Welcome!

My name is Gemma and I'm a PhD candidate in the department of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington. In Fall 2023, I will be starting a postdoc position in the University of Washington School of Oceanography. 

Broadly, I'm interested in learning about past climate as a means to understand and combat climate change. I'm particularly interested in climate in Antarctica and the tropical Pacific. I am fascinated by our ability to piece together our complex climate system with various approaches, and as such I aim to incorporate many techniques and data sources into my research. This includes climate data from ice cores and coral records, instrumental climate data, climate modeling and ocean modeling, and statistical techniques such as data assimilation. See my research and field work tabs for more on this.

Photo credit: Annika Horlings

It is becoming increasingly clear that the topics of racial and cultural injustice are intertwined with climate change, so I am also dedicated to improving justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) in the geosciences. I strive to incorporate JEDI practices into my research, teaching, and my community, and I hope that this will become the norm in the geosciences and in our broader society. 

Email: goconnor@uw.edu
​Pronouns: she/her

I respectfully acknowledge the Coast Salish peoples of the land on which I live and work, the land which touches the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Suquamish, Tulalip and Muckleshoot nations. I honor these communities and the elders of these nations whose practices and spiritualities are tied to the land-- in the past, present, and future.