Judith Parrish

Judith (Judy) Totman Parrish is an American geologist and paleoclimatologist known for her research on deep-time paleoclimate, sedimentary geology, and paleoceanography. She is Professor Emerita in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Idaho and a former President of the Geological Society of America (GSA).

Her work focuses on the scientific understanding of ancient climate systems, particularly during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras, with a focus on global climate modeling, sedimentology of ancient ocean upwelling systems, Cretaceous polar climate, and the climate of the supercontinent Pangea.

Biography Parrish was born in September 1950 in California to Bob and Dru Totman. She completed all of her higher education at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

She received a B.A. in Biology in 1972, writing a thesis on female-female interactions among northern elephant seals. She earned an M.A. in Biology in 1976 with a thesis on the movements of the northern elephant seal along the North American coast. She later undertook leadership training through the University of Arizona Leadership Institute between 2000 and 2003.

During this time, she led projects on the carbon cycle, petroleum resources, high-latitude Cretaceous climates, and paleo-upwelling. She also participated in studies related to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, North Slope basin analysis, and oil and gas resource classification.

In 1988, Parrish joined the University of Arizona as an associate professor with tenure in the Department of Geosciences. She was promoted to full professor in 1992 and remained in that role until 2004. During her time at Arizona, she was Associate Dean of the College of Science from 2000 to 2003, Interim Head of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences in 2001, and Director of the Geosciences Summer Field Camp from 1995 to 1997. She was also a visiting scholar in the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences at Stanford University in 1994.

She served as President of the Geological Society of America from 2008 to 2009 and as interim Executive Director of both the GSA in 2015 and the STEPPE program from 2013 to 2014. From 2021 to 2025, she served as President of the SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology) Foundation.

Awards and honors Laurence L. Sloss Award, Sedimentary Geology Division, Geological Society of America (GSA) (2022) GSA Distinguished Service Award (2018) Earth and Space Sciences Alumni Hall of Fame, University of California, Santa Cruz (2018) NASA/Space Grant Mentor (1999–2000) Fellow, Geological Society of America (elected 1994)

Selected publications

Books and edited volumes

Journals