Sherilyn Claire Fritz
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln
ThesisLake ontogeny and land-use history in Diss, Norfolk, England (1985)

Sherilyn Fritz is known for her research on paleoclimate and paleoecology, with a particular focus on the use of diatoms to reconstruct past environmental conditions.

Education and career

Fritz earned a B.A. in Biology from Macalester College in 1974[1] and an M.S. in Biology from Kent State University in 1979.[2] In 1985, she earned a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Minnesota.[3] From 1985 to 1994, Fritz was a research associate at the University of Minnesota, and then she moved to Lehigh University where she remained until 1998. Fritz moved to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1999 and was named the George Holmes Professor in 2010.[1]

In 2020, Fritz was named a fellow of the American Geophyiscal Union and the citation reads[4]

For contributions in paleolimnology and paleoclimatology, shaping our understanding of the sensitivity of lake systems worldwide to environmental change

Research

Fritz is known for her research on historical climatology, specifically using the distribution of diatoms in lake and marine sediments to infer past and present environmental conditions. She first used this during her master's research at an acid strip-mine lake in Ohio where she detailed the lake's recovery from strip mining.[5]

For her Ph.D. work,[3] Fritz worked at Diss Mere in Norfolk, United Kingdom where she used pollen records to track the region's shift from a grassy woodland to a forested ecosystem, and identified the impact of humans on local vegetation.[6] A related publication used the shifting presence of diatoms in stratified lake sediments to detail periods of oxygen depletion in the lake and regional deforestation.[7]

The examination of diatoms in sediments has allowed Fritz to establish past changes in salinity and climate.[8][9][10] This research spans a wide geographical range from across the North America Great Plains, where her research has reconstructed the regional shifts in rainfall[11][12][13] and climate[14][15] and has revealed historically high frequencies of drought in the region compared to the present conditions. Fritz has also examined vegetation and climate in southern Italy,[16] Yellowstone,[17] and Glacier Bay, Alaska.[18][19] In South America, her research has looked at changes in precipitation,[20][21][22] temperature, [23] glaciation,[24][25] and climate variation in the Quaternary period.[26]

Fritz has also been involved in research that uses the distribution of diatoms to examine changes in water quality in Minnesota lakes,[27] to track the development of lakes after glaciers retreat,[28] and to delineate the history of ancient lakes that formed more than 100,000 years ago.[29]

