Associate Professor, Pacific Lutheran University, Dept. of Geosciences
Rieke Science Center, Office 141, Tacoma, WA 98447
Phone: (253)535-7744
LechleAR@plu.edu
My research utilizes and explores sediments as records of regional paleoenvironmental change. I implement tools of stable isotope geochemistry, clumped isotope thermometry, detrital provenance techniques, and stratigraphic study to investigate the climatic, tectonic, and topographic evolution of sedimentary basin systems, most commonly in the western US Cordillera.
As a teacher, I use hands-on and field-based teaching strategies to engage students both inside and outside the classroom. I strive to foster an active learning community in which students collaborate with classmates to integrate and apply their learning to develop clear and comprehensive understanding. I aim for the courses I teach to aid students along their journeys to developing as environmentally-conscious and scientifically-literate members of society.
Ph.D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 2011
Department of Geological Sciences
Dissertation title: The Cenozoic paleoelevation and paleogeographic history of the southwestern US Cordillera: a combined sedimentologic and isotopic approach
Advisor: Dr. Nathan Niemi
B.A., Denison University, Granville, OH, 2006
Major: Physics (Geophysics concentration), Cum Laude
Senior Thesis: Geophysical investigation of the Toko Syncline: Georgina Basin, central Australia
Advisor: Dr. David Greene
Associate Professor, Department of Geosciences, Pacific Lutheran University, 2020 - current
Assistant Professor, Department of Geosciences, Pacific Lutheran University, 2014 - 2019
Research Associate, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 2013 - 2014
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 2011 – 2013
Graduate Student Research Assistant, University of Michigan, 2008 – 2011
Graduate Student Instructor, University of Michigan, 2007 – 2010
Anderson Summer Scholar, Denison University, Summer 2005
M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust College Science Research Program Grant - $65,112 (2015-19)
Clumped isotope record of Palouse loess temperature change during the last glacial period
Bershaw, J and Lechler, A.R., 2019, The isotopic composition of meteoric water along altitudinal transects in the Tian Shan of Central Asia. Chemical Geology, 516, pp. 68-78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2019.03.032
Lechler, A. R., Huntington, K. W., Breecker, D. O., Sweeney, M. R., and Schauer, A. J., 2018, Loess-paleosol carbonate clumped isotope record of late Pleistocene-Holocene climate change in the Palouse region, Washington State, USA. Quaternary Research, 190, 2, pp. 331-347. https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2018.47
Ji, S., Nie, J., Lechler, A., Huntington, K.W., Heitmann, E.O. and Breecker, D.O., 2018. A symmetrical CO2 peak and asymmetrical climate change during the middle Miocene: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 499, pp.134-144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2018.07.011
Kelson, J. R., Huntington, K. W., Schauer, A. J., Saenger, C., and Lechler, A. R., 2017, Toward a universal carbonate clumped isotope calibration: Diverse synthesis and preparatory methods suggest a single temperature relationship: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, v. 197, p. 104-131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2016.10.010
Jasechko, S., Lechler, A., Pausata, F. S. R., Fawcett, P. J., Gleeson, T., Cendón, D. I., Galewsky, J., LeGrande, A. N., Risi, C., Sharp, Z. D., Welker, J. M., Werner, M., and Yoshimura, K., 2015, Late-glacial to late-Holocene shifts in global precipitation d18O: Climate of the Past, v. 11, p. 1375-1393.
Huntington, K. W., and Lechler, A. R., 2015, Carbonate clumped isotope thermometry in continental tectonics: Tectonophysics, v. 647-648, p. 1-20.
Lechler, A. R., Niemi, N. A., Hren, M. T., and Lohmann, K. C., 2013, Paleoelevation estimates for the northern and central proto-Basin and Range from carbonate clumped isotope thermometry, Tectonics, v. 32, no. 3, p. 295-316.
Lechler, A. R., and Galewsky, J., 2013, Refining paleoaltimetry reconstructions of the Sierra Nevada, California, using air parcel trajectories: Geology, v. 41, no. 2, p. 259-262.
Lechler, A. R., and Niemi, N. A., 2012, The influence of snow sublimation on the isotopic composition of spring and surface waters in the southwestern United States: Implications for stable isotope-based paleoaltimetry and hydrologic studies: GSA Bulletin, v. 124, no. 3/4, 318-334.
Lechler, A. R., and Niemi, N. A., 2011, Controls on the spatial variability of modern meteoric d18O: empirical constraints from the western US and east Asia and implications for stable isotope studies: American Journal of Science, vol. 311, no. 8, 664-700.
Lechler, A. R., and Niemi, N. A., 2011, Sedimentologic and isotopic constraints on the Paleogene paleogeography and paleotopography of the southern Sierra Nevada, California: Geology, v. 39, no. 4, 379-382.
* = undergraduate student mentee
Lechler, A. R., Couch, S.*, Schomber, O.*, Huntington, K. W., and Schauer, A. J., 2019, A Preliminary Late-Last-Glacial-Period Paleotemperature Record for Summer Lake, OR from Clumped Isotope Thermometry, Geological Society of American Cordilleran Section Regional Meeting, Portland, OR.
