Christina Riesselman
Christina Riesselman is an American paleoceanographer whose research focus is on Southern Ocean response to changing climate.
Early life and education
After completing her bachelor's degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Geology and English in 2001, Riesselman spent time at the Joint Oceanographic Institution in Washington DC, then moved to Stanford for her PhD which was completed in 2011.Career
Following postdoctoral work as a Research Scientist with the US Geological Survey, she moved to the University of Otago, New Zealand in 2013.Riesselman uses diatom micropaleontology and stable isotope geochemistry in marine sediments to examine the evolution of the Antarctic cryosphere through the Cenozoic. She also participates in collaborative investigations into the modern controls on phytoplankton community structure.
Riesselman with her husband, Chris Moy, a University of Otago paleoclimatologist, are among the 30 researchers on the JOIDES Resolution. The aim of the voyage, according to Reisselman, is to figure out how ocean circulation behaved during past warmer climates, up to three million years ago.
Awards and honors
Riesselman won the inaugural L’Oréal-UNESCO Fellowship for Women in Science New Zealand in 2015.Publications
Working Paper; Discussion Paper; Technical Report
- Expedition 318 Scientists, including Riesselman, C.. Wilkes Land glacial history: Cenozoic east Antarctic ice sheet evolution from Wilkes Land margin sediments . Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Management International. 101p. doi: 10.2204/iodp.pr.318.2010
Journal - Research Article
- Ohneiser, C., Yoo, K.-C., Albot, O. B., Cortese, G., Riesselman, C., Lee, J. I., … Bollen, M., … Beltran, C., … Wilson, G. S.. Magneto-biostratigraphic age models for Pleistocene sedimentary records from the Ross Sea. Global & Planetary Change. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2019.02.013
- Wilson, D. J., Bertram, R. A., Needham, E. F., van der Flierdt, T., Welsh, K. J., McKay, R. M., … Riesselman, C. R., … Escutia, C.. Ice loss from the East Antarctic Ice Sheet during late Pleistocene interglacials. Nature, 561, 383-386. doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0501-8
- Taylor-Silva, B. I., & Riesselman, C. R.. Polar frontal migration in the warm late Pliocene: Diatom evidence from the Wilkes Land margin, East Antarctica. Paleoceanography & Paleoclimatology, 33, 76-92. doi: 10.1002/2017PA003225
- Pettinger, V., Martin, C. E., & Riesselman, C. R.. Sources and downstream variation of surface water chemistry in the dammed Waitaki catchment, South Island, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 61, 207-218. doi: 10.1080/00288306.2018.1465985
- Bertram, R. A., Wilson, D. J., van de Flierdt, T., McKay, R. M., Patterson, M. O., Jimenez-Espejo, F. J., … Duke, G. C., Taylor-Silva, B. I., & Riesselman, C. R.. Pliocene deglacial event timelines and the biogeochemical response offshore Wilkes Subglacial Basin, East Antarctica. Earth & Planetary Science Letters, 494, 109-116. doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2018.04.054
- Anderson, H. J., Moy, C. M., Vandergoes, M. J., Nichols, J. E., Riesselman, C. R., & Van Hale, R.. Southern Hemisphere westerly wind influence on southern New Zealand hydrology during the Lateglacial and Holocene. Journal of Quaternary Science, 33, 689-701. doi: 10.1002/jqs.3045
- Browne, I. M., Moy, C. M., Riesselman, C. R., Neil, H. L., Curtin, L. G., Gorman, A. R., & Wilson, G. S.. Late Holocene intensification of the westerly winds at the subantarctic Auckland Islands, New Zealand. Climate of the Past, 13, 1301-1322. doi: 10.5194/cp-13-1301-2017
- Levy, R., Harwood, D., Florindo, F., Sangiorgi, F., Tripati, R., von Eynatten, H., … and SMS Science Team, including Ohneiser, C., Riesselman, C., & Wilson, G.. Antarctic ice sheet sensitivity to atmospheric CO2 variations in the early to mid-Miocene. PNAS, 113, 3453-3458. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1516030113
- Dlabola, E. K., Wilson, G. S., Gorman, A. R., Riesselman, C. R., & Moy, C. M.. A post-glacial relative sea-level curve from Fiordland, New Zealand. Global & Planetary Change, 131, 104-114. doi: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2015.05.010
