). His initial degree is in physics and since 1992 he has
specialized in climate modeling.
He has been responsible for many French and European research projects on the Pleistocene, Cenozoic, and Precambrian eras. He has also been the advisor of many Ph.D. students
who have explored and expanded the frontiers of paleoclimate modeling.
As a climate modeler, he studies very different climate contexts from ‘Snowball Earth’
episodes (717–635 Ma) to more recent, and occasionally future, climate situations.
The main research topics he focuses on are
• Geological time from the Precambrian to the Cenozoic:
– Investigation of relationships between tectonics, the carbon cycle, and the climate with an
emphasis on the impact on the climate and the atmospheric CO 2 cycle of major tectonic events
such as plate movements, shrinkage of epicontinental seas, mountain range uplift, and the
opening/closing of seaways.
– Leading international collaborations on projects on monsoon evolutions and the dispersal
of human ancestors during the Neogene periods.
• From the Pleistocene to future climate: In this framework, his major interests are
interactions between orbital forcing factors, CO 2 and climate. More specifically, his focus is on
the response of the cryosphere, an important component of the climate system during these
periods, with an emphasis on the development of the Greenland ice sheet at the Pliocene/
Pleistocene boundary and abrupt climate changes driven by ice sheet variations.
He has also published several books and co-edited the French version of ‘Paleoclimatologie’ (CNRS Edition) and contributed to an online masters program devoted to educating
journalists on climate change (Understanding the interactions between climate, environment
and society ACCES).
Amaëlle Landais is a research director at Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (LSCE, France). Her initial degree is in physics and chemistry and, since her Ph.D.
in 2001, she has specialized in the study of ice cores.
She has been responsible for several French and European research projects on ice cores
working on data acquisition both in the laboratory and in the field, interacting extensively with
modelers. She has been the supervisor of ten Ph.D. students and is deeply committed to
supporting and training students in laboratory work.
Her main research interests are the reconstruction of climate variability over the Quaternary
and the links between climate and biogeochemical cycles. To improve our understanding
of these areas, she develops geochemical tracers in ice cores (mainly isotopes), performs
process studies using laboratory and field experiments, and analyzes shallow and deep ice
cores from polar regions (Greenland and Antarctica). Through numerous collaborations and
improvement of ice core dating methods, she tries to establish connections with other paleoclimatic archives of the Quaternary.
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Gilles Ramstein is a director of research at Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de
l’Environnement (LSCE, France). His initial degree is in physics and since 1992 he has
specialized in climate modeling.
He has been responsible for many French and European research projects on the Pleistocene, Cenozoic, and Precambrian eras. He has also been the advisor of many Ph.D. students
who have explored and expanded the frontiers of paleoclimate modeling.
As a climate modeler, he studies very different climate contexts from ‘Snowball Earth’
episodes (717–635 Ma) to more recent, and occasionally future, climate situations.
The main research topics he focuses on are
• Geological time from the Precambrian to the Cenozoic:
– Investigation of relationships between tectonics, the carbon cycle, and the climate with an
emphasis on the impact on the climate and the atmospheric CO 2 cycle of major tectonic events
such as plate movements, shrinkage of epicontinental seas, mountain range uplift, and the
opening/closing of seaways.
– Leading international collaborations on projects on monsoon evolutions and the dispersal
of human ancestors during the Neogene periods.
• From the Pleistocene to future climate: In this framework, his major interests are
interactions between orbital forcing factors, CO 2 and climate. More specifically, his focus is on
the response of the cryosphere, an important component of the climate system during these
periods, with an emphasis on the development of the Greenland ice sheet at the Pliocene/
Pleistocene boundary and abrupt climate changes driven by ice sheet variations.
He has also published several books and co-edited the French version of ‘Paleoclimatologie’ (CNRS Edition) and contributed to an online masters program devoted to educating
journalists on climate change (Understanding the interactions between climate, environment
and society ACCES).
Amaëlle Landais is a research director at Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (LSCE, France). Her initial degree is in physics and chemistry and, since her Ph.D.
in 2001, she has specialized in the study of ice cores.
She has been responsible for several French and European research projects on ice cores
working on data acquisition both in the laboratory and in the field, interacting extensively with
modelers. She has been the supervisor of ten Ph.D. students and is deeply committed to
supporting and training students in laboratory work.
Her main research interests are the reconstruction of climate variability over the Quaternary
and the links between climate and biogeochemical cycles. To improve our understanding
of these areas, she develops geochemical tracers in ice cores (mainly isotopes), performs
process studies using laboratory and field experiments, and analyzes shallow and deep ice
cores from polar regions (Greenland and Antarctica). Through numerous collaborations and
improvement of ice core dating methods, she tries to establish connections with other paleoclimatic archives of the Quaternary.
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