Lechler, A. R., Huntington, K. W., Breecker, D. O., Sweeney, M. R., and Schauer, A. J., 2018, Carbonate clumped isotope record of LGM-Holocene climate change across the Pacific Northwest US: insights from loess-paleosols and pluvial lakes, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA.
Kelson, J. R., Huntington, K. W., Schauer, A.J., Saenger, C., and Lechler, A. R., 2016, Choice of 17O abundance correction affects D47 and thus calibrations for paleothermometry, American Geophysical Union meeting, San Francisco, CA.
von Trapp, I. V.*, Lechler, A. R., Huntington, K. W., and Schauer, A. J., 2016, Clumped isotope record of pre-LGM, last glacial period paleoclimate in Palouse loess soil carbonates, Geological Society of American Cordilleran-Rocky Mountain Section Regional Meeting, Moscow, ID.
Kelson, J. R., Huntington, K. W., Schauer, A.J., Saenger, C., and Lechler, A. R., 2015, Reconciling Empirical Carbonate Clumped Isotope Calibrations: A Comparison of Calcite Precipitation and Acid Digestion Methods, American Geophysical Union meeting, San Francisco, CA.
Lechler, A. R., Huntington, K. W., Breecker, D. O., Sweeney, M. R., and Schauer, A. J., 2014, Systematic variability in clumped isotope temperatures of loess carbonates during Late Pleistocene climate change, Palouse loess, USA, 2014 GSA Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC.
Huntington, K. W., Lechler, A. R., Burgener, L., and Hoke, G. D., 2014, Impact of carbonate depositional setting and seasonality on clumped isotope records of topography and climate, 2014 GSA Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC.
Huntington, K. W., Lechler, A. R., Hoke, G. D., Burgener, L. K., Breecker, D. O., and Sweeney, M. R., 2014, Clumped isotope paleothermometry in soil carbonate, 2014 Goldschmidt Conference, Sacramento, CA.
Jasechko, S., Fawcett, P. J., Gleeson, T., Lechler, A., Sharp, Z. D., and Galewsky, J., 2013, Paleoclimate of the last glacial maximum revealed by fossil groundwaters, 2013 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, CA.
Lechler, A. R., and Galewsky, J., 2012, Improving stable isotope-based reconstructions of Sierra Nevada paleotopography using insights from regional air parcel trajectories, 2012 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, CA.
Galewsky, J., Ward, D., and Lechler, A. R., 2012, Surface measurements of upper tropospheric water vapor isotopic composition from the Chajnantor Plateau, Chile: First results from a long-term measurement program, 2012 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, CA.
Lechler, A. R., and Galewsky, J., 2012, Using air parcel trajectories to clarify the topographic evolution of the Sierra Nevada, 15th Conference on Mountain Meteorology, AMS, Steamboat Springs, CO.
Niemi, N. A., Lechler, A. R., Hren, M. T., and Lohmann, K. C., 2011, Constraints on the pre-extensional paleoelevation of the central Basin and Range from carbonate clumped-isotope paleothermometry, 2011 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, CA.
Lechler, A. R., and Niemi, N. A., 2010, Sedimentologic and isotopic constraints on the Cenozoic topographic evolution of western US Cordillera at ~36°N, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, GSA Denver Annual Meeting, 2010.
Lechler, A. R., and Niemi, N. A., 2010, Sedimentologic and isotopic constraints on Paleocene paleoelevations of the central and southern Sierra Nevada, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, vol. 42, no. 4, p. 67, 2010.
Lechler, A. R., and Niemi, N. A., 2009, Orographic versus non-orographic precipitation isotopic elevation gradients: Implications for paleoaltimetry of continental plateaus, 2009 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, CA.
Lechler, A. R., and Niemi, N. A., 2008, Statistical analysis of d18O in meteoric waters from the western US and Asia: Implications for paleoaltimetry, 2008 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, CA.
Lechler, A. R., and Greene, D. C., 2006, Fault reactivation during intracontinental deformation: The Toko Syncline and Toomba Fault, Georgina Basin, central Australia: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 38, no. 5, p. 11, 2006.
Rackham Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award (April 2011)
Horace H. Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan
Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor, University of Michigan (February 2011)
Selected by Department of Geological Sciences faculty
Scott Turner Award in Earth Science, University of Michigan Geological Sciences (2008, 2009, 2010)
Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor, University of Michigan (2010)
Selected by Department of Geological Sciences undergraduate students
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, Honorable Mention (2008)
Departmental Fellowship, University of Michigan Geological Sciences (2006 – 2007)
Class Salutatorian, Denison University (2006)
Phi Beta Kappa, Denison University (2006)
Outstanding Geosciences Student, Denison University Dept. of Geosciences (2006)
Ron Winters Graduate Award, Denison University Dept. of Physics (2006)
American Undergraduate Mineralogist Award, awarded by Mineralogical Society of America (2005)