Matt Meko

Matt joined CLIMAS in 2023. His previous research focused on the use of tree rings as sources of information about past climate and environmental variability. Matt earned his master's degree (Geography MS) from the University of Alabama in 2015 with a thesis on the flood record captured by floodplain trees when they respond to inundation by forming uniquely-structured wood-cell tissues. In 2015 Matt joined the Laboratory of Tree-ring Research at the University of Arizona and continued to explore methods of extracting cell-scale tree-ring data via methods like image analysis and x-ray densitometry. Applying such data to questions concerning climate-system phenomena of varying scales, including e.g. jet streams and atmospheric circulation, necessarily drew Matt into the study of atmospheric sciences and the many flavors of climate science. Matt's role at CLIMAS allows him to continue trying to make sense of weather, climate, and what makes it all go—and to do it in a way that contributes to use-inspired and useful research.