Faculty
A - B
Dr. James Beget, Professor
Contact: jebeget@alaska.edu or (907) 474-5301
Teaching:
Research: Quaternary geology, Tephrachronology, Volcanology, geomorphology
Curriculum Vitae
C
Dr. Doug Christensen, Professor
Associate Director of Geophysical Institute
Dr. Bernard Coakley, Professor
Contact: bernard.coakley@gi.alaska.edu or (907) 474-5385
Teaching:
GEOS 438/638 - Basin Analysis
GEOS 416 - Applied Geophysics in alternate years.
Research: Marine geophysics
Curriculum Vitae
D
Dr. Patrick Druckenmiller, Asst. Professor of Geology
Earth Sciences Curator, University of Alaska Museum
Contact: psdruckenmiller@alaska.edu or (907) 474-6954
Teaching:
Research: Vertebrate paleontology specializing in Mesozoic marine reptiles; plesiosaur and ichthyosaur phylogeny; Jurassic marine reptiles of Svalbard, Norway; Alaskan dinosaurs
Curriculum Vitae
E
Dr. Hajo Eicken, Professor
Contact: hajo.eicken@gi.alaska.edu or (907) 474-7280
Teaching: Sea ice geophysics (GEOS 615)
Glaciers, volcanoes and earthquakes (GEOS 120, Glaciers module of the course)
Image processing applications in the geosciences (GEOS 622)
Field techniques in interdisciplinary sea ice research (GEOS 695)
Research: Sea Ice Geophysics
Curriculum Vitae
F - G
Dr. Sarah Fowell, Associate Professor
Department Chair
2006-2007 Outstanding Teacher Award
Contact: sjfowell@alaska.edu or (907) 474-7810
Teaching:
Research: Reconstruction of ancient ecosystems and climates through identification of pollen and spores preserved in lacustrine sediments or rocks.
Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Jeff Freymueller, Professor
Contact: jeff@giseis.alaska.edu or (907) 474-7286
Teaching:
Research: Primary research focus is in the field of crustal deformation resulting from active tectonic and volcanic processes. Current research topics include studies of the subduction process in southern Alaska; uplift due to post-glacial rebound in the Glacier Bay area, southeast Alaska; the large-scale kinematics of the Indian-Eurasia plate collision zone in China; kinematics of the San Andreas fault system in northern California; deformation on active volcanoes in the Alaska-Aleutian arc; techniques for estimating deformation models from Global Positioning System (GPS), Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and other geodetic data.
Curriculum Vitae
H - I - J
Dr. Catherine Hanks, Associate Professor
Dr. Regine Hock, Professor
Contact: regine.hock@gi.alaska.edu or (907) 474-7691
Teaching: Glaciers (GEOS 617)
Glaciers, Volcanoes and Earthquakes (GEOS 120, glaciers module of the course)
Research: Glacier mass balance, glacier meteorology and hydrology, modeling the response of glaciers to climate change, and the contribution of glacier wastage to global sea-level rise.
