Senior Fellow, Earth Environment, Research School of Earth Sciences (College of Physical Sciences)

1990 PhD James Cook University

1980 BA (Hons) University of California Santa Barbara

Professional Background

Gagan has been at the Australian National University since 1992 where he is responsible for the RSES Earth Environment stable isotope facilities.  He completed his PhD on the geologic impact of tropical cyclones on the Great Barrier Reef and lectured at the University of New England, Northern Rivers (1988-91).  Since then, he and his team at ANU have conducted research to advance our understanding of past climate change in the southern hemisphere and tropics.  Gagan’s contributions to international climate science include service for the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP) and World Climate Research Program (WCRP), the ANZIC Science Steering Committee for the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), and the Science Advisory Board for the Earth Observatory of Singapore at Nanyang Technological University.

Research and Teaching Interests

Gagan’s research involves the use of isotopic and elemental tracers to address fundamental questions in environmental geochemistry, palaeoclimatology, and climate change science.  His current research focuses on the development of high-temporal-resolution proxy climate records from corals and speleothems to understand changes in climatic and oceanic processes during the late Quaternary, particularly in the southern hemisphere and the tropics.  Gagan enjoys mentoring younger scientists and, together with colleagues, he and his PhD students have published several papers on climates of the past with relevance to future climate change (see papers by Hendy, Abram, Griffiths).

Notable Publications

Griffiths, M.L., Drysdale, R.N., Gagan, M.K., Zhao, J.-x., Ayliffe, L.K., Hellstrom, J.C., Hantoro, W.S., Frisia, S., Feng, Y.-x., Cartwright, I., St. Pierre, E., Fischer, M., Suwargadi, B.W. (2009). Increasing Australian-Indonesian monsoon rainfall linked to early Holocene sea-level rise. Nature Geoscience, doi: 10.1038/ngeo605.

Abram, N.J., Gagan, M.K., Cole, J.E., Hantoro, W.S., Mudelsee, M. (2008). Recent intensification of tropical climate variability in the Indian Ocean. Nature Geoscience, 1(12): 849-853.

Abram, N.J., Gagan, M.K., Liu, Z., Hantoro, W.S., McCulloch, M.T., Suwargadi, B.W. (2007). Seasonal characteristics of the Indian Ocean Dipole during the Holocene epoch. Nature, 445: 299-302.

Correge, T., Gagan, M.K., Beck, J.W., Burr, G.S., Cabioch, G., Le Cornec, F. (2004). Interdecadal variation in the extent of South Pacific tropical waters during the Younger Dryas event. Nature, 428: 927-929.

Hendy, E.J., Gagan, M.K., Alibert, C., McCulloch, M.T., Lough, J.M., Isdale, P.J. (2002). Abrupt shift in tropical sea surface salinity at end of Little Ice Age. Science, 295:1511-1514.

Gagan, M.K., Ayliffe, L.K., Hopley, D., Cali, J.A., Mortimer, G.E., Chappell, J., McCulloch, M.T., Head, M.J. (1998). Temperature and surface-ocean water balance of the mid-Holocene tropical western Pacific. Science, 279: 1014-1018.