Tamara in the desert sitting down looking over shoulder smiling with her hood on holding sampling supplies

Tamara Aránguiz-Rago

she/her/ella

Graduate Student | Climate Variability, Modeling, Paleoclimate | Earth and Space Sciences

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I am a tectonic geomorphologist and Fulbright Scholar graduating with a Ph.D. in Earth and Space Sciences from the University of Washington in Spring 2026. My research explores how climate, tectonics, and surface processes interact to shape Earth’s landscapes across timescales ranging from decades to millions of years. I am particularly interested in understanding how rivers and hillslopes respond to climatic and tectonic forcing, and how topographic, rock and sedimentary records can be used to reconstruct past environmental and tectonic conditions.

I am a member of the Geoscapes Research Group, led by Professor Alison Duvall in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences. My work combines field observations, remote sensing, geochronology, and numerical modeling to investigate how climate variability and tectonic processes shape landscapes, with a primary focus on the hyperarid Atacama Desert of northern Chile.

My connection to the Program on Climate Change comes from my interest in how climate variability influences erosion, sediment transport, river dynamics, and long-term landscape evolution. I am particularly inspired by the interdisciplinary research and collaborative community that the PCC fosters. I am grateful to be supported by a Graubard Fellowship as I complete my doctoral research at UW.