Selected publications

Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ a b "Fritz CV" (PDF).
  2. ^ Fritz, Sherilyn Claire (1979). Paleolimnological investigations in a recovered acid mine lake (Thesis).
  3. ^ a b Fritz, Sherilyn (1985). Lake Ontogeny and land-use history in Diss, Norfolk, England (Thesis).
  4. ^ a b "Fritz". Honors Program. Retrieved 2021-06-22.
  5. ^ Fritz, Sherilyn C.; Carlson, Robert E. (1982-02-01). "Stratigraphic diatom and chemical evidence for acid strip-mine lake recovery". Water, Air, and Soil Pollution. 17 (2): 151–163. Bibcode:1982WASP...17..151F. doi:10.1007/BF00283298. ISSN 1573-2932. S2CID 129574996.
  6. ^ Peglar, S. M.; Fritz, S. C.; Birks, H. J. B. (1989). "Vegetation and Land-Use History at Diss, Norfolk, U.K." Journal of Ecology. 77 (1): 203–222. doi:10.2307/2260925. ISSN 0022-0477. JSTOR 2260925.
  7. ^ Fritz, S. C. (1989). "Lake Development and Limnological Response to Prehistoric and Historic Land-Use in Diss, Norfolk, U.K." Journal of Ecology. 77 (1): 182–202. doi:10.2307/2260924. ISSN 0022-0477. JSTOR 2260924.
  8. ^ Fritz, S. C.; Juggins, S.; Battarbee, R. W.; Engstrom, D. R. (1991). "Reconstruction of past changes in salinity and climate using a diatom-based transfer function". Nature. 352 (6337): 706–708. Bibcode:1991Natur.352..706F. doi:10.1038/352706a0. ISSN 1476-4687. S2CID 4325091.
  9. ^ Fritz, Sherilyn C. (1990). "Twentieth-century salinity and water-level fluctuations in Devils Lake, North Dakota: Test of a diatom-based transfer function". Limnology and Oceanography. 35 (8): 1771–1781. Bibcode:1990LimOc..35.1771F. doi:10.4319/lo.1990.35.8.1771. ISSN 1939-5590.
  10. ^ Fritz, Sherilyn C.; Engstrom, Daniel R.; Haskell, Brian J. (1994-03-01). "'Little Ice Age' aridity in the North American Great Plains: a high-resolution reconstruction of salinity fluctuations from Devils Lake, North Dakota, USA". The Holocene. 4 (1): 69–73. Bibcode:1994Holoc...4...69F. doi:10.1177/095968369400400108. ISSN 0959-6836. S2CID 140161504.
  11. ^ Laird, Kathleen R.; Cumming, Brian F.; Wunsam, Sybille; Rusak, James A.; Oglesby, Robert J.; Fritz, Sherilyn C.; Leavitt, Peter R. (2003-03-04). "Lake sediments record large-scale shifts in moisture regimes across the northern prairies of North America during the past two millennia". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 100 (5): 2483–2488. Bibcode:2003PNAS..100.2483L. doi:10.1073/pnas.0530193100. PMC 151367. PMID 12606725.
  12. ^ Laird, Kathleen R.; Fritz, Sherilyn C.; Maasch, Kirk A.; Cumming, Brian F. (1996). "Greater drought intensity and frequency before AD 1200 in the Northern Great Plains, USA". Nature. 384 (6609): 552–554. Bibcode:1996Natur.384..552L. doi:10.1038/384552a0. ISSN 1476-4687. S2CID 4307849.
  13. ^ Fritz, Sherilyn C.; Ito, Emi; Yu, Zicheng; Laird, Kathleen R.; Engstrom, Daniel R. (2000). "Hydrologic Variation in the Northern Great Plains During the Last Two Millennia". Quaternary Research. 53 (2): 175–184. Bibcode:2000QuRes..53..175F. doi:10.1006/qres.1999.2115. ISSN 0033-5894. S2CID 6456106.
  14. ^ Fritz, Sherilyn C. (1996). "Paleolimnological records of climatic change in North America". Limnology and Oceanography. 41 (5): 882–889. Bibcode:1996LimOc..41..882F. doi:10.4319/lo.1996.41.5.0882. ISSN 1939-5590.
  15. ^ Laird, Kathleen R.; Fritz, Sherilyn C.; Grimm, Eric C.; Mueller, Pietra G. (1996). "Century scale paleoclimatic reconstruction from Moon Lake, a closed-basin lake in the northern Great Plains". Limnology and Oceanography. 41 (5): 890–902. Bibcode:1996LimOc..41..890L. doi:10.4319/lo.1996.41.5.0890. ISSN 1939-5590.
  16. ^ Watts, W. (1996-01-01). "Vegetation history and climate of the last 15,000 years at Laghi di Monticchio, southern Italy". Quaternary Science Reviews. 15 (2–3): 113–132. Bibcode:1996QSRv...15..113W. doi:10.1016/0277-3791(95)00038-0. ISSN 0277-3791.
  17. ^ Kilham, Susan S.; Theriot, Edward C.; Fritz, Sherilyn C. (1996). "Linking planktonic diatoms and climate change in the large lakes of the Yellowstone ecosystem using resource theory". Limnology and Oceanography. 41 (5): 1052–1062. Bibcode:1996LimOc..41.1052K. doi:10.4319/lo.1996.41.5.1052. ISSN 1939-5590.
