Dr. Courtney Sprain was honored with the prestigious fellowship that is awarded annually to early-career researchers whose creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments make them stand out as the next generation of leaders.
Read more "Dr. Courtney Sprain honored with a 2025 Sloan Fellowship"
In the first study of its kind, Dr. Emma MacKie and Dr. Katy Serafin describe the effect of climate change on Antarctic ice shelves.
Read more "Antarctic ice sheet faces “death by a thousand cuts”"
Dr. Marshall and her fellow Co-Leaders explain how scientists with disabilities are making research labs and fieldwork more accessible.
Read more "How scientists with disabilities are making research labs and fieldwork more accessible"
Assistant Professor of Geology Courtney Sprain and her collaborators call for the return of several samples from Mars, demonstrating the value they could bring to research on the red planet.
Read more "What we can learn about Mars from the magnetism of returned samples"
The Department of Geological Sciences would like to congratulate our Fall 2024 PhD Graduates. Dr. Katie Bristol and Dr. Prakhin Assavapanuvat.
Congrats to Dr. MacKie, Michael Field, Niya Shao, and our undergrad Nathan Schoedl for winning the Pioneering Research with HiPerGator Award for team research using HiPerGator!!!
Read more "Dr. MacKie’s Research Team wins the Pioneering Research with HiPerGator Award"
Astrobiologist Amy Williams’ search for answers is terrestrially based. Through her work on two Mars rovers – NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance, Williams is part of a team that combs the rocks of the red planet, looking for evidence of water and carbon, two key chemical ingredients for sustaining life.
Dr. Emma “Mickey” MacKie has fostered undergraduate research experiences with AI including: developing a unique “AI-CURE” (or AI Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience), advising the Women in High Performance Computing Club, and mentoring students in her geoscience lab to leverage neural networks as they map topography under glaciers.
In her course Data and Machine Learning Methods in the Geosciences Dr. Emma “Mickey” MacKie empowers future scientists.
Paloma Olarte was selected as a recipient of the 2024 GSA Gretchen L. Blechschmidt Award and the Donald R. Coates Award.
Read more "Paloma Olarte Caceres was selected for two GSA Awards"
Dr. Bianchi was named Distinguished Professor which is among the most prestigious honors awarded by the University of Florida each year to faculty for career achievements in teaching, research, and publication.
Read more "Dr. Bianchi receives CLAS Distinguished Professor award"
This award will assist the awardees in presenting their water-related research at an international or national conference.
Mickie MacKie has been instrumental in enhancing UF’s AI education by designing two AI courses: Data Science and Machine Learning Methods in the Geosciences, and Quest 2:AI in a Changing Climate.
Mud can be surprisingly clear. A global team of scientists has uncovered a hidden truth: Human actions are shaping the journey of mud. Over the course of decades, our activities have wielded significant influence over the movement and dispersion of mud, affecting carbon storage and cycling worldwide.
Two professors in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Florida have been named Distinguished Teaching Scholars by the Academy of Distinguished Teaching Scholars, an advisory board that aims to elevate teaching excellence and celebrate faculty who go above and beyond for their students.
Read more "Dr. Jonathan Martin inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Teaching Scholars"
He will be teaching and conducting research at the University of Rajasthan (Jaipur, India) and Banaras Hindu University (Varanasi, India).
Read more "Dr. Joseph Meert awarded Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship to India"
Lying in the bed of her parents’ pickup truck in 1990s South Carolina, marveling at meteor showers across the night sky, a grade-school Amy Williams would often wonder: “Is there another variety of little girl out there, looking back and wondering if she’s also alone in the universe?”
Read more "Astrobiologist Amy Williams shows young women in STEM that the sky is the limit"
Luis Torres, a second-year doctoral student in the University of Florida’s department of geological sciences, has won first place in this year’s Three Minute Thesis Competition. Torres is advised by Michal Kowalewski, the Thompson chair of invertebrate paleontology at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
Read more "Luis Torres wins first place in the UF Three-Minute Thesis Competition"
How biochar sets a course for the future by capturing carbon and helping our soils.
In a recent announcement, paleoceanographer ELLEN E. MARTIN has been elected as an American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fellow, joining 53 other individuals in the 2023 Class of Fellows.
A new study featuring data from the NASA Mars Perseverance rover reports on an instrumental detection potentially consistent with organic molecules on the Martian surface, hinting toward past habitability of the Red Planet.