- Patterson, M. O., McKay, R., Naish, T., Escutia, C., Jimenez-Espejo, F. J., Raymo, M. E., … and IODP Expedition 318 Scientists, including Riesselman, C. R.. Orbital forcing of the East Antarctic ice sheet during the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene. Nature Geoscience, 7, 841-847. doi: 10.1038/ngeo2273
- Dowsett, H. J., Foley, K. M., Stoll, D. K., Chandler, M. A., Sohl, L. E., Bentsen, M., … Riesselman, C., … Zhang, Z.. Sea surface temperature of the mid-piacenzian ocean: A data-model comparison. Scientific Reports, 3. doi: 10.1038/srep02013
- Cook, C. P., van de Flierdt, T., Williams, T., Hemming, S. R., Iwai, M., Kobayashi, M., … Riesselman, C., … and IODP Expedition 318 Scientists.. Dynamic behaviour of the East Antarctic ice sheet during Pliocene warmth. Nature Geoscience, 6, 765-769. doi: 10.1038/ngeo1889
- Houben, A. J. P., Bijl, P. K., Pross, J., Bohaty, S. M., Passchier, S., Stickley, C. E., … Expedition 318 Scientists, including Riesselman, C.. Reorganization of Southern Ocean plankton ecosystem at the onset of Antarctic glaciation. Science, 340, 341-344. doi: 10.1126/science.1223646
- Stocchi, P., Escutia, C., Houben, A. J. P., Vermeersen, B. L. A., Bijl, P. K., Brinkhuis, H., … and IODP Expedition 318 Scientists, including Riesselman, C.. Relative sea-level rise around East Antarctica during Oligocene glaciation. Nature Geoscience, 6, 380-384. doi: 10.1038/NGEO1783
- Riesselman, C. R., & Dunbar, R. B.. Diatom evidence for the onset of Pliocene cooling from AND-1B, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 369, 136-153. doi: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.10.014
- Bijl, P. K., Bendle, J. A. P., Bohaty, S. M., Pross, J., Schouten, S., Tauxe, L., … Expedition 318 Scientists, including Riesselman, C.. Eocene cooling linked to early flow across the Tasmanian Gateway. PNAS, 110, 9645-9650. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1220872110
- Dowsett, H. J., Robinson, M. M., Haywood, A. M., Hill, D. J., Dolan, A. M., Stoll, D. K., … Riesselman, C. R.. Assessing confidence in Pliocene sea surface temperatures to evaluate predictive models. Nature Climate Change, 2, 365-371. doi: 10.1038/nclimate1455
- Wilson, G. S., Levy, R. H., Naish, T. R., Powell, R. D., Florindo, F., Ohneiser, C., … Riesselman, C., … Wise, S.. Neogene tectonic and climatic evolution of the Western Ross Sea, Antarctica: Chronology of events from the AND-1B drill hole. Global & Planetary Change, 96-97, 189-203. doi: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2012.05.019
- Sjunneskog, C., Riesselman, C., Winter, D., & Scherer, R.. Fragilariopsis diatom evolution in Pliocene and Pleistocene Antarctic shelf sediments. Micropaleontology, 58, 273-289.
- Winter, D., Sjunneskog, C., Scherer, R., Maffioli, P., Riesselman, C., & Harwood, D.. Pliocene-Pleistocene diatom biostratigraphy of nearshore Antarctica from the AND-1B drillcore, McMurdo Sound. Global & Planetary Change, 96-97, 59-74. doi: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2010.04.004
- McKay, R., Naish, T., Carter, L., Riesselman, C., Dunbar, R., Sjunneskog, C., … Powell, R. D.. Antarctic and Southern Ocean influences on Late Pliocene global cooling. PNAS, 109, 6423-6428. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1112248109
- Tauxe, L., Stickley, C. E., Sugisaki, S., Bijl, P. K., Bohaty, S. M., Brinkhuis, H., … Riesselman, C. R., … Yamane, M.. Chronostratigraphic framework for the IODP Expedition 318 cores from the Wilkes Land Margin: Constraints for paleoceanographic reconstruction. Paleoceanography, 27, PA2214. doi: 10.1029/2012PA002308
- Pross, J., Contreras, L., Bijl, P. K., Greenwood, D. R., Bohaty, S. M., Schouten, S., … and Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 318 Scientists, including Riesselman, C. R.. Persistent near-tropical warmth on the Antarctic continent during the early Eocene epoch. Nature, 487, 73-77. doi: 10.1038/nature11300
- Riesselman, C. R.. Fragilariopsis tigris sp. nov.: A new late Pliocene Antarctic continental shelf diatom with biostratigraphic promise. Micropaleontology, 58, 367-376.
