Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
Natural and Health Sciences
Dr. Shellito began her tenure at UNC in 2005. From 2013-2016, she served as the Editor in Chief of the National Association for Geoscience Teacher's quarterly magazine, In The Trenches. In 2015, she traveled to Ecuador on a Fulbright Core Scholar Grant to pursue research and teaching with colleagues at the University of Cuenca. (Project Title: Integrating Meteorological Investigations into an Interdisciplinary Earth Science Curriculum to Explore Weather and Climate Variability in the Andes.) She was also recently a Co-PI on a Sub-Award from the NSF-funded InTeGrate Project at Carleton College. Project Title: GEOSCIENCES/ENVIRONMENTAL STUDENT CURRICULUM & RECRUITMENT: INVITING DIVERSE STUDENTS TO SUSTAIN THEIR FUTURE.
Dr. Shellito teaches courses in dynamic meteorology, climate science and global change. Her primary areas of specialization include climate variability and change, paleoclimate modeling and science education. Modeling interests focus on the role of greenhouse gases in rapid climate transitions, dynamical mechanisms responsible for maintaining warm climates in Earth’s history, and dynamic and radiative feedbacks between climate and vegetation. Educational interests involve research on using numerical and conceptual models to facilitate inquiry and learning among students in the classroom, and the development of societally-relevant science curricula to promote student interest.
Córdova, M., Célleri, R., Shellito, C., Orellana, J., Abril, A., and G. Carrillo, 2016. Near-Surface Air Temperature Lapse Rate Over Complex Terrain in the Southern Ecuadorian Andes: Implications for Temperature Mapping, Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 48(4), 678-684.
Winguth, A., C. Shellito, C. Shields, and C. Winguth, 2010. Climate Response at the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum to Greenhouse Gas Forcing – A Model Study with CCSM3, Journal of Climate, 23, 2562-2584.
Shellito, C. J., J.F. Lamarque, and L.C. Sloan, 2009. Early Eocene Arctic Climate Sensitivity to pCO2 and Basin Geography, Geophysical Research Letters, 36, L09707, doi:10.1029/2009GL037248.
Shellito, C. J., and L.C. Sloan, 2006. Reconstructing a Lost Eocene Paradise, Part I: Simulating the Change in Global Floral Distribution at the Initial Eocene Thermal Maximum,Global and Planetary Change, 50, 1-17.
Shellito, C. J., and L.C. Sloan, 2006. Reconstructing a Lost Eocene Paradise, Part II: On the Utility of Dynamic Global Vegetation Models in Pre-Quaternary Climate Studies, Global and Planetary Change, 50, 18-32.
Shellito, C.J., L.C. Sloan, and M. Huber, 2003. Climate model sensitivity to atmospheric CO2 levels in the early-middle Paleogene. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 193, 113-123.
Shellito, C., K. Shea, G. Weissmann, A. Mueller-Solger, and W. Davis, 2001. Suggestions for Effective Mentoring of Undergraduate Researchers. Journal of College Science Teaching, 30, 460-464.