My research is focused on the physical processes that control the water, energy, and carbon budgets of the Earth's land surface. Vegetation, soil, and the atmosphere strongly influence surface water fluxes and storage and therefore are monitored and modeled in this research. The processes I study act across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, from the influence of plants on surface water redistribution and infiltration during rainstorms to the effects of land-atmosphere interactions on continental-scale rainfall anomalies. My research combines modeling and data analysis, with the latter combining measurements from the field, lab, and remote sensing.
GEOL 1150 - Water, Energy and Environment: An Introduction to Earth Resources
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2019 / Spring 2020 / Fall 2020
Explores how geological processes and human populations together affect the quantitfy, quality and availability of Earth resources. Includes examination of the water cycle and how humans use and modify water; fossil-fuel and mineral resources, and renewable energy options. Sustainable versus non-sustainable use and population growth is considered.
GEOL 2001 - Planet Earth
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2018 / Fall 2019 / Spring 2021 / Fall 2021 / Spring 2023
Explores the dynamics of planet Earth with particular emphasis on the factors that make the planet habitable. Includes examination of heat balance, hydrology, geomorphology, biogeochemistry and climate history through both lecture and lab-based activities. Required for the Geology major, introduces students to the major concepts in contemporary Earth system science.
GEOL 4725 - Field Based Special Topics in Geoscience
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2020 / Spring 2022 / Spring 2024
Explores selected geological subjects of special interest in a field setting. May be repeated up to 8 total credit hours. Same as GEOL 5725.
GEOL 5700 - Geological Topics Seminar
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2018
Offers seminar studies in geological subjects of special current interest. Primarily for graduate students, as departmental staff and facilities permit. May be repeated up to 15 total credit hours provided that topics vary.
GEOL 6950 - Master's Thesis
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2019 / Spring 2020 / Fall 2024
May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours.
LIBB 2013 - Film and the Quest for Truth
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2023
Concerns the subjectivity and relativity of truth. Focuses on how and why we pursue (or fail to pursue) the truths about ourselves and about the people and events around us, and how and why such truths are often elusive, fragmentary, and impermanent.
