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Peter B. deMenocal is a professor at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. Dr. deMenocal is recognized as one of the leaders of the scientific effort to understand Earth parameters during the time that hominids evolved. He reconstructs past changes in ocean circulation and terrestrial climate using proxies in marine sediments, primarily stable isotope and trace metal geochemistry. His recent research projects include Holocene climate and ocean circulation variability, tropical to extratropical paleoclimate linkages, Pliocene-Pleistocene evolution of tropical climates, and human evolution and past African climates. He has a B.S. in geology from St. Lawrence University, an M.S. in oceanography from the University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Ocean- ography, and a Ph.D. in geology from Columbia University.