I, Cathy Whitlock, have been retained by counsel for Plaintiffs in the above-captioned matter to provide expert testimony explaining Earth’s Energy Imbalance; how the emission of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere is driving climate change globally and in Montana; the state of Montana’s longstanding knowledge of the dangers posed by climate change and fossil fuels; and how human-caused fossil fuel development and the resulting release of CO2 into the atmosphere are harming Montana’s ecosystems, water supplies, communities, and the Plaintiffs themselves. In this report, Dr. Running and I discuss recent trends and future projections in temperature, precipitation, snow accumulation and snowmelt, and stream runoff in Montana and explain how they affect terrestrial ecosystems, communities, and the livelihoods of people that depend on these ecosystem services. These projections for Montana’s future are based on continuing or increasing the present rate of greenhouse gas emissions, a certainty that will occur unless we curtail our reliance on fossil fuels.
Currently, I am a Regents Professor Emerita of Earth Sciences and a Fellow of the Montana Institute on Ecosystems at Montana State University (MSU). In 2011, I was founding co-director of the Montana Institute on Ecosystems, which has hubs at Montana State University and the University of Montana and serves as the statewide center for interdisciplinary environmental science. I am the lead author of the Montana Climate Assessment (Whitlock et al. 2017), and recently co-authored a state-level Montana Climate Solution Plan (2020) and a special report of the Montana Climate Assessment entitled Climate Change and Human Health in Montana (Adams et al. 2021). I was also co-lead author of the Greater Yellowstone Climate Assessment (Hostetler et al. 2021).
I received my Ph.D. in Earth Sciences at the University of Washington in 1983. I spent a year at Trinity College Dublin on a NATO Postdoctoral Fellow (1983-1984). Following that, I was on the staff of Carnegie Museum of Natural History (1984-1990) and a faculty member of the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (1988-1990). In 1990, I joined the Department of Geography at the University of Oregon and served as Department Head there from 2000-2004. I accepted the position of Professor of Earth Sciences at Montana State University in 2004 and have remained there until retirement in 2021.
My research focuses on past environmental and climatic change, particularly on the long-term dynamics of vegetation, fire, and climate. I am nationally and internationally recognized for my scholarly contributions and leadership activities in this area of science. I have published over 225 reviewed journal articles and book chapters on past climate and environmental change and my research studies extend from Montana and the western U.S. to New Zealand, Tasmania, Europe, and Patagonia. Since my arrival at MSU in 2004, I have built a successful research and teaching program, and founded the MSU Paleoecology Lab, which trains post-docs, graduate students, undergraduates and visiting scientists from around the world. My research has been funded by national and international grant agencies, including the National Science Foundation, Joint Fire Sciences Program, National Park Service, Department of Energy, USDA Forest Service, and U.S. Geological Survey.