- Escutia, C., Brinkhuis, H., Klaus, A., and the IODP Expedition 318 Scientists, including Riesselman, C.. IODP Expedition 318: From greenhouse to icehouse at the Wilkes Land Antarctic margin. Scientific Drilling,, 15-23. doi: 10.2204/iodp.sd.12.02.2011
- Passchier, S., Browne, G., Field, B., Fielding, C. R., Krissek, L. A., Panter, K., … and ANDRILL-SMS Science Team, including Ohneiser, C., Palin, M., Riesselman, C., & Wilson, G.. Early and middle Miocene Antarctic glacial history from the sedimentary facies distribution in the AND-2A drill hole, Ross Sea, Antarctica. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 123, 2352-2365. doi: 10.1130/B30334.1
- Peck, V. L., Yu, J., Kender, S., & Riesselman, C. R.. Shifting ocean carbonate chemistry during the Eocene-Oligocene climate transition: Implications for deep-ocean Mg/Ca paleothermometry. Paleoceanography, 25, PA4219. doi: 10.1029/2009PA001906
- Frank, T. D., Gui, Z., and the ANDRILL SMS Science Team, including Ohneiser, C., Palin, M., Riesselman, C., & Wilson, G.. Cryogenic origin for brine in the subsurface of southern McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Geology, 38, 587-590. doi: 10.1130/G30849.1
- Naish, T., Powell, R., Levy, R., Wilson, G., Scherer, R., Talarico, F., … Ohneiser, C., … Riesselman, C., … Williams, T.. Obliquity-paced pliocene west antarctic ice sheet oscillations. Nature, 458, 322-328. doi: 10.1038/nature07867
- Acton, G., Crampton, J., Di Vincenzo, G., Fielding, C. R., Florindo, F., Hannah, M., … Ohneiser, C., … Riesselman, C., … Wilson, G. S., … and the ANDRILL-SMS Science Team.. Preliminary integrated chronostratigraphy of the AND-2A core, ANDRILL Southern McMurdo Sound Project, Antarctica. Terra Antartica, 15, 211-220.
- Tortell, P. D., Payne, C. D., Li, Y., Trimborn, S., Rost, B., Smith, W. O., Riesselman, C., … DiTullio, G. R.. CO2 sensitivity of Southern Ocean phytoplankton. Geophysical Research Letters, 35, L04605. doi: 10.1029/2007GL032583
- Taviani, M., Hannah, M., Harwood, D. M., Ishman, S. E., Johnson, K., Olney, M., Riesselman, C., … and the ANDRILL-SMS Science Team.. Palaeontological characterisation and analysis of the AND-2A core, ANDRILL Southern McMurdo Sound Project, Antarctica. Terra Antartica, 15, 113-146.
- Bertrand, E. M., Saito, M. A., Rose, J. M., Riesselman, C. R., Lohan, M. C., Noble, A. E., … DiTullio, G. R.. Vitamin B12 and iron colimitation of phytoplankton growth in the Ross Sea. Limnology & Oceanography, 52, 1079-1093. doi: 10.4319/lo.2007.52.3.1079
Journal - Research Other
- Dowsett, H. J., Robinson, M. M., Stoll, D. K., Foley, K. M., Johnson, A. L. A., Williams, M., & Riesselman, C.. The PRISM reconstruction: Time for a paradigm shift. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 371, 20120524. doi: 10.1098/rsta.2012.0524
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper
- Riesselman, C. R., Dunbar, R. B., Mucciarone, D. A., & Kitasei, S. S.. High resolution stable isotope and carbonate variability during the early Oligocene climate transition: Walvis Ridge. In A. K. Cooper, P. Barrett, H. Staff, B. Storey, E. Stump, W. Wise & the 10th ISAES Editorial Team, Antarctica: A Keystone in a Changing World: Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. doi: 10.3133/of2007-1047.srp095