My research program lies at the interface between the climatological, ecological, and archaeological sciences, and seeks to answer fundamental questions within two broad areas: (1) what have been the driving forces behind climate and landscape change during the Late Quaternary? and (2), how has the natural environment constrained/provided opportunities for cultural and biological change? To address questions in these areas, I use a field- and laboratory-based approach, integrating information derived from geological (e.g., sedimentological, geochemical) and paleoecological (e.g., palynological) investigations with archaeological and paleontological data. My geographical focus is currently on Eastern Canada and the Caribbean, but I have previously done work in the Canadian Arctic and China.
At present, my research program comprises several interdisciplinary projects:
1) New records of sea level change, hurricanes, and climatic variability from coastal zones
2) Mammal extinctions, ancient people, and environmental change in the circum-Caribbean region
3) Vegetation, climate, and biodiversity dynamics through time
Details concerning these projects are outlined on the “research projects” section of my laboratory group’s website: https://peroslab.ubishops.ca/research-projects/
O’Neill Sanger, C.E., St-Jacques, J.-M., Peros, M.C., Schwartz, K.A., 2021. Reconstructed high-resolution forest dynamics and human impacts of the past 2300 years of the Parc national de Mont-Orford, southeastern Québec, Canada. Holocene 31(6), 1019-1032.
Xu, G., Wang, Z., Zhao, H., Bu, Z., Peros, M., Liu, S., Li, H., Wang, S., 2021. Characteristics and Assessment of Trace Elements (Hg, As, Sb, Se, and Bi) in Mire Surface Water from the Changbai Mountains, Northeastern China. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 232(6), 246.
Kaufman, D., McKay, N., Routson, C., Erb, M., Davis, B., Heiri, O., Jaccard, S., Tierney, J., Dätwyler, C., Axford, Y., et al. (incl. Peros, M.), 2020. A global database of Holocene paleotemperature records. Scientific Data 7(1), 115.
Kaufman, D., McKay, N., Routson, C., Erb, M., Davis, B., Heiri, O., Jaccard, S., Tierney, J., Dätwyler, C., Axford, Y., et al. (incl. Peros, M.), 2020. Author Correction: A global database of Holocene paleotemperature records (Scientific Data, (2020), 7, 1, (115), 10.1038/s41597-020-0445-3). Scientific Data 7(1), 246.
Kaufman, D., McKay, N., Routson, C., Erb, M., Davis, B., Heiri, O., Jaccard, S., Tierney, J., Dätwyler, C., Axford, Y. et al. (incl. Peros, M.), 2020. Erratum: Publisher Correction: A global database of Holocene paleotemperature records (Scientific data (2020) 7 1 (115)). Scientific Data 7(1), 271.
Kaufman, D., McKay, N., Routson, C., Erb, M., Davis, B., Heiri, O., Jaccard, S., Tierney, J., Dätwyler, C., Axford, Y., et al. (incl. Peros, M.), 2020. Publisher Correction: A global database of Holocene paleotemperature records (Scientific Data, (2020), 7, 1, (115), 10.1038/s41597-020-0445-3). Scientific Data 7(1), 183.
Sha, L., Ait Brahim, Y., Wassenburg, J.A., Yin, J., Peros, M., Cruz, F.W., Cai, Y., Li, H., Du, W., Zhang, H., Edwards, R.L., Cheng, H., 2019. How Far North Did the African Monsoon Fringe Expand During the African Humid Period? Insights From Southwest Moroccan Speleothems. Geophysical Research Letters 46(23), 14093-14102.
Liu, J., Wang, Z., Zhao, H., Peros, M., Yang, Q., Liu, S., Li, H., Wang, S., Bu, Z., 2018. Mercury and arsenic in the surface peat soils of the Changbai Mountains, northeastern China: distribution, environmental controls, sources, and ecological risk assessment. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 25(34), 34595-34609.
