GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES- Sedimentology

GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES- Sedimentology/Stratigraphy (2nd priority-for
hiring in AY 2016-17)
A. Unit overview and prologue
The Department of Geological Sciences concentrates on interdisciplinary
research and teaching in the earth sciences. We are the principal department at
the University of Colorado dedicated to the study of the solid Earth, its interaction
with the hydrosphere, biosphere and atmosphere, and its evolution through time.
We offer an undergraduate major program in geology with individual tracks in
geology and geophysics. In the past ten years the number of geology
undergraduate majors have increased ~ three fold, to a present total of ~ 260.
Research expertise in the department covers geomorphology, geochemistry,
biogeochemistry, planetary geology, geophysics, geodynamics, paleobiology,
paleoclimate, and energy resources. Twenty-nine tenure-track faculty members
are currently (April 2015) affiliated with Geological Sciences, along with a 75%
time senior instructor and a 50% time instructor. Of the tenure track faculty,
seventeen are full professors, nine are associate professors, and three are
assistant professors. Sixteen of these faculty members hold joint appointments
with allied campus units (CIRES, INSTAAR, LASP, CU Museum), highlighting the
interdisciplinary nature of our department. In terms of faculty FTE, sixteen are
from A&S, twelve from the Graduate School, and one is an Endowed Chair
position funded by private donations. Two additional faculty hires were
completed in the last year, including a full professor in remote sensing hired
through CIRES (arriving Fall 2016) and an assistant professor in geobiology
(arriving Fall 2017). Funding for our research program comes from diverse
public and private sector sources. From 2007-2012, annual grant expenditures
by Geological Science faculty ranged between ~$5M and ~$10M. Our funding is
obtained principally from federal agencies (NSF, NASA) with subordinate
amounts from industry and private foundation sources. Awards have recently
included a $7M multiyear NASA Astrobiology Institute award, and three NSF or
NASA Career Awards, a Packard Fellowship and a DOE Early Career Research
Grant.
We are already a top-20 geological sciences academic department in the
U.S., according to our “S-ranking” in the U.S. National Research Council’s 2010
“A Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs in the United
States”. The University of Colorado Boulder as a whole, with Geological
Sciences as a key player, was also recently ranked as the #2 Global University in
Earth Sciences by US News and World Report. But we are dedicated to further
improving our department by fostering novel, interdisciplinary research in the
earth sciences. For this purpose, we are currently spearheading a new campuswide initiative in geobiology, a discipline that involves the study of the complex
interrelationships between life and the surface and near-surface Earth
environment. Over the next few years we will be implementing a new initiative in
“geoenergy”, as briefly described in our 3-year hiring plan.
B. Academic and intellectual rationale for the position.
A new hire in the broad field of Sedimentology/Stratigraphy is the
Department’s top priority after completing the current geobiology initiative.
Sediments and sedimentary rocks are the products of Earth surface processes
(weathering, erosion, transport, and deposition). Understanding how they form
(sedimentology) and how they accumulate through time and space (stratigraphy)
constitutes one of the core disciplines of the geosciences. Sedimentary rocks
are important because they contain the information needed to reconstruct the
Earth’s past surface conditions, including interpretation of ancient climate,
oceans, and sea-level changes; tectonic processes; and the evolution of life and
ecosystems.
These deep-time geologic records provide broad perspectives on possible states,
stability, feedbacks, change, and variability in Earth systems through time frames
of 103 to 109 years.
Sediments and sedimentary rocks also house all of the Earth’s
hydrocarbon resources, many of its geothermal resource, and most of its
groundwater. Understanding the origins of lateral variability in the nature of
sedimentary rocks, and how key attributes of those rocks, like porosity and
permeability, are structured in time and space, are critical to the sustainable and
responsible exploitation of these Earth resources. The importance of
sedimentology/stratigraphy is illustrated by the fact that over 70% of the current
faculty in Geologic Sciences (only two of which are sedimentologists) routinely
work with, or use information derived from, sediments and sedimentary rocks.
The Department has not hired in newer branches of this field for decades and a
new hire would add new perspectives with skill sets in new frontiers within this
field.
