Rate My Professor Trevis Matheus

Trevis Matheus is an Associate Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Geography and the Environment at California State University, Fullerton. He holds a bachelor’s degree in meteorology from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and master’s and doctoral degrees in geography from Indiana University Bloomington. Matheus joined California State University, Fullerton in 2017 as an assistant professor and has since been promoted to associate professor while assuming the role of department chair. He directs the Cal-Dendro tree-ring laboratory, a fully equipped facility focused on paleoclimate research.

Matheus’s research specializes in paleoclimatology and dendrochronology, using tree-ring analysis to reconstruct past droughts, snowpack, and climate variability extending 500 to 1,000 years. His work examines hydroclimate of the late Quaternary period, North American Monsoon dynamics, Sierra Nevada snowpack, species-specific climate responses, and new methodologies for dendrochronology, including sub-annual ring measurements in Pinus edulis and blue light intensity in Picea engelmannii. This contributes to understanding modern climate change and informing water management policies. Key publications include “Dendroclimatic reconstructions from multiple co-occurring species: a case study from an old-growth deciduous forest in Indiana, USA” (International Journal of Climatology, 2015), “Late summer temperature variability for the Southern Rocky Mountains (USA) since 1735 CE: applying blue light intensity to low-latitude Picea engelmannii Parry ex Engelm” (Climatic Change, 2020), “Sampling density and date along with species selection influence spatial representation of tree-ring reconstructions” (Climate of the Past, 2020), “Placing modern droughts in historical context in the Ohio Valley using tree-rings” (Physical Geography, 2018), and “A dendrochronological evaluation of three historic pioneer cabins at Spring Mill Village, Indiana” (Dendrochronologia, 2017). His expertise covers climatology, drought, weather, meteorology, and monsoons, with contributions featured in university news and media.