Read more "Study Reveals Evidence of Diverse Organic Material on Mars"
Much has changed since the Department of Geological Sciences was founded in 1948, shortly after the University of Florida became coeducational. It’s been a winding road, not without its ups and downs as the department worked to cement its identity over time. Now, as the department celebrates 75 years of academic excellence, the anniversary offers an opportunity to honor the past while embracing all that lies ahead in the future.
Read more "One for the Ages: 75 Years of UF Geological Sciences"
Stephanie Killingsworth has been named a recipient of the Winifred Goldring Award by the Association for Women Geoscientists.
Read more "Stephanie Killingsworth wins MSc Winifred Goldring Award"
Coastal ecosystems globally lock away more carbon dioxide than they release, but emissions of two other greenhouse gases – methane and nitrous oxide – counteract that to a degree, according to international researchers led by Australia’s Southern Cross University that include a University of Florida biogeochemist.
The University of Florida Research Foundation has named 34 of the university’s most productive and promising faculty members as UFRF Professors for 2023.
Photo caption: Bianca Evans-Donaldson (Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and Anita Marshall along with her family at the Evening of Excellence for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Anita Marshall received the first-ever Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Faculty Award during an Evening of Excellence for the College of Liberal […]
Frank Blanchard recently passed away at age 91, having lived a rich and significant life.
In 2020, amid the first pandemic lockdowns, a scientific conference scheduled to take place in India never happened. But a group of geologists who were already on site decided to make the most of their time and visited the Bhimbetka Rock Shelters, a series of caves with ancient cave art near Bhopal, India. There, they spotted the fossil of Dickinsonia¸ a flat, elongated and primitive animal from before complex animals evolved.
Read more "Mistaken fossil rewrites history of Indian subcontinent for second time"
AMY WILLIAMS of the Department of Geological Sciences has received a Spring 2022 UF Excellence Award for Assistant Professors, supporting her research expenses in the coming year.
Read more "Amy Williams Receives Excellence Award for Assistant Professors"
Last summer, University of Florida geologist ANITA MARSHALL traveled to Northern Arizona to scout locations for a field course she would be leading in 2022.
Read more "Fieldwork is Crucial to Geology. A New Course Ensures All Can Take Part"
Studying glaciers . . . from Florida Mickey MacKie, assistant professor of geological sciences and a glaciologist. Photo provided. Welcome to From Florida, a podcast where you’ll learn how minds are connecting, great ideas are colliding and groundbreaking innovations become a reality because of the University of Florida. Mickey MacKie, an assistant professor of geological […]
Billions of years ago, a Martian river flowed with such force that it tumbled boulders in its path, strewing them out into its massive delta. University of Florida astrobiologist Amy Williams looked up from the bed of that ancient river to its rocky remnants, courtesy of the Mars Perseverance rover, which sends on-the-ground views of the red planet back to Williams and the rest of the NASA team.
Read more "Mars rover images help UF scientist, NASA team narrow the search for ancient life"
Earth’s critical zone, the outer skin of the earth between treetops and the base of groundwater has been described as where life meets rocks. Its impacts on human well-being have made it the focus of intense research through numerous place-based “Critical Zone Observatories” and more recently theme-based “Critical Zone Networks”. However, these research efforts have […]
Read more "A New Focus on the Neglected Carbonate Critical Zone"
University of Florida professor Juliane Dannberg, PhD, has received the Jason Morgan Early Career Award for 2021 from the American Geophysical Union (AGU) for her compelling research and advancement of her field. The award recognized Dannberg’s contributions to tectonophysics, a branch of geophysics that focuses on deformations of the Earth’s structure such as mantle convection […]
Read more "Prof. Juliane Dannberg Receives Jason Morgan Early Career Award"
Going way back By: Alyssa Findlay Nature Climate Change The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the Earth, changing the landscape. In particular, rising temperatures accelerate permafrost thaw, with implications for the vast stores of carbon currently frozen in these soils. The fate of carbon released from thawing permafrost is not […]
Astrobiologist Amy Williams’ mind is on Mars. Williams, a University of Florida geology professor, recently joined her second Mars mission: After serving on the Curiosity rover team since 2009, she’s now a participating scientist on the Perseverance rover, which touches down on the red planet on Feb. 18. “Serving on any NASA mission is the […]
Read more "“Would you like to work on Mars? I can help you with that.”"