Sedimentology/stratigraphy is the Department’s highest priority in our new
geoenergy initiative. Sedimentary rocks form petroleum systems - the source
rock, reservoir rock, and hydrodynamic seals that bound hydrocarbon
accumulations. Exciting new research areas relevant to petroleum geology focus
on the origin, heterogeneity, and architecture of the sedimentary components of
petroleum systems. Fine-grained sediments and the sedimentology of organic
matter, which have long been ignored, are now particularly current research
frontiers given the current global focus on unconventional resources like shale
gas. How intrinsic drivers of sedimentation force self-organizing process and the
development of predictable stratigraphic packaging is a question ripe for
exploration through physical and numerical modeling not possible just five years
ago. How to link sedimentologic heterogeneity across 106 orders of spatial
variability remains an unresolved problem.
A hire in sedimentology/stratigraphy also has the potential to provide
synergism to many other aspects of the Department’s research programs. These
include organic geochemistry, (e.g., ancient and modern carbon cycling),
geobiology, and paleoclimate (e.g., deep-time records of Earth’s past climate
states and rates of paleoclimate change). As sedimentation is intimately linked
2 to erosion and transport (landscape evolution), a new hire in sedimentology can
also potential bridge to the Departments’ existing programs in geomorphology.
Sedimentology/stratigraphy is also a fundamental aspect of coursework
in both undergraduate and graduate geology curriculums. For the conceptual
reasons outline above, tt is requirement or highly preferred field for employment
in many of the private sector fields that dominate employment opportunities in the
Geosciences (e.g., groundwater, petroleum, environmental geology). Our
current, single undergraduate course in sedimentology and stratigraphy is well
subscribed every year and taken by the vast majority of majors. A new
sedimentologist/stratigrapher will enhance and expand our course offerings at all
levels with a focus on new perspectives and techniques in the field. Expanding
those offering is a goal of the geoenergy initiative so as to meet student demand
for optimum career preparation.
D. Three-year hiring goals
1. Outline priorities for faculty hiring over the next three years (AY15-16 through
AY17-18), including listing areas of interest.
Hiring goals in geological sciences are centered on two initiatives
originating in our department. The first is a campus wide geobiology initiative
which began in 2012 and involves three faculty hires, two of which have been
filled. The third, the open-rank geobiologist, is our hiring priority for 2015-16.
Our second hiring initiative is in “geoenergy”, defined broadly as energy
resources associated with the solid Earth and its interfaces with hydrosphere,
biosphere and atmosphere (including renewable and non-renewable, organic and
inorganic, resources). Each of the four positions described for AY16-17 through
AY17-18 fall under latter broad umbrella (sedimentology/stratigraphy, geophysics
with preference for electromagnetics, rock physics, and hydrocarbon reservoir
geosciences), with sedimentology/stratigraphy being at top of the department
hiring priority list for these years.
2. Indicate how your unit’s hiring efforts might be allocated over a three-year
period.
2015-2016 Search for open rank geobiologist
2016-2017 Search for sedimentologist/stratigrapher, geophysicist
2017-2018 Search for rock physicist, reservoir geoscientist
3. Describe how space needs can be met.
All research and office spaces required for the five positions proposed can
be accommodated in the Benson Earth Sciences Building, due to the move of
two wet lab facilities to the new SEEC Building in Summer 2015 and to faculty
retirements and resignations that have recently occurred (Roger Bilham,
geophysics; Matt Pranter, reservoir geoscience) and have vacated faculty offices
and dry lab space.
3 4. Describe startup needs and the department’s ability to fund their share of
startup especially if there are multiple hires over 3 years.
Start-up funds the Geobiology position will be split according to formula
25% A&S: 25% Geological Sciences:50% Provost’s Office. We anticipate $1M
total startup costs and Geological Sciences share of $250K is already in place.
The start up funds required for the other four positions are more difficult to
estimate. The reservoir geosciences and electromagnetism may have modest
start up needs ($250K total each), and sedimentology/stratigrapher might be able
to take advantage of existing organic and stable isotope instrumentation and so
reduce the cash outlay required for this position (in a sense, a “cluster” hire with
our geobiologist/organic geochemists). For the rock physics position we will look
for campus partner(s) to help with FTE and startup costs. Geological Sciences
has had informal discussions with Dr. Waleed Abdalati, CIRES Director, who
indicated that the institute also has interests in geophysics and energy and we
will work closely with CIRES to identify areas of common hiring interests,
including rock physics.
5. How are opportunity hires considered in your three-year goals?
Geological Sciences has always been receptive to opportunity hires, either
as joint hires with other campus units or as spousal accommodation hires. In the
next three years, we will certainly pursue potential opportunity hires with CIRES
in geophysics and energy related sciences. Opportunity hires that do not fit under
the geoenergy umbrella will be considered but will not be high priority.
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