Matthew Lachniet (Geoscience) has been awarded a three-year, $479,099 grant from the National Science Foundation for his project titled, "Collaborative Research:  P2C2--What is the Driver of Orbital-Scale Central American Monsoon Variations? Tests of the Insolation and Sea Surface Temperature Hypotheses."

Lachniet and his research team will work in caves in Guatemala and elsewhere in Central America to determine what controls the strength of the monsoon on long timescales. The research is to help them constrain past variability in the monsoon, and to improve our ability to make future projections of rainfall.