About

Emily Beverly is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Her research focuses on studying interactions between humans and their environment across various temporal and spatial scales, with a particular emphasis on soils and paleosols, as well as terrestrial environments including lakes, springs, and rivers. She utilizes stable isotopes and geochemistry within a sedimentary geology framework to investigate past climates and environments. Her active field projects are based in Kenya and Tanzania, and she has recently initiated a project on the Eocene epoch of western North America. Beverly's work often involves archaeological and paleontological sites to reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions. A long-term goal of her research is to understand the context in which organisms, especially humans, lived, and how environmental factors influenced their evolution and adaptation. More recently, she has shifted her focus to studying past periods in Earth's history that serve as analogs for anthropogenic climate change, particularly examining how environments and organisms respond to rapid increases in atmospheric CO2 and temperature during the Eocene (~55 million years ago).

Research topics

• Geology
• Computer Science
• Earth science
• Geochemistry
• Biology
• Evolutionary biology
• Oceanography
• Nuclear physics
• Metallurgy
• Paleontology
• Mineralogy
• Physics
• Engineering
• Ecology
• Geography

Selected publications

• Supporting information for: Long-Term Decoupling of Precipitation Extremes from Mean Annual Precipitation During Repeated Early Paleogene Hyperthermals in the North American Mid-Latitudes

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026-04-03

  datasetOpen access

  Supplemental data for our manuscript, "Long-Term Decoupling of Precipitation Extremes from Mean Annual Precipitation During Repeated Early Paleogene Hyperthermals in the North American Mid-Latitudes." Figure S1. Stable carbon isotope results and five-point rolling average plotted by stratigraphic height relative to the base of the Wasatch Formation. The greyed out points are those that were considered unrealistically heavy and ignored for the five-point rolling average. Table S1: d13C/12C of the dispersed organic carbon in floodplain deposits of the Wasatch and Green River formations by stratigraphic height relative to the base of the Wasatch Formation (m). The unit of measurement is per mille relative to the VPBD standard. Table S2: Mean annual precipitation (MAP) estimates for the collected paleosol samples. MAP estimates using the CIA-K, RF-MAP 2.0, and PPM1.0 climofunctions are included. Samples listed by stratigraphic height from the base of the Wasatch Formation (m). Table S3: Major elemental oxide data for the paleosol samples listed by stratigraphic height relative to the base of the Wasatch Formation (m). Table S4: Reformatted DeepMIP climate model ensemble data used for the proxy-model comparison. Data accessed through the Steinig et al. (2024) web viewer (https://data.deepmip.org/Extract_local_model_data).

  PublisherDOI

• Supporting information for: Long-Term Decoupling of Precipitation Extremes from Mean Annual Precipitation During Repeated Early Paleogene Hyperthermals in the North American Mid-Latitudes

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026-04-03

  datasetOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Supplemental data for our manuscript, "Long-Term Decoupling of Precipitation Extremes from Mean Annual Precipitation During Repeated Early Paleogene Hyperthermals in the North American Mid-Latitudes." Table S1: d13C/12C of the dispersed organic carbon in floodplain deposits of the Wasatch and Green River formations by stratigraphic height relative to the base of the Wasatch Formation (m). The unit of measurement is per mille relative to the VPBD standard. Table S2: Mean annual precipitation (MAP) estimates for the collected paleosol samples. MAP estimates using the CIA-K, RF-MAP 2.0, and PPM1.0 climofunctions are included. Samples listed by stratigraphic height from the base of the Wasatch Formation (m). Table S3: Major elemental oxide data for the paleosol samples listed by stratigraphic height relative to the base of the Wasatch Formation (m). Table S4: Reformatted DeepMIP climate model ensemble data used for the proxy-model comparison. Data accessed through the Steinig et al. (2024) web viewer (https://data.deepmip.org/Extract_local_model_data).

  PublisherDOI

• Supporting information for: Long-Term Decoupling of Precipitation Extremes from Mean Annual Precipitation During Repeated Early Paleogene Hyperthermals in the North American Mid-Latitudes

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026-04-03

  datasetOpen access

  Supplemental data for our manuscript, "Long-Term Decoupling of Precipitation Extremes from Mean Annual Precipitation During Repeated Early Paleogene Hyperthermals in the North American Mid-Latitudes." Figure S1. Stable carbon isotope results and five-point rolling average plotted by stratigraphic height relative to the base of the Wasatch Formation. The greyed out points are those that were considered unrealistically heavy and ignored for the five-point rolling average. Table S1: d13C/12C of the dispersed organic carbon in floodplain deposits of the Wasatch and Green River formations by stratigraphic height relative to the base of the Wasatch Formation (m). The unit of measurement is per mille relative to the VPBD standard. Table S2: Mean annual precipitation (MAP) estimates for the collected paleosol samples. MAP estimates using the CIA-K, RF-MAP 2.0, and PPM1.0 climofunctions are included. Samples listed by stratigraphic height from the base of the Wasatch Formation (m). Table S3: Major elemental oxide data for the paleosol samples listed by stratigraphic height relative to the base of the Wasatch Formation (m). Table S4: Reformatted DeepMIP climate model ensemble data used for the proxy-model comparison. Data accessed through the Steinig et al. (2024) web viewer (https://data.deepmip.org/Extract_local_model_data).