  18. ^ Engstrom, Daniel R.; Fritz, Sherilyn C.; Almendinger, James E.; Juggins, Stephen (2000). "Chemical and biological trends during lake evolution in recently deglaciated terrain". Nature. 408 (6809): 161–166. Bibcode:2000Natur.408..161E. doi:10.1038/35041500. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 11089963. S2CID 4427415.
  19. ^ Fritz, S. C.; Engstrom, D. R.; Juggins, S. (2004-09-01). "Patterns of early lake evolution in boreal landscapes: a comparison of stratigraphic inferences with a modern chronosequence in Glacier Bay, Alaska". The Holocene. 14 (6): 828–840. Bibcode:2004Holoc..14..828F. doi:10.1191/0959683604hl763rp. ISSN 0959-6836. S2CID 11749957.
  20. ^ Baker, P. A. (2001-01-26). "The History of South American Tropical Precipitation for the Past 25,000 Years". Science. 291 (5504): 640–643. Bibcode:2001Sci...291..640B. doi:10.1126/science.291.5504.640. PMID 11158674. S2CID 112618.
  21. ^ Baker, Paul A.; Rigsby, Catherine A.; Seltzer, Geoffrey O.; Fritz, Sherilyn C.; Lowenstein, Tim K.; Bacher, Niklas P.; Veliz, Carlos (2001). "Tropical climate changes at millennial and orbital timescales on the Bolivian Altiplano". Nature. 409 (6821): 698–701. Bibcode:2001Natur.409..698B. doi:10.1038/35055524. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 11217855. S2CID 4394703.
  22. ^ Fritz, S.C.; Baker, P.A.; Ekdahl, E.; Seltzer, G.O.; Stevens, L.R. (2010-04-01). "Millennial-scale climate variability during the Last Glacial period in the tropical Andes". Quaternary Science Reviews. 29 (7–8): 1017–1024. Bibcode:2010QSRv...29.1017F. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.01.001. ISSN 0277-3791.
  23. ^ Seltzer, G. O. (2002-05-31). "Early Warming of Tropical South America at the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition". Science. 296 (5573): 1685–1686. Bibcode:2002Sci...296.1685S. doi:10.1126/science.1070136. PMID 12040193. S2CID 29025367.
  24. ^ Fritz, Sherilyn C.; Baker, Paul A.; Seltzer, Geoffrey O.; Ballantyne, Ashley; Tapia, Pedro; Cheng, Hai; Edwards, R. Lawrence (2007). "Quaternary glaciation and hydrologic variation in the South American tropics as reconstructed from the Lake Titicaca drilling project". Quaternary Research. 68 (3): 410–420. Bibcode:2007QuRes..68..410F. doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2007.07.008. ISSN 0033-5894. S2CID 30274056.
  25. ^ Fritz, S.C.; Baker, P.A.; Tapia, P.; Spanbauer, T.; Westover, K. (2012-02-01). "Evolution of the Lake Titicaca basin and its diatom flora over the last ~ 370,000 years". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 317–318: 93–103. Bibcode:2012PPP...317...93F. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2011.12.013. ISSN 0031-0182.
  26. ^ Baker, Paul A.; Fritz, Sherilyn C. (2015-09-15). "Nature and causes of Quaternary climate variation of tropical South America". Quaternary Science Reviews. 124: 31–47. Bibcode:2015QSRv..124...31B. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.06.011. ISSN 0277-3791.
  27. ^ Ramstack, J.M.; Fritz, S.C.; Engstrom, D.R.; Heiskary, S.A. (2003-01-01). "The Application of a Diatom-based Transfer Function to Evaluate Regional Water-Quality Trends in Minnesota Since 1970". Journal of Paleolimnology. 29 (1): 79–94. Bibcode:2003JPall..29...79R. doi:10.1023/A:1022869205291. ISSN 1573-0417. S2CID 42021510.
  28. ^ Fritz, S. C.; Anderson, N. J. (2013-03-01). "The relative influences of climate and catchment processes on Holocene lake development in glaciated regions". Journal of Paleolimnology. 49 (3): 349–362. Bibcode:2013JPall..49..349F. doi:10.1007/s10933-013-9684-z. ISSN 1573-0417. S2CID 7552786.
  29. ^ Hampton, Stephanie E.; McGowan, Suzanne; Ozersky, Ted; Virdis, Salvatore G. P.; Vu, Tuong Thuy; Spanbauer, Trisha L.; Kraemer, Benjamin M.; Swann, George; Mackay, Anson W.; Powers, Stephen M.; Meyer, Michael F. (2018). "Recent ecological change in ancient lakes". Limnology and Oceanography. 63 (5): 2277–2304. Bibcode:2018LimOc..63.2277H. doi:10.1002/lno.10938. ISSN 1939-5590. S2CID 52094044.
  30. ^ "2012 | The climate during the past 10,000 years - Bolin Centre for Climate Research". bolin.su.se. Retrieved 2021-06-22.
  31. ^ "Elected Fellows | American Association for the Advancement of Science". www.aaas.org. Retrieved 2021-06-22.
  32. ^ "Hans Oeschger Medal". European Geosciences Union (EGU). Retrieved 2021-06-22.

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