Geology
Assistant Professor, Earth & Environmental Sciences
Julia Wilcots’s research seeks to reconstruct the history of Earth’s climate in deep time using the physical and chemical records preserved in carbonate rocks. Wilcots accesses these records using a suite of geochemical, petrographic, and computational methods, including clumped isotope geochemistry and high-resolution multispectral imaging. Wilcots is particularly interested in solving problems of Precambrian climate and understanding carbonate sedimentation throughout Earth history.
- Accepting new undergraduate research students
- Accepting new graduate research students
Associate Professor, Earth & Environmental Sciences
Associate Director, Institute for Rock Magnetism
Prof. Nick Swanson-Hysell seeks to place quantitative constraints on the long-term evolution of Earth through integrating geophysical and geochemical data sets that are developed within a rigorous geologic context. A major focus of our work is on paleomagnetic and rock magnetic data sets that our research group develops to test hypotheses about the migrating positions of continents (paleogeography), changes to the surface environment (particularly planetary climate change), and the evolution of Earth’s magnetic field. Hypotheses abound in Earth science related to major transitions such as the reorganization of continental blocks into and out of supercontinents and the initiation and terminations of ice ages including global glaciation. Our research projects bring quantitative constraints to such changes, including their timing and rates, in order to test such hypotheses and further understanding of Earth’s long-term evolution.
These research efforts involve undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers. For more information about our research and group members, please visit our research group webpage. Undergraduate and graduate students interested in pursuing research with us are encouraged to reach out to Nick via email. Our research group is affiliated with the Institute for Rock Magnetism (IRM) providing rich opportunities for access to state-of-the-art instrumentation as well as interactions with IRM faculty, staff and visiting fellows.
- Accepting new undergraduate research students
Geophysicist
- Computational seismology
- Active/Passive seismology
- Near-surface geophysics
- Geophysical modeling
Precambrian Geologist
- Precambrian Geology
- Structural Geology & Tectonics
- Geochronology
Precambrian Geologist
- Precambrian geology
- Geologic mapping
- Metamorphic and igneous petrology
- Bedrock topography
- HVSR passive seismic technology
- Educational outreach
Phanerozoic Geologist
- Geological mapping
- Paleozoic sedimentology and stratigraphy
- Hydrostratigraphy
- Carbonate sedimentology
- Structural geology
Phanerozoic Geologist
- Sedimentary geology (Paleozoic & Mesozoic bedrock of Minnesota)
- Paleontology
- Hydrogeology
- 2D & 3D geologic mapping and modeling
- GIS, mapping, & 3D modeling software/methods
- Borehole geophysical logging
- Programming & website design/development
- Geoscience collections management
Quaternary Geologist
Quaternary Geologist
- Quaternary mapping
- Sediment-landform associations
- Glacier motion and depositional processes
Quaternary Geologist