Oliva, F., Peros, M.C., Viau, A.E., Reinhardt, E.G., Nixon, F.C., Morin, A., 2018. A multi-proxy reconstruction of tropical cyclone variability during the past 800 years from Robinson Lake, Nova Scotia, Canada. Marine Geology 406, 84-97.
Oliva, F., Viau, A.E., Peros, M.C., Bouchard, M., 2018. Paleotempestology database for the western North Atlantic basin. Holocene 28(10), 1664-1671.
Smith, D.G., de Armas, Y.C., Suárez, R., Buhay, W.M., Roksandic, I., Peros, M.C., Roksandic, M., 2018. Straddling the subsistence divide: The case of Canímar Abajo and contemporaneous sites in Northwestern Cuba. The Archaeology of Caribbean and Circum-Caribbean Farmers (6000 BC - AD 1500), 98-112.
Oliva, F., Peros, M., Viau, A., 2017. A review of the spatial distribution of and analytical techniques used in paleotempestological studies in the western North Atlantic Basin. Progress in Physical Geography 41(2), 171-190.
Peros, M., Collins, S., G'Meiner, A.A., Reinhardt, E., Pupo, F.M., 2017. Multistage 8.2 kyr event revealed through high-resolution XRF core scanning of Cuban sinkhole sediments. Geophysical Research Letters 44(14), 7374-7381.
Beach, T., Johnson, K.M., Hill, M.M., Munoz, S., Peros, M., 2016. The view from the “Anthropocene”: New perspectives in human-induced environmental change. Anthropocene 15, 1-2.
Peros, M., Chan, K., Magnan, G., Ponsford, L., Carroll, J., McCloskey, T., 2016. A 9600-year record of water table depth, vegetation and fire inferred from a raised peat bog, Prince Edward Island, Canadian Maritimes. Journal of Quaternary Science 31(5), 512-525.
Gregory, B.R.B., Peros, M., Reinhardt, E.G., Donnelly, J.P., 2015. Middle-late Holocene Caribbean aridity inferred from foraminifera and elemental data in sediment cores from two Cuban lagoons. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 426, 229-241.
Peros, M., Gregory, B., Matos, F., Reinhardt, E., Desloges, J., 2015. Late-Holocene record of lagoon evolution, climate change, and hurricane activity from southeastern Cuba. Holocene 25(9), 1483-1497.
Roksandic, M., Buhay, W.M., Chinique de Armas, Y., Rodríguez Suárez, R., Peros, M.C., Roksandic, I., Mowat, S., Viera, L.M., Arredondo, C., Fuentes, A.M., Smith, D.G., 2015. Radiocarbon and stratigraphic chronology of Canímar Abajo, Matanzas, Cuba. Radiocarbon 57(5), 755-763.
Milne, G.A., Peros, M., 2013. Data-model comparison of Holocene sea-level change in the circum-Caribbean region. Global and Planetary Change 107, 119-131.
Gajewski, K., Munoz, S., Peros, M., Viau, A., Morlan, R., Betts, M., 2011. The Canadian archaeological radiocarbon database (CARD): Archaeological 14C dates in North America and their paleoenvironmental Context. Radiocarbon 53(2), 371-394.
Peros, M., Gajewski, K., 2011. On the glacial and postglacial history of the western Canadian Arctic Islands. Quaternary Research 75(1), 307-308.
Cooper, J., Peros, M., 2010. The archaeology of climate change in the Caribbean. Journal of Archaeological Science 37(6), 1226-1232.
Munoz, S.E., Gajewski, K., Peros, M.C., 2010. Synchronous environmental and cultural change in the prehistory of the northeastern United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107(51), 22008-22013.
Peros, M., Gajewski, K., Paull, T., Ravindra, R., Podritske, B., 2010. Multi-proxy record of postglacial environmental change, south-central Melville Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. Quaternary Research 73(2), 247-258.
Peros, M.C., Munoz, S.E., Gajewski, K., Viau, A.E., 2010. Prehistoric demography of North America inferred from radiocarbon data. Journal of Archaeological Science 37(3), 656-664.