  PublisherDOI

• Paleosol‐Based Reconstruction Indicates Decoupling of Mean Annual Precipitation and Precipitation Intensity During the Paleocene‐Eocene Thermal Maximum in the Uinta Basin, Utah

  Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology · 2025-04-01

  article

  Abstract The Earth is transitioning to a state unprecedented in human history. This transition poses a challenge for predicting the future, as climate models require testing and calibration with real‐world data from high greenhouse gas climates. Despite significant progress in climate modeling, changes in the precipitation remain highly uncertain. The Paleocene‐Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) was the warmest period of the Cenozoic Era, and thus serves as an analog for a hydrological cycle altered by extreme greenhouse gas warming. Here, we use paleosol‐based geochemical proxies to quantify changes in mean annual precipitation (MAP) during the PETM in the Uinta Basin, Utah. We find no change in MAP during this warming event. However, paleosol mass balance results track increased translocation of carbonates, increased clay illuviation, and increased accumulation of redox‐sensitive elements. These results, along with shifts in fluvial stratigraphy, provide evidence for increased intensity and intermittency of extreme precipitation events that may be related to changes in the transport direction, seasonality, and moisture transport capability of the North American Monsoon. Surprisingly, changes in fluvial stratigraphy, clay illuviuation, and redoximorphy continued for 10 5 –10 6 years after the PETM, suggesting persistent changes in precipitation intensity despite a decrease in global temperature. These findings provide further support for an intensification of the hydrological cycle during and after the PETM, provide evidence for a decoupling between mean and extreme precipitation, and indicate the importance of multi‐proxy, regional studies for understanding the complexities of climate change.

  PublisherDOI

• Establishing a Paleosol-based Magnetostratigraphic Framework for the Early Eocene in the Wind River Basin, WY, USA

  Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2025-01-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Common Ground: Understanding Changes in Paleoclimate using a Multi-Proxy Paleosol Approach in Baringo Basin, Kenya

  Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2025-01-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Contextualizing the Upper Paleolithic of the Armenian Highlands: New data from Solak-1, central Armenia

  Journal of Human Evolution · 2025-01-13 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Hopanoid distributions differ in mineral soils and peat: a re-evaluation of hopane-based pH proxies

  Advances in Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry · 2025-07-17 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Hopanoids are produced by bacteria and are commonly found in terrestrial and marine environments. In modern environments, hopanoids mostly occur in the biological 17β,21β(H) configuration. Over geological time (106 to 108 years), thermal degradation changes their stereochemistry to the thermally mature 17α,21β(H) configuration. However, in modern acidic peat-forming environments, the ‘thermally mature’ C31 17α,21β(H)-homohopane dominates over the biological ββ stereoisomer, with an increase in the relative abundance of the αβ stereoisomer at lower pH. Based on this pH dependency, hopane isomerisation ratios have been used to reconstruct pH in ancient peat-forming environments. However, the environmental controls on hopane isomerisation remain poorly constrained and it is unclear whether this proxy is also applicable in mineral soils. Here, we analysed hopane distributions in mineral soils characterised by a wide range of mean annual temperature and pH. We show that mineral soils are dominated by diploptene, an unsaturated C30 hopanoid synthesised by a wide range of bacteria. In our soil dataset, there are relatively few thermally mature αβ hopanes – even within acidic mineral soils – and there is no relationship between hopane isomerisation ratios and pH. We propose that mineral protection in these soil environments selectively protects hopanoids from rapid degradation and subsequent isomerisation in modern samples. This provides a plausible explanation for the lack of 17α,21β hopanes in modern acidic mineral soil and suggests that the C31 hopane ββ/(αβ + ββ) should only be employed as a quantitative pH proxy in peats. Moving forward, we propose that hopane isomerisation ratios can help fingerprint the delivery of (acidic) peat into the marine realm and build upon other biomarker-based proxies developed to trace the input of terrestrial OC into the marine realm.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Triple Oxygen Isotopes in Texas Precipitation Reveal Variability in the Nature and Timing of Secondary Evaporation

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• GEOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF PLIO-PLEISTOCENE PALEOSOLS IN THE BTB-13 CORE BARINGO, KENYA

  Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2025-01-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• EAR-PF: Mapping the effects of drought on human evolution and East African ecosystems during the late Pleistocene using triple oxygen isotopes and bulk geochemistry in paleosols

  NSF · $152k · 2017–2021

Frequent coauthors

• Naomi E. Levin

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  24 shared

• J. Tyler Faith

  University of Utah

  21 shared

• Christian A. Tryon

  University of Connecticut

  20 shared

• Daniel J. Peppe

  17 shared

• Benjamin H. Passey

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  15 shared

• Steven G. Driese

  14 shared

• Drake Yarian

  University of Cape Town

  13 shared

• René Dommain

  Earth Observatory of Singapore

  13 shared

Awards & honors

• Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM) James Lee Wilson Awar…
• NSF CAREER Award, 2023-2028