As global temperatures rise, scientists are still discovering the impact that changes in climate will have on the world around us. These questions are particularly urgent in the Arctic, which is warming about three times faster than the rest of the planet. To help predict the consequences of warming, a multidisciplinary team of researchers […]
Read more "What Greenland’s Streams Tell Us About Climate Change"
Professor Amy Williams Discusses Next Mars Rover Mission in NASA Video Professor Amy Williams from the Department of Geological Sciences was interviewed by NASA Astrobiology for its “Countdown to Mars” video series. Throughout this month the series has been counting down the days until the launch of the Mars 2020 rover, Perseverance, by highlighting why researchers involved […]
Unusual movements beneath the Earth’s surface in Chile raise questions about a future earthquake By Cindy Spence In 1960, the largest earthquake ever recorded hit southern Chile. The 9.5 magnitude quake sent a tsunami across the Pacific Ocean, swamping Hawaii, coastal northern California, and Japan. More than 1,700 people died and about 2 million were […]
Geology Student Broadens Horizons Aboard Research Vessel By Peyton McElaney In the summer of 2019, CLAUDIA BANKS was in the American Southwest, mapping formations of sedimentary and metamorphic rock for her capstone geology class. A few weeks later, the 2020 geology graduate found herself in a slightly different position — on-board a research vessel in […]
Read more "Geology Student Broadens Horizons Aboard Research Vessel"
Taking the laws of physics and reversing them to understand what happened in the Earth’s interior 55 million years ago. UF Geologist ALESSANDRO FORTE’s along with fellow researchers collaborate to reconstructed the phenomena occurring under the North Atlantic Ocean 55 million years ago, during a period known as the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), that may have led to […]
Ellen and Jon Martin led three NSF-funded field deployments to Greenland over the past two summers, for a total of 20 weeks in the field. The project introduced 2 UF Postdocs, 2 PhD students and 3 undergraduates to high latitude field work in remote locations, and has employed additional undergraduates to help analyze samples back […]
Thomas Bianchi and Elise Morrison’s article in AUG’s EOS addresses the need to establish aquatic critical zones (ACZ’s) and understand how human manipulation of the surface through canals, dammed reservoirs, irrigation ditches, and pollution effects species diversity, microbial communities, and nutrient levels in aquatic zones across the planet. Through this research, they hope to get a full […]
Read more "Human Activities Create Corridors of Change in Aquatic Zones"
A study by Dr. Joseph Meert — Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences — and his colleagues suggests an unstable magnetic field may provide an explanation for major evolutionary changes at the end of the Ediacaran Period (542Ma). Read more about their study in a recent article featured in Science Magazine, “Hyperactive magnetic field […]
Read more "Can Rapid Magnetic Reversals Cause a Mass Extinction?"
Carolyn Luysterburg was presented with the 2018 Horizon Award at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Evening of Excellence in April. Carolyn graduated with a BS in Geology in 2011 and Masters in Geology in 2012. She is a rising star as an exploration geoscientist at Shell. She is also a fierce advocate for […]
Read more "Alumni Carolyn Luysterburg awarded 2018 Horizon Award Winner"
Congratulations to Mindy Foster, Tom Cheney, Kellie Davidson, John Leapley, Steve Blaschka, and Brian Haney, P.E., UF 2009. the winners of the 2018 Fishing Tournament! UF Geology students, faculty, board members, and alumni had a great time at the Gator Geology 3rd Annual Fishing Tournament at Cedar Key on April 28th, 2018. Everyone enjoyed a beautiful […]
The UF Geological Sciences Department enjoys long-standing, close ties with several universities in Colombia, where a number of our former PhD students are on the faculty. Several members of our department have conducted field research in Colombia, served on graduate committees at Colombian institutions, and have ongoing in-country projects. During the first week of December, […]
Paul Mueller honored with a special session at the Geological Society of America Meeting in Seattle. A special session in celebrating of the career contributions of Professor Paul Mueller was a feature of the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Seattle in October. The session included talks and posters centered on the topic of […]
Read more "Paul Mueller honored at Geological Society of America Meeting"
Rolling Stone published a list of “25 People Shaping the Future in Tech, Science, Medicine, Activism and More.” Jeff Goddell, the Rolling Stone writer and author of “The Water Will Come” chose to write about Andrea Dutton because of her work on sea level rise. Check out the article here: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/pictures/25-people-shaping-future-in-tech-science-medicine-activism-w511978/andrea-dutton-the-forensics-of-global-warming-w512005 For more information on Dr. […]
