Francis Macdonald's research focuses on the interactions of tectonics, climate and biological evolution through Earth history. This work begins with geological mapping and uses stratigraphic analysis, isotope geochemistry, geochronology, paleomagnetism and paleontology to reconstruct paleoenvironments and tectonic histories. His recent projects have focused on Snowball Earth, the Great Unconformity, the impact of tropical mountains on global climate and the tectonic evolution of the Americas, Africa and Asia.