Quaternary Studies: An Interdisciplinary Program

Spring Semester, 2010

16:460:524 (click here for more information)

Contents

• The Program
• Certificate Requirements
• Graduate Courses
• Faculty
• For Information

The Program

Rutgers' Graduate Certificate in Quaternary Studies is a multidisciplinary program allowing students to specialize in the study of the last few million years in earth's history--the Late Cenozoic and Quaternary geologic time periods. The program explores the interaction of the lithosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere of these years, during which fluctuations in climate triggered the development of continental-scale ice sheets, caused major changes in sea level, and initiated major migrations of animal and plant communities. These changes shaped our contemporary physical environment and stongly influenced evolution. This period saw the dawn of Homo sapiens and the simultaneous extinction of many other groups of organisms. Our knowledge of Late Cenozoic and Quaternary events helps researchers understand current environmental changes and may enable them to anticipate future changes affecting the earth and its inhabitants.

The program offers students the opportunity to conduct interdisciplinary research in the fields of anthropology, geology, geography, biology, meteorology, and environmental science. Based on a broad, multidisclipinary approach, the program provides the necessary theoretical and practical background for students pursuing careers that may require specialized knowledge of the Late Cenozoic and Quaternary periods.

Certificate Requirements

To earn the Graduate Certificate in Quaternary Studies, students must fulfill all degree requirements in the major program of study, including two courses in other participating programs that focus on the Quaternary period. In addition, the certificate requires enrollment for one semester in the Quaternary Studies Seminar. If a thesis is required for the degree, it should focus on the Late Cenozoic or Quaternary time period.

A Graduate Certificate in Quaternary Studies, signifying special achievement in this field, is awarded along with the master's or doctoral degree in the student's major discipline.

Seminars

• Tephrocorrelation and Geochronology

Graduate Courses

• ANTHROPOLOGY
  • Evolution of the Hominidae (070:558)
  • Hominid Taxonomy and Systematics (070:570)
  • Human Osteology (070:566)
  • Human Variation (070:567)
  • Old World Prehistory (070:578)
  • Primate Evolution and Radiations (070:571)
• ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
  • Environmental Chemistry (375:507)
  • Modeling of Climatic Change (375:544)
  • Physical Climatology (375:545)
  • Wetland Ecology (375:519)
• GEOGRAPHY
  • Advanced Physical Geography (450:505)
  • The Climate System and Global Climate Change (450:523)
  • Coastal Geomorphology (450:504)
• GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES
  • Depositional Environments (460:514)
  • Evolutionary Paleoecology (460:538)
  • Marine Geology (460:541)
  • Mesozoic-Cenozoic Stratigraphy (460:519)
  • Micropaleontology (460:561)
  • Paleoceanography (460:526)
  • Sedimentary Geology (460:505)
• OCEANOGRAPHY
  • Chemical Oceanography (712:540)
  • Physical Oceanography (712:501)

• QUATERNARY STUDIES
  • Fall Seminar
    • Climate and Evolution (Ashley, 1990)
    • Berengia and East Africa (Blumenshine, 1991)
    • Quaternary Dating Techniques (Nelson, 1992)
    • Climate and Evolution (Scott and Ashley, 1993)
    • Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction (Feibel, 1994)
    • Global Climate Change (Robinson and Miller, 1995)
    • Isotopes in the Paleoenvironment (Seidl, 1996)
    • Consequences of Cenozoic Cooling (Feibel, 1997)
    • The Climate of the Past 20,000 Years (Robinson, 1998)
    • Isotopes in the Paleoenvironment (Wright, 1999)
    • Reconstructing Quaternary Environments (Feibel, 2000)
    • Geology and Morphology of Hominids (Antón and Swisher, 2001)
    • Global Climate Change (Robinson, 2002)
    • Reconstructing Quarternary Environments (Feibel 2003)
  • Spring Offerings
    • Palynology (Russell, 1996)
    • Modern Links to Ancient Lives (Cavallo, 1997)
    • Pedology (Mueller, 1998)
    • Holocene Coastal Environments (Goman, 1999)
    • Late Cenozoic Climate in Africa (Burckle, 2000)
    • Palynology (Russell, 2001)
    • Isotopes in the Paleoenvironment (Wright, 2002)
    • Lithic Sourcing (Harris, Ashley, Dillian, 2003)
    • Rivers and Floodplains (Ashley, 2004)

Faculty

• ANTHROPOLOGY
  • Susan C. Antón (Ph.D.), paleoanthropology, human osteology, human growth; 732-932-6760; scanton@rci.rutgers.edu
  • Robert J. Blumenshine (Ph.D., California at Berkeley), African prehistory, zooarcheology and taphonomy, human evolution; 732-932-6746; rjb@rci.rutgers.edu
  • Susan