Faculty Members on the Cusp

The faculty members profiled below help to illustrate the trends we see in geoscience, including multidisciplinarity, collaboration, use of sophisticated technology and large data sets, a systems approach, and applications to societally relevant issues. This collection is an outgrowth of the 2007 Workshop on Connecting Geoscience Departments to the Future of Science: New Structures for Research and Curriculum.

Alexander Barron, Biogeochemist, Carleton College 
Alex studies soil fertility in tropical forests -- an important factor in how quickly an ecosystem can respond to disturbances such as deforestation and global climate change.


Tim Bralower, Paleontologist/Biostratigrapher, The Pennsylvania State University

Tim's work concerns the impact of climate change on life history. He investigates the deep time record to determine the potential of future environmental change to alter ecosystems on a global basis.


Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Geodynamicist and Planetary Scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Lindy incorporates fluid dynamics, physics, geophysics, geology, and atmospheric science in numerical models of planetary evolution, then compares model predictions to data from remote sensing, from meteorites, and from Mars.


Nicholas Meskhidze, Atmospheric Scientist, North Carolina State University

Nicholas' research focuses on the interrelationship between pollution, the transport of terrestrial dust into the ocean, and biological blooms. This is important because oceanic productivity impacts global climate.