Michael R. Rampino is a Geologist and Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies at New York University,[1] known for his scientific contributions on causes of mass extinctions of life.

"[2][3] These ~30 million year cyclical breaks are an important factor in evolutionary theory,[4][5] along with other longer 60-million- and 140-million-year cycles potentially caused by mantle plumes within the planet, opining "The Earth seems to have a pulse,"[6] He is also a research consultant at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City.

He was an Associate Research Scientist at the NASA, Goddard Institute for 5 years, studying the effects of volcanic eruptions on climate, before taking up his present position at NYU.

He was instrumental in convening three American Geophysical Union Chapman Conferences on “Volcanoes and Climate” in 1992 (Hilo, Hawaii), 2002 (Santorini, Greece) and 2012 (Selfoss, Iceland) and two international meetings on “Small Bodies in the Solar System” in Mariehamn, Sweden (1994) and in Hikon, Japan (1997).

[21][22] In papers with Ken Caldeira at the Carnegie Institution, he explored the relationships of seafloor-spreading rates, atmospheric CO2 and climate in the very warm mid-Cretaceous Period 100 million years ago.

Rampino has studied the globally distributed evidence for the Chicxulub impact with fieldwork in Europe, the western United States, Mexico and the Caribbean.

[45][46] To explain the cycles, they proposed the “Shiva Hypothesis” in which the 30-million year oscillation of the Solar System through the dense Galactic plane leads to periodic comet showers on Earth.

In 2017, Rampino and colleagues, studying the record of the great extinction, discovered a coincident worldwide layer rich in nickel that had been released by emanations from the huge eruptions.

[56] Astrophysicists suggested that the dark matter particles can become trapped within the Earth where they self-destruct, releasing large amounts of heat and leading to periodic pulses in the planet's internal geologic activity.