What I do

Why "Rocks, dirt, science?"

Answering "rocks, dirt, science" when asked what I work on as a teacher-scholar or scholar-teacher is simpler than explaining that I'm an Earth Systems Scientist, a Soil Scientist, a Geologist, a Geomorphologist, a Physical Geographer, an Environmental Scientist, a Critical Zone Scientist, and a(n increasingly rusty) GIS-user. While these titles can mean different things to different people, the distinctions between each have become increasingly blurred in recent decades. 

Here is what I do:

1. Soil Science

Dirt is the best kept secret in the human universe. Substitute ‘life’ for ‘fire’, and the disciplines of soil science focus on the meeting place of the four classical elements. Soils are made of Carl Sagan’s “star stuff”, and like craters that belie the physical impact of ancient meteorites, each soil is a unique product of trillions of successive physicochemical impacts between lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere. Old soils are quintessential palimpsests: they are brilliantly puzzling, wickedly complex features that reflect both past and present environmental conditions. The dirt beneath us teems with momentum, potential energy, and a ferocious, elegant, often delicate ecosystem all of its own. Soil is much more than stuff in which we grow food!! In the words of William Bryant Logan, soils are “the ecstatic skin of the Earth” and as living, misunderstood realms, they warrant our respect and curiosity inasmuch as they provide for our own continued, if undeserved, existence in the universe.

Everyone should take a soils class, or read about soils. How can you study the Earth without learning about the very stuff our planet is (sort of) named for?

My research requires careful descriptions of soil horizon and profile morphology (descriptions = observations and are STILL a vital part of science!!) , as well as extensive, quantitative analysis of soil chemistry, soil mineralogy, and soil physical properties. To connect my soils data to the bigger picture, I also consider topographic effects and, thus, soil Geomorphology.

2. Geomorphology (a subset of Physical Geography)

If you’ve ever wondered why that rock over there looks like a face, or what formed the hills or mountains on the horizon, or whether you can stand on the banks of a river in the exact same spot your ancestors once stood, then you are already familiar with the essentials of geomorphic science. Geomorphology is the study of landscapes and surface processes past, present, and future. Increasingly, geomorphologists are charged with finding out how the lands and waterways we call home and country are responding to both our growing populations and our changing climate. Agents of geomorphic change include floods, fires, landslides, volcanic eruptions, dust, and even, well, pocket gophers, the cow, and humans (especially our stupidly cruel, incessant warfare). Folks who prefer the term “Physical Geography” do much the same kind of things as those who prefer “Geomorphology”, but tend to additionally emphasize (1) broader (continental to global) scale spatial relationships and global circulation patterns, (2) the roles of global climate and tectonics in shaping landscapes, and (3) the roles of ecosystems, biomes, or humans as both indicators and driving forces of climate and surface process.

Modern geomorphology is process-focused rather than pattern-focused, but in the absence of actualistic data, process must be interpreted from pattern. Modern geomorphology is also increasingly quantitative. Geomorphologists measure or estimate sediment flux, stream velocity, pore pressures, soil erosion rates, solar insolation, isotopic ratios, and much more. The big factor, of course, is time. When you start having to deal with long periods of time (millions of years or more), it's important to take a look at the sedimentary record that predates the landforms and soil profiles discussed so far. Thus: Surficial Geology!

3. Surficial Geology

Think of this as geomorphology and soil science to the next level. To really practice soil science and geomorphology correctly, and to steal a line from one of my mentors, you’ve got to become 'one' with the strata. You've got to scrutinize and understand the microscopic to macroscopic layered deposits of boulders, cobbles, pebbles, sand, silt, and clay that veneer the continents as soils, sediments, and rocks (especially sedimentary rocks). You also need a truly geologic perspective on time, because local geology may reflect anywhere from 0.0001 to 4600 million years of Earth history! To correctly explain how surface processes succeed in shaping a landscape, one must also be well versed in mineralogy, sedimentology, and (morpho)stratigraphy. This work can pay off with some incredibly vivid insights to brief moments in Earth history: a howling storm, a flash flood, a volcanic ash fall...or even just another calm, quiet winter evening with waves gently lapping on a rocky Pleistocene lake shore. Every time you see waves crashing at the beach, see sand blowing in the wind, rain falling on bare ground, or fire crackling through a log, you are observing one of the timeless, physical processes that have shaped Earth's surface since the dawn of our planet.

Surficial geologists, like many geomorphologists and soil scientists, are seriously into mapping, which is an interpretive skill acquired through experience. So, if you like to hike, and want to get paid to stride purposefully but attentively through incredible modern landscapes for days on end while using rocks and dirt to see flashes of the ancient past and while solving one sedimentological mystery after another, there may be a Geology degree in your future. Study up!! Surficial geology has ramifications for ecology, human health, hazard mitigation, and engineering, so it's well worth a few years of late night studying. Also - photographers, remote sensing is just image analysis, and a range of tools now can convert photographs into 3D models.

P.S. it's also extremely helpful to know how to use ArcGIS (or similar mapping programs) and graphics software (Adobe Illustrator, AutoCAD, etc.) to develop useful scientific illustrations, animations, or even 3D printed models for any of these disciplines. GIS and graphics are a big part of what I do, too. More and more employers are seeking candidates with GIS skills, and a GIS class, or, better, an assistantship/tutorship/internship is one way to help support your time in graduate school. 

Put subjects 1 through 3 together with a specific problem or application in mind, and you may get:

4. Environmental Science

Honestly, this isn't one specialized field of study. It's not even a true discipline. Rather, in the same way that physics and chemistry seek to explain how the universe works, Environmental Science seeks to explain how our planet works, how its systems respond to human activities, and how we respond to Earth system changes in return. To me, and once again stealing from a mentor, Environmental Science is the specific, objective application of the scientific method to the world (in part or as a whole) and the ecosystems around us. It incorporates almost every sub-discipline of science and medicine you can think of! Performing environmental analyses, and doing so in an exhaustive, unwaveringly deliberate and thorough fashion, is, in my opinion, requisite for human survival and societal sustainability. Because of its interdisciplinary nature, it is also an ideal way to answer scientific questions, and it opens many avenues for collaboration with other scientists and students! Earth needs environmental scientists!!

Our planet and its biomass have had 4.6 billion years (ok, the biomass a bit less than that) to develop a seriously complicated working relationship. All those lessons you (hopefully) sat through in grade school about the "web" of life, and the food chain, etc.,  weren't exaggerating! Everything is vitally connected, albeit frequently in subtly convoluted but critical ways. Moreover, like any organism, we are what we eat, drink, breathe, and are exposed to in our daily activities. In fact, we are also what our parents ate, drunk, breathed, and were exposed to in their daily lives. Our tissue chemistry tells the story of our personal diet and habitat history on a molecular level and on an isotopic level, in the very same way that broken ecological links indicate disturbance and systems change at a trophic or landscape scale. How cool is that?!

Environmental research that employs a careful, patient, scientific, Earth Systems approach can help establish effective species conservation methods, identify soil, water, or forestry resources at risk of decline, and identify potential industrial hazards before people are harmed or killed. I teach Environmental Analysis because it is one of the simplest yet perhaps most important ways to use science to directly benefit society and the living Earth in both the present day and in the near future. After that, I also believe that clean air, clean water, healthy food, and pristine wilderness should not be sacrificed to provide us with cash, internet access, air conditioning, shopping bags, and a quick ride downtown, but that's a complicated topic for a different venue.

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