Welcome to the Paleo R&D Lab at George Mason University! Our research group aims to understand how the hydrological cycle responds to climate changes, from the distant past to the present. We integrate proxy reconstructions, climate model simulations, and instrumental observations to quantitatively characterize the spatiotemporal evolution of hydroclimate changes across interannual to glacial-interglacial timescales, and investigate the underlying physical mechanisms.

Dr. Xiaojing Du is the PI of the Paleo R&D Lab. She is an assistant professor at George Mason University, specializing in paleoclimate reconstructions, data-model comparisons, and climate modeling. Dr. Du earned her Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and completed postdoctoral research at Brown University and Rice University. Her research focuses on tropical hydroclimate changes and the interactions between tropical and extratropical regions, including ENSO and its teleconnections, the dynamics of the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool, and the behavior of monsoon systems.