Curriculum Vitae
K
Dr. Mary Keskinen, Associate Professor
Contact: mjkeskinen@alaska.edu or (907) 474-7769
Teaching:
Research: Metamorphic petrology, petrology and geochemsitry of geothermal/fumarolic systems
Curriculum Vitae
L
Dr. Jessica Larsen, Associate Professor
Contact: jflarsen@alaska.edu or (907) 474- 7992
Teaching:
GEOS 120 - Volcanoes module (Earthquakes, Glaciers, Volcanoes)
GEOS 406 - Volcanology
GEOS 670 - Selected Topics in Volcanology
Research: Volcanology and petrology
Curriculum Vitae
M
Dr. Paul McCarthy, Professor
Contact: mccarthy@gi.alaska.edu or (907) 474-6894
Teaching:
Research: Paleolandscape evolution, alluvial architecture and nonmarine sequence stratigraphy
Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Franz J. Meyer, Associate Professor
Contact: fmeyer@gi.alaska.edu or (907) 474-7767
Teaching:
Research: Development of advanced SAR, InSAR, PS-InSAR
Curriculum Vitae
N - O
Dr. Elisabeth Nadin, Assistant Professor
Contact: enadin@alaska.edu or (907) 474-5181
Teaching:
GEOS 475/675 = Presentation Techniques (co-teach with R. Newberry, Fall)
GEOS 309 = Tectonics (Fall)
GEOS 605 = Geochronology (co-teach with P. Layer every other Fall)
GEOS 101 = Dynamic Earth (Spring)
GEOS 222 = Fundamentals of Geospatial Science (Spring)
Research: Elisabeth Nadin studies continental fault zones to assess the strength of continental crust from the surface to the brittle–plastic transition. Her geological investigations require both field work and lab work. In the field, she maps large and small structures associated with faulting. Back in the lab, various thermochronometers are used to determine ages of fault rocks, and thermobarometers are employed to determine the corresponding depths and temperatures of formation and deformation of rocks in and around the fault zone. Nadin also analyzes rock fabrics by petrographic microscope, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), and Xray diffraction (XRD) to understand how different minerals—and their relative abundances—affect the overall strength of continental crust. These investigations provide insight into the past development and future
evolution of Earth's crust.
Currently, Nadin is working in the mid- to lower-crustal sections of the Talkeetna Arc, southeast Alaska. Her investigations include 1) a geochemical comparison of mid-crustal arc levels from the Jurassic and today (as preserved in xenoliths of the active Aleutian arc); 2) detrital-zircon studies of metasediments associated with the Talkeetna Arc; and 3) rock flow fabrics preserved within the middle and lower crustal levels of this accreted arc.
Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Rainer Newberry, Professor
Contact: rjnewberry@alaska.edu or (907) 474-6895
Teaching:
Research: Genesis of ores and ore deposit exploration, field and theoretical geochemistry
Curriculum Vitae
P - Q
Dr. Erin Pettit, Assistant Professor of Geophysics
Contact: ecpettit@alaska.edu or (907) 474-5389
Teaching: GEOS 620: Geodynamics (Fall 2008, Fall 2010)
GEOS 692: Reading Seminar in Glaciology (Spring 2009, Spring 2011)
GEOS 4?? (t.b.a., Fall 2011)
International Glaciology Summer School
(http://www.gi.alaska.edu/snowice/glaciers/events/summer_school/, 2010)
Research: Glacier dynamics and climate change
Curriculum Vitae
Girls on Ice (http://girlsonice.org)
Dr. Anupma Prakash, Professor
CNSM Department Co-Chair
Contact: prakash@gi.alaska.edu or (907) 474-1897
Teaching:
Research: Mapping Earth Surface Composition and Change; Remote Sensing and GIS.
Curriculum Vitae
R - S
Dr. Vladimir Romanovsky, Professor
Contact: veromanovsky@alaska.edu or (907) 474-7459
Teaching:
Research: Cold region soil engineering problems and modeling
Curriculum Vitae
T - U - V
Dr. Carl Tape, Assistant Professor of Geophysics
Contact: carltape@gi.alaska.edu or (907) 474-5456
Teaching: GEOS 626 Applied Seismology
GEOS 627 Inverse Problems and Parameter Estimation
Research: Computational and observational seismology; seismic imaging; inverse problems
Curriculum Vitae
W - X - Y - Z
Dr. Wes Wallace, Professor
Contact: wallace@gi.alaska.edu or (907) 474-5302
Teaching: Structural geology, geologic mapping, global tectonics, geologic evolution of Alaska, seismic interpretation
Research: Geometry and kinematics of fold-and-thrust structures, structure and evolution of the Brooks Range, tectonic evolution of Alaska
Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Michael Whalen, Associate Professor
Contact: mtwhalen@gi.alaska.edu or (907) 474-5302
Teaching: Stratigraphy and sedimentation and environmental geology as well as upper division courses in carbonate petrology, sedimentology, sequence stratigraphy, and mass extinctions.
Research: Carbonate sedimentology and stratigraph
Curriculum Vitae