Gabriel, J.J., Reinhardt, E.G., van Hengstum, P.J., Beddows, P.A., Peros, M.C., Davidson, D.E., 2009. Palaeoenvironmental evolution of cenote aktun ha (Carwash) on the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico and its response to holocene sea-level rise. Journal of Paleolimnology 42(2), 199-213.
Kaufman, D.S., Schneider, D.P., McKay, N.P., Ammann, C.M., Bradley, R.S., Briffa, K.R., Miller, G.H. et al. (incl. Peros, M.), 2009. Recent warming reverses long-term arctic cooling. Science 325(5945), 1236-1239.
Peros, M.C., Gajewski, K., 2009. Pollen-based reconstructions of late Holocene climate from the central and western Canadian Arctic. Journal of Paleolimnology 41(1), 161-175.
Cowling, S.A., Cox, P.M., Jones, C.D., Maslin, M.A., Peros, M., Spall, S.A., 2008. Simulated glacial and interglacial vegetation across Africa: Implications for species phylogenies and trans-African migration of plants and animals. Global Change Biology 14(4), 827-840.
Peros, M.C., Gajewski, K., 2008. Holocene climate and vegetation change on Victoria Island, western Canadian Arctic. Quaternary Science Reviews 27(3-4), 235-249.
Peros, M.C., Gajewski, K., 2008. Testing the reliability of pollen-based diversity estimates. Journal of Paleolimnology 40(1), 357-368.
Peros, M.C., Gajewski, K., Viau, A.E., 2008. Continental-scale tree population response to rapid climate change, competition and disturbance. Global Ecology and Biogeography 17(5), 658-669.
Peros, M.C., Reinhardt, E.G., Davis, A.M., 2007. A 6000-year record of ecological and hydrological changes from Laguna de la Leche, north coastal Cuba. Quaternary Research 67(1), 69-82.
Peros, M.C., Reinhardt, E.G., Schwarcz, H.P., Davis, A.M., 2007. High-resolution paleosalinity reconstruction from Laguna de la Leche, north coastal Cuba, using Sr, O, and C isotopes. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 245(3-4), 535-550.
Peros, M.C., Graham, E., Davis, A.M., 2006. Stratigraphic investigations at Los Buchillones, a coastal Taino site in north-central Cuba. Geoarchaeology 21(5), 403-428.
Finkelstein, S.A., Peros, M.C., Davis, A.M., 2005. Late Holocene paleoenvironmental change in a Great Lakes coastal wetland: Integrating pollen and diatom datasets. Journal of Paleolimnology 33(1), 1-12.
Moalem, S., Storey, K.B., Percy, M.E., Peros, M.C., Perl, D.P., 2005. The sweet thing about Type 1 diabetes: A cryoprotective evolutionary adaptation. Medical Hypotheses 65(1), 8-16.
Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Morocco
Codirection : Dr. Yassine Ait Brahim, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Morocco
Sujet de recherche : The climatological factors that influence snowpack accumulation in the High Atlas Mountains, Morocco
Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, Concordia University
Codirection : Jeannine-Marie St-Jacques
Sujet de recherche : Reconstructing storm activity in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Quebec, during the Holocene
University of Havana
Sujet de recherche : Paleotempestology of Ciego de Avila, north-central Cuba
Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, Concordia University
Codirection : Jeannine-Marie St-Jacques
Sujet de recherche : Flood recurrence inferred from oxbows lake sin southern Quebec, Canada
Département de géographie, Université Laval
Codirection : Émilie Saulnier-Talbot, département de géographie, Université Laval, Québec
Sujet de recherche : The dynamic Caribbean: evolution of socio-ecological systems in Cuba since human arrival
Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, Concordia University
Codirection : Jeannine-Marie St-Jacques
Sujet de recherche : Beyond the Norse: Holocene climate and environmental change and human impacts at L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland