1. People & Departments
  2. Washington College
  3. Joseph Milligan

Joseph Milligan

Faculty
Environmental Science & Studies Dept
  • Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies

Joseph Milligan Head shot

How do organisms and ecosystems respond to climate change? Answering this question is one of the main challenges of contemporary earth science research, as it may help us better understand—and prepare for—the rapid pace of current climate change. Since atmospheric CO₂ and temperature have varied throughout the geologic record, we can use these past natural variations as archives of ecosystem response to changes in climate.

My research aims to: (1) to reconstruct atmospheric CO2 and canopy structure across times of major carbon perturbations, current work focuses on the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary and the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, and (2) develop proxies by exploring climate and environmental signals in controlled studies of modern plants. To learn more about my lab and the work we are doing please visit my professional website.

 

Education

  • B.S. in Environmental Science at University of Maryland Baltimore County (2014)
  • M.A. in Earth and Environmental Science at Wesleyan University (2016)
  • Ph.D. in Geoscience at Baylor University (2022)

 

Academic Expertise

  • Paleoclimate
  • Earth System Science
  • Plant Ecophysiology
  • GIS

Additional Information

  • 2023–present Assistant Professor, Environmental Science and Studies, Washington College, Chestertown, MD.
  • 2023–present Research Associate National Museum of Natural History, Paleobiology department
  • 2022-2023 Peter Buck Deep Time Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the National Museum of Natural History
  • Zhang, X., Royer, D.L., Colombi, C.E., Drovandi, J.M., McElwain, J.C., Guignard, G., Leng, Q., Lomax, B.H., Sheldon, N.D., …Steinthorsdottir, M. (2025). Fossil leaf cuticle: Best practices for preparation and paleo-CO2 analysis. Earth-Science Reviews, p.105104.
  • Cenozoic CO2 Proxy Integration Project (CenCO2PIP) Consortium, Hönisch, B., Royer, D.L., Breecker, D.O., Polissar, P.J., Bowen, G.J., ... Zhang, L. (2023). Toward a Cenozoic history of atmospheric CO2. Science, 382(6675), eadi5177.
  • Milligan, J.N., Flynn, A.G., Kowalczyk, J.B., Barclay, R.S., *Geng, J., Royer, D.L., Peppe, D.J., 2022. Moderate to elevated atmospheric CO2 during the early Paleocene recorded by Platanites leaves of the San Juan Basin, New Mexico. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 37: e2021PA004408.
  • Milligan, J.N., Flynn, A.G., Wagner, J.D., Kouwenberg, L.L.R., Barclay, R.S., Byars, B.W., Dunn, R.E., White, J.D., Zechmann, B., Peppe, D.J., 2021. Quantifying the effect of shade on cuticle morphology and carbon isotopes of sycamores: present and past. American journal of botany, 108(12): 2435-2451.
  • Milligan, J.N., Royer, D.L., Franks, P.J., Upchurch, G.R., *McKee M.L., 2019. No Evidence for a Large Atmospheric CO2 Spike Across the Cretaceous‐Paleogene Boundary. Geophysical Research Letters, 46: 3462-3472.
  • ENV 140: Exploring the Solid Earth
  • ENV 141: Atmosphere, Ocean, and Environment
  • ENV 294: Natural Disasters
  • ENV 294: Plants, People, and Society
  • ENV 294: Spatial Analysis of Environmental Challenges
  • ENV 320: Climate Change
  • ENV 394: Towards the Anthropocene