Andrea Dutton, a 2019 MacArthur Fellow, is a Professor of Geology in the Department of Geoscience at the University of Wisconsin–Madison where she studies paleoclimate, sedimentology, carbonate geochemistry, and paleoceonagraphy. Her primary research investigates sea level changes during interglacial periods to predict future sea level rise.
Early life and education
Andrea Dutton was born in Fairfax, Virginia and spent most of her childhood in Atlanta, Georgia and Westport, Connecticut. Dutton graduated from Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut in 1991. From 1991 to 1995, Dutton attended Amherst College where she studied music and focused on classes that would prepare her for the MCAT. Dutton took her first geology class at Amherst, and was immediately "fell in love" with the geological sciences. This altered the direction of her career towards geology. She graduated from Amherst College in 1995 with a BA in music. Following her time at Amherst, Dutton taught science at Saint Ann's School in Brooklyn Heights, New York City where she taught 3rd, 6th, 10th, 11th and 12th grade science. In 2003, Dutton returned to school and earned an MS and a PhD from the University of Michigan in geology. She continued her training as a postdoctoral scholar for two years at the Australian National University, where she continued on as a research fellow for four years.
Career and research
Dutton was a professor of Geology at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida from 2011 to 2019, and now Dutton is a professor of Geology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She co-led an international group that utilizes the geological record to understand sea level rise from 2013 to 2017. Her professional career began when she taught science at the Saint Ann's School in Brooklyn. Through the variety of age groups that Dutton taught, she learned a lot about public speaking on scientific topics, provoking an attentiveness to scientific communication in her future work. In 2000, Dutton received an M.S. in geology from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in Geological Sciences in 2003. For her Ph.D., Dutton researched paleoclimate between the Cretaceous and Eocene periods in the Antarctic Peninsula. Dutton completed a postdoctoral fellowship between the years of 2004 and 2005 at the Research School of Earth Sciences at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, Australia. She then worked as a research fellow from 2006 until 2011 at ANU. During her time at ANU as a research fellow, Dutton worked in collaboration with Kurt Lambeck, a geophysicist, to develop an interdisciplinary approach to reconstructing past sea levels using radiometrically dated fossilized coral.
Dutton specializes in paleoceanography and paleoclimatology. Her most recognized work concentrates on reconstructing past sea level variation to predict future changes. To understand how sea level will fluctuate in the future, Dutton looks at what is preserved in the rock record. Specifically, Dutton utilizes fossilized coral and limestone rocks to understand how past sea level increased during warming climates throughout earth's history. Because corals live in shallow waters, they can advantageously be used to track past sea level positions. By studying an entire reef including the assemblages, algae, and other aspects that inform how the coral grew, Dutton and other researchers can provide a holistic comprehension of sea level. She also uses other sedimentary archives to further analyze geologic changes throughout earth's history. In 2019, Dutton was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to work with researchers in New Zealand to combine records of past sea level rise with models of Antarctic ice dynamics to better understand the effects of warming temperatures on sea levels.