Read more "25 People Shaping the Future in Tech, Science, Medicine, Activism and More"
David Foster and Ben Goscombe (courtesy faculty member) recently published two large “focus” papers on the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian Damara Orogen in Namibia. A comprehensive analysis of the structures at the intersection of two major continental-continent collisional, suture zone was published in Geoscience Frontiers (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987117300968). A review of the metamorphic architecture of the Damara Belt was published […]
Read more "Neoproterozoic-Cambrian Damara Orogen in Namibia"
Delta of a distributary on the Mississippi River created by coastal engineering efforts may have the potential to build long-term sinks of greenhouse gases.Many deltas are threatened by greater subsidence (subterranean sinking and caving) and relative sea-level rise compared to coastlines without deltas. Thus engineering efforts to expand carbon-sequestering habitats must accommodate total carbon sequestration […]
Read more "Engineered river diversions sequester carbon in deltas"
University of Florida scientists discover the cause of Atlantic coastline’s sea level rise hot spots is driven by the combined effects o naturally occurring ocean-atmosphere processes, El Niño (ENSO) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). These findings challenge previous arguments that a hot spot north of Cape Hatteras over the past few decades was due […]
It was a busy first week for students attending the UF in Merida (Yucatan, Mexico) Program. After arriving in Merida on the evening of June 17, students met on Monday (June 19) at the Centro Institucional de Lenguas, where they study Spanish. On Wednesday, they headed for the town of Izamal, where they visited a […]
UF Geological Sciences PhD student Stephanie James has been advancing new methods to use seismic noise to monitor seasonal changes in depth to ice in Alaskan sediments. With co-authors from Sandia National Laboratory and UF, she recently published a paper “Improved moving window cross-spectral analysis for resolving large temporal seismic velocity changes in permafrost” in […]
A study aimed at developing a holistic understanding of weathering across forelands of retreating ice sheets. Following the last glacial maximum about 20,000 yrs ago, ice sheets retreated from much of North America and Eurasia, leaving the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) as the largest ice sheet in the northern hemisphere. Chemical weathering of finely […]
Read more "GrAINFluxes – Greenland Atmospheric Isotopic and Nutrient Fluxes"
“Deltas and Humans: A Long Relationship now Threatened by Global Change” by Professor Thomas S. Bianchi, holder of the Jon and Beverly Thompson Endowed Chair of Geological Sciences at the University of Florida, will be published in October by Oxford University Press. In this book, Bianchi discusses how the interaction of humans with the water […]
Recent research at the Lignumvitae Key in South Florida conducted by the Department of Geological Sciences’ Paleoclimate research group was featured in a New York Times article entitled, “Flooding of the Coast, Caused by Global Warming, Has Already Begun.” This research is part of an international effort, led by Dr. Andrea Dutton, Assistant Professor in the Department […]
Read more "Sea-level Rise: Reality Strikes in East Coast Communities"
Original article published on July 7, 2016 on UF News site Deliberately flooding riverbeds left parched by dams has great potential to restore wetlands, but may also have a significant unintended consequence: the release of greenhouse gases. Despite the findings, the pros of returning rivers to their natural courses and flows generally outweigh the cons, but […]
Dr. Andrea Dutton — Assistant Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences — and colleagues at the University of Michigan have utilized a new technique of analysis to reconstruct Antarctic ocean temperatures that support the idea that the combined impacts of volcanic eruptions and an asteroid impact brought about one of Earth’s biggest mass extinctions 66 million […]
A recent WEDU PBS video about Biochar featured research by Dr. Andrew Zimmerman, Associate Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences. Dr. Zimmerman’s research assess the stability of biochar formed from different biomass material and their potential as a mechanism for carbon sequestration. Watch the video: Biochar WEDU PBS
A recent article by Ray Russo and Elizabeth Screaton – faculty in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Florida — addresses the science behind the debate regarding whether fracking for oil and gas should or should not be allowed in Florida. The article was published online on May 5, 2016 on “The Conversation.” “Should Florida ‘frack’ […]
A study by Dr. Joseph Meert — Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences — and his colleagues suggests an unstable magnetic field may provide an explanation for major evolutionary changes at the end of the Ediacaran Period (542Ma). Read more about their study in a recent article featured in Science Magazine, “Hyperactive magnetic field […]
Read more "Can Rapid Magnetic Reversals Cause a Mass Extinction?"
