Since the 1960s, Earth scientists working in the Maya Lowlands have generated data that provide insights into the paleoclimate and paleoecology of the region. Qualitative paleoclimate findings suggest drought played a role in Maya cultural transformation (“collapse”), given the temporal correlation between past dry periods and changes in the archaeological record. 

Mark Brenner is a limnologist/paleolimnologist with special interests in tropical and subtropical lakes and watersheds. He has conducted fieldwork in Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, China, Cambodia, Madagascar, and Florida.