Supported by the department's outstanding in house facilities, faculty research interests includes:

Environmental Geology (Verosub, Zierenberg)

• Acid Mine Drainage
• Biological and Geological Sulfur Cycles
• Environmental Magnetism

Fluvial Geomorphology (Mount)

• Riverine Responses to Land Use Practices
• Analysis of Sediment Transport
• Floods

Ocean Chemistry: Archean to Modern (Hill, Montañez, Spero, Sumner, Zierenberg)

• Environmental Control of Stable Isotope Variation in Foraminifera and Other Fossil Invertebrate Groups
  • Effects of seawater [CO₃=], symbiosis and respiration on shell stable isotope and trace metal composition.
  • Applications of fossil biogenic carbonate geochemistry to paleoenvironmental reconstructions.
• Carbonate Precipitation Processes in Ancient Oceans
  • Effects of Trace Elements on Calcite Precipitation
  • Role of Microbial Communities in Carbonate Precipitation
• Hydrothermal Systems
  • Sediment-covered Seafloor Ridges
  • Ancient Analogs Including Hydrothermal Ore Deposits

Paleoclimatology (Hill, Montañez, Spero, Verosub)

• Quaternary paleoclimate records from the magnetic properties of sediments and soils
• Paleoenvironmental reconstructions from fossil foraminifera
• Permian paleosols as proxies for climate change

Paleomagnetic Studies (Verosub)

• Correlation of sedimentary sequences using paleointensity
• Post-depositional alteration of sediments
• Applications of paleomagnetism to geological problems

Stratigraphy (Montañez, Mount, Sumner)

• Stratigraphy and sedimentology of the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian Transition
• Cambrian Carbonate and Mixed Siliciclastic-Carbonate Sequences
• Distribution and Depositional Environments of Marine Calcite and Aragonite Precipitation
• Late Devonian Chemical and Biological Changes in Reef Environments

Tessa M. Hill (Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, 2004) - Research areas include marine micropaleontology, geological oceanography, and paleoceanography utilizing geochemistry of marine sediment and coral records.

Isabel P. Montañez (Ph.D., Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 1990) - Stratigraphy, petrography, stable and radiogenic isotope and trace element geochemistry, and global biogeochemical cycling.

Jeffrey F. Mount (Ph.D., UC Santa Cruz, 1980) - Stratigraphy, sedimentology, sedimentary petrology, paleoecology, basin analysis and fluvial geomorphology.

David A. Osleger (Ph.D., Virginia Tech) - Stratigraphy and sedimentology applied to paleoenvironments, paleoceanography and paleolimnology.

Howard J. Spero (Ph.D., UC Santa Barbara, 1986) - Stable isotope and trace metal geochemistry, paleoclimatology, marine micropaleontology, and paleoceanography.

Dawn Y. Sumner (Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1995) - Stratigraphy, geochemical cycles, stable isotope and trace metal geochemistry, and carbonate petrography.

Kenneth L. Verosub (Ph.D., Stanford, 1973) - Environmental magnetism, quaternary paleoclimate records, correlation of sedimentary sequences using paleointensity, post-depositional alteration of sediments, applications of paleomagnetism to geological problems, and science education.

Robert A. Zierenberg (Ph.D., Wisconsin, 1983) - Aqueous geochemistry, stable isotope geochemistry, and economic geology.

Irina Delusina (Ph.D., Tallinn Institute of Geology, Estonia, 1989) - High-resolution records of climate change from ocean and lake environments as determined by palynological analyses
Joan Florsheim (Ph.D. UC Santa Barbara): Associate Research Scientist - Fluvial geomorphology and earth surface processes.
Graham Fogg (Ph.D., University of Texas, Austin, 1986) Professor LAWR/Geology. Mass transport in groundwater; geologic/geostatistical characterization of aquifer heterogeneity for improved prediction of mass transport; basin hydrogeology.
Ann Russell (Ph.D., University of Washington): Associate Research Scientist - Paleoceanography and chemical oceanography.
Roy Shlemon (Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley): Research Associate - Applications of Quaternary geology, geomorphology and soil stratigraphy to engineering practice. Fault-activity assessments; natural and anthropic influences on slope stability; paleochannels and contaminant pathways.