By Richard Whitely WUFT.org February 17, 2016 The University of Florida Department of Geological Sciences wants to show young students that geology rocks. It’s doing that through a local outreach program which, among other things, gives elementary school students a chance to meet scientists and to participate in interactive lessons about rocks, minerals and fossils. […]
Read more "UF Geology Program Serves Alachua County Elementary Students"
“Discovering the Deep: A Photographic Atlas of the Seafloor and Ocean Crust,” co-authored by University of Florida Geological Sciences Professor Michael R. Perfit, was recently honored with the 2016 PROSE Award for Earth Science from the Association of American Publishers, Inc. Presented on February 4, 2016 in Washington, DC, the PROSE Awards recognize the best […]
As the debate on the impact of climate change continues, a recent study of the St. Elias Mountains on the Alaska coast provided new insights into the interconnectivity of global atmospheric changes and tectonics. Dr. John Jaeger, Associate Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences, was a co-chief scientist for an international team of scientists on […]
Read more "Climate change can erode mountains faster than they can rebuild"
A recent study conducted as part of the Department of Geological Sciences undergraduate paleontology class was published in PeerJ. The article, entitled “Spider crabs of the Western Atlantic with special reference to fossil and some modern Mithracidae,” describes two new species of spider crab (Mithrax arawakum sp. nov. and Nemausa windsorae sp. nov.) discovered in […]
Read more "Bringing Paleontological Research into the Classroom"
In a recent news feature — “Sea-level Rise Hits Home at NASA” — NASA addresses the sustainability of their coastal facilities with the ever increasing threat from sea-level rise. Several storms in the last decade near Cape Canaveral, FL have already caused $100 million worth of damage to Kennedy Space Center. Research by Drs. Peter […]
Read more "NASA Assesses Impact of Present and Future Sea-level Rise"
Dr. Andrea Dutton’s cutting edge climate change research, recently published in Science Magazine, received widespread media coverage. Bill Nelson — Senior US Senator for Florida — met with Dr. Andrea Dutton at the University of Florida on Monday, August 31, 2015, to find out more about her research on past sea-level rise. Nelson and Dutton discussed the growing impact of […]
Read more "Dr. Dutton met Senator Bill Nelson to Get Real on Climate Change"
As the climate change debate remains at the forefront of the political realm, global mean temperatures continue to climb. Based on current global emissions, the global mean temperature is 4°C above preindustrial levels by the end of the century (2013 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report). Global leaders have agreed to try to […]
Read more "Is Miami Destined to Become a Modern Day Atlantis?"
Dr. Mark Panning featured on Fox 35 Orlando News at 10 In September 2016 the NASA InSight mission is scheduled to land the first geophysical instrumentation on Mars. While the Curiosity, Spirit and Exploration rovers continue to capture detailed images and geological data from the Red Planet’s surface, InSight will be the first lander to investigate its deep […]
Each year the Department recognizes students’ outstanding academic achievements and their commitment to service in the Department. On the evening of Thursday, April 23, 2015 members of the faculty, staff and students gathered at the home of Pete Adams for the award ceremony and barbecue to celebrate the end of the academic year. The award winners are […]
University of Florida climate research featured in national news outlets – NBC News and Reuters There is no question that climate change is a politically hot topic. Carbon sequestration is viewed as a temporary solution to mitigate for global warming. In order to assess the future impact of anthropogenic carbon release and potential for anthropogenic carbon […]
An article written by Dr. Ray Russo was published on The Conversation, May 1, 2015. As publicly funded research becomes increasingly threatened, making policy-makers aware of the role of cutting-edge scientific research in the future safety of society is vitally important. Dr. Ray Russo explains the key role of seismology in predicting future earthquake risk in light of […]
Read more "Seismology and Society – Preparing for the Next Big Quake"
Four-thousand-year-old teeth can tell a story of ancient Indus civilization migratory habits. New interdisciplinary research involving isotopic analysis of four-thousand-year-old tooth enamel has shed light on the migratory habits of ancient Indus civilizations. The innovative study by Dr. Benjamin Valentine (former UF PhD student) and UF researchers Dr. George Kamenov and Dr. John Krigbaum was recently featured […]
Graduate GLY5786 Topics in Field Geology: 2 Credits Undergraduate GLY4930 Geophysical Field Methods : 2 Credits Application Deadline: DEADLINE PASSED Application Form: SEG Field Class Application (PDF) An exciting new class will be offered in the geology department for Fall 2015 – Near-Surface Geophysical Field Methods (GLY5786L/GLY4930). During the course students will learn the theory behind and will gain hands-on experience with […]
The Keene Faculty Center was a hive of activity during the Department of Geological Sciences’ Trivia Bowl 2015 on Wednesday, March 25, 2015. Thirteen teams with 40 Department undergraduate and graduate students took on five rounds of Earth science questions in pursuit of the Trivia Bowl 2015 title. Question topics — including geological history, climate science, […]
