Travel Grant: Characterizing Uncertainty in Historical and Paleoclimate Aerosol Radiative Effects Workshop

This project provides Participant Support to convene the workshop “Characterizing Historical and Paleoclimate Aerosol Radiative Effects”, to be held at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory from October 20–22, 2025. The workshop will bring together experts in measurement methods for aerosol changes in past time periods and experts in aerosol modeling to evaluate aerosol radiative effects over different time periods. The workshop will feature invited presentations on recent advances in measurement methods and modeling, with the majority time dedicated to facilitated discussions focused on experimental design and paper development. Understanding the radiative impacts of non-CO₂ components such as dust and wildfire aerosols is essential for constraining feedbacks in past time periods. However, the uncertainty associated with the radiative effects of aerosols in paleo time periods remain poorly quantified due to sparse proxy data and uncertainties in net radiative forcing. This workshop will support synthesis across paleo proxy records and aerosol modeling, advancing the development of improved emissions estimates and radiative forcing reconstructions. The integration of cutting-edge paleo-simulations and targeted data interpretation efforts will help reduce key uncertainties in historical and paleo forcing. Through its scientific goals and intentional community-building efforts, this workshop will enhance Earth system science while strengthening research capacity and collaboration across disciplinary and institutional boundaries. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.