Welcome to RPM

my Personal Website

About me

I am an Earth Scientist with 15+ years of experience in geology & geophysics, rock magnetism, fieldwork, and data analytics, transitioning into data science to apply my skills to industry challenges, leveraging Python for data processing and visualization. I set myself apart by developing creative, data-driven solutions, pioneering new techniques for magnetic data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation, with approximately 40 peer-reviewed articles published. Beyond research, I am deeply engaged in science communication as a quarterly science newsletter editor (authoring over 30 articles) and website editor & manager, making complex findings accessible to broad audiences. My goal is to integrate technical expertise, innovative problem-solving, and communication skills to drive data-driven science. 

Research Interests

My research spans Rock- and Paleomagnetism, with a primary focus on paleomagnetic data fidelity and the development of techniques to enhance the reliability of paleomagnetic interpretations. My dominant research areas include:

• Magnetic Anisotropy, Paleomagnetism and Data Fidelity: Developing methods to correct paleomagnetic directions and refine paleogeographic reconstructions, particularly for the early assembly of Pangea, as well as applying shape analysis to anisotropic distributions of remagnetized rocks.

• Detrital Remanent Magnetization and Biases: Investigating the acquisition mechanisms of DRM and addressing biases like inclination shallowing. My work includes anisotropy-based corrections of Relative Paleointensity estimates.

• Environmental Magnetism: Exploring the magnetic enhancement of soils, the climatic encoding of sedimentary sequences, and sedimentary transport directions and depositional environments.

• Volcanology: Characterizing volcanic eruptive styles through the low-temperature magnetic properties of nanoparticles.

Research Highlights

My research has introduced novel techniques that are widely used in the magnetic community, including:

• Hematite Anisotropy: Developed the first successful anisotropy measurement technique for hematite-bearing rocks (Bilardello & Kodama, 2009) and isolated different hematite anisotropy contributions (Bilardello, 2015).

• Inclination Shallowing Corrections:

  • First to compile and use shallowing-factor distributions to correct sedimentary rock inclination shallowing (Bilardello & Kodama, 2008; Bilardello & Kodama, 2009).

  • Evaluated elliptical uncertainty around inclination-corrected paleomagnetic directions (Bilardello et al., 2011).

  • Examined the effects of these corrections on Pangea’s paleogeography (Bilardello & Kodama, 2010b; Bilardello & Kodama, 2010c).

• Relative Paleointensity (RPI): Investigated the impact of inclination shallowing corrections on RPI estimates (Molinek & Bilardello, 2018).

• Remagnetization Techniques: Proposed an intersection of great-circles method to identify common (re)magnetization events (Bilardello et al., 2018).

• Environmental Proxies: Introduced an efficient MPMS HIRM-based Goethite Test to separate mineral contributions to bulk magnetization at different temperatures (Bilardello, 2019).

Technical Expertise

• I leverage Python (Pandas, NumPy, SciPy, Scikit-learn) for data cleaning, analysis, and visualization, developing custom scripts for tasks such as coercivity unmixing and nanoparticle grain-size estimation.

• My instrumental expertise includes SQUID and VSM magnetometers and susceptometers at variable temperatures, magnetic imaging tools, and the handling of cryogens.

• I routinely develop measurement techniques and magnetic proxies that are widely adopted and utilized by the magnetic research community.

Field Skills

I am an experienced geological mapper with expertise in:

• Recording structural measurements, including S-C planes, lineations, and slickenside orientations.

• Paleomagnetic oriented-core drilling and performing sample coordinate system transformations.

• Field measurement techniques using tools such as Jacob’s staff and total station.

Communication Skills

I communicate science to diverse audiences through:

• Writing accessible publications, including newsletters, peer-reviewed articles, and technical reports.

• Designing and maintaining engaging websites to share scientific knowledge widely.

• Mentoring students and early-career scientists, fostering their development and supporting organizational goals.

• Leading initiatives to promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity (DEI) within institutions and professional organizations.

Selected Project Highlights

Science Communication & Outreach

• Editor and author, Rock-Paleo-Magnetism Newsletter: I continue to independently author and disseminate accessible and didactic newsletter articles on magnetic data interpretation and techniques. 

• Rock-Paleo-Magnetism code repository: writing and providing open and reproducible Python code for the analysis and visualization of magnetic data used in rock magnetism and paleomagnetism.

• Editor, IRM Newsletter: Authored over 30 accessible and didactic newsletter articles on magnetic data interpretation, techniques, and laboratory activities. These articles are widely read globally and frequently cited in peer-reviewed international journals. Issues are archived within the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy.

• Website Redesign and Development: Led the complete overhaul of the laboratory’s website, transitioning it from an outdated Dreamweaver (HTML) framework to a modern, fully redesigned platform in Drupal, significantly enhancing usability, accessibility, and engagement.

• Conference Organization: Led multiple international workshops, fostering collaboration among diverse scientific communities.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

• Former Roles: Member of the University of Minnesota’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Equity and Diversity Committees; Member of the University of Minnesota’s College of Science and Engineering DEI Alliance Lead Team.

• External Role: Advisory Board Member for New Mexico Highlands University Partnership for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) program.

• Training: Earned Equity and Diversity Certificate through the Office for Equity and Diversity at the University of Minnesota.