Professor
Primary appointment in Dept of Geography and Planning 
joint appointment in Earth & Atmospheric Sciences (this web page is a legacy page, only for the archival record of Geological Sciences at SUNY)

Andrei Lapenas is interested in the global climate evolution of the Earth, and using this knowledge to forecast future anthropogenic climate change. Most of his research has focused on developing the "Paleocalibration Technique" to estimate global climate sensitivity. Presently, most Global Climate Models (GCMs) used to make such forecasts are calibrated only within the narrow range of climate forming parameters (atmospheric CO2, aerosol, surface albedo) in the instrumental record of climate change. Hence, creation of reliable paleocalibration fields will help to test GCMs under conditions very different from the present and, eventually, to improve forecasts of anthropogenic climate change. Another topic of Dr. Lapenis' study is the Historic Russian Soil Collection. This unique collection is being used to derive information on soil carbon dynamics in different ecosystems as well as estimate atmospheric contamination of East European Soils during the last 100 years.

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