I teach Geomorphology, Climate Change Dynamics that includes aspects of both natural and anthropogenic causes, Environmental Senior Seminar which is a capstone course in the Environmental Studies Program, Environmental Geology.  In addition to these courses offered on campus, I also co-lead a mini-term abroad for three weeks in the summer, Living on the Edge: Alaska, that investigates how society and science come together in an effort to mitigate and minimize the impact of Geohazards. Living on the Edge is a Union College Miniterm aimed at exposing students to geologic hazards and the way society mitigates them. The home page for this course is here.

My research looks at understanding the impact of climate change on different surficial processes, particularly watershed hydrology and landscape variability.   

Student Research Opportunities
Union College encourages their undergraduates to be involved with faculty research; with that in mind I have several research opportunities for the interested student.  The broad topics are as follows:
Contemporary sedimentation rate studies in proglacial lakes
Clay mineral properties as proxies for sediment source and supply in the watershed
Assessment of flood frequency and flood plain area
Deglaciation of the Mohawk Valley

Teaching Interests
I approach all aspects of my life with enthusiasm and passion, and teaching is no exception.  In the classroom, I do all that I can to encourage a positive and interactive learning atmosphere.  This is achieved through open discussion and debates about major theories and models, and by providing students with the tools to critically think and analyze the topics presented.  I feel that an interactive learning environment that balances lectures, discussions and hands-on learning with positive and effective evaluation and feedback for students, are all important to providing students a rewarding education in the Geosciences.

Courses Taught/Teaching at Union College

Geology 102: Environmental Geology
Geology 109: Global Climate Dynamics
Geology 202: Origin and Evolution of Landscapes
Geology 332: Glacial and Quaternary Geology
Geology 355T: Living on the Edge Mini Term in Alaska (Summer 2007, 2008, and 2009)
Environmental Studies 460: Senior Capstone Course – Environmental Studies

In addition, I also incorporate some basic GIS exercises, simple spreadsheet work and practical experience at oral and poster presentations in these labs and classes, as I feel these are important tools for today’s Geoscientist.

Research Interests
My research interests are in past and contemporary, cold region landscape processes and specifically, how climate variability has modified or changed these process dynamics and how our knowledge of past processes are informed through the use of paleoenvironmental proxies.  I am also interested in the formation of clastic varve (annually laminated sedimentary) records and the isolation of the different process signals (e.g., climatological, hydrological, geomorphological) from these records.  I am interested in how these high resolution sedimentary records can be used to evaluate landscape changes (e.g., permafrost degradation or destabilization) through time.  In the context of future global change, high resolution records will help us understand how surface processes in the past have responded to climate change and how they might change in the future.

Current Research
Sediment deposition processes in dynamic hydroclimate environments, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska

Hydroclimatic behaviour on the Kenai Peninsula in south-central Alaska is complex and dynamic.  Spring snow melt and summer glacial melt runoff are the dominate sources of discharge and delivery of sediment to the large lakes on the Kenai Peninsula.  In late summer and early autumn, large low-pressure systems building in the Gulf of Alaska produce significant rain-storms that further generate more runoff and sediment delivery to regional lakes.  This complex seasonal pattern of runoff and sediment delivery can generate complex laminated sedimentary sequences in downstream lakes, that may be used as proxies of past hydroclimate variability.  Previous work on the Kenai Peninsula at Skilak Lake, demonstrated the presence of laminated sediments (Perkins and Sims, 1983), initially interpreted as varves, the initial sedimentary record at Skilak Lake was later reinterpreted using tephrachronology and radionuclide dating (Stihler et al., 1992).  The controversy surrounding the Skilak Lake sedimentary record interpretations make this site an ideal location to base detailed process limnology and sedimentology studies to characterize the nature of the laminated sediments.

This summer’s work involved two rising Senior’s who worked in the field to gather data and observations for their Senior Research projects.

Student’s interested in learning more about my research or other research opportunities in the Geology Department should contact me.

Past Research

Sedimentation processes and environmental signals from sedimentary records in two High Arctic lakes – Cape Bounty, Melville Island, Nunavut, Canada

This is an on-going study of the hydroclimatic and geomorphic processes that control snowmelt runoff and sediment transfer from the watershed and deposition into paired lakes in the Canadian High Arctic.  It has established an important baseline from which to evaluate the mechanisms that contribute to the formation of the sedimentary record.  In addition to enabling interpretations of the long sedimentary records, this first aspect contributes to our understanding of sediment transfer dynamics in systems with short-lived runoff events (e.g., high arctic, semi-arid regions, flash floods in deforested regions).  Secondly, evaluating the long sedimentary records from paired catchments facilitates the development of two independent paleoenvironmental records and provides a key opportunity to quantify the strength of the climate signal in sedimentary record proxies through time.

Annually laminated lake sediments as proxies for hydrometeorological behaviour at White Pass, British Columbia / Alaska

The thickness of varved sediments has been used as a proxy of temperature and/or precipitation in paleoclimate reconstructions.  The objective of this project was to characterize and quantify the sub-annual hydrometeorological events that are recorded in annually laminated sediments from hydroclimatologically sensitive lakes located in White Pass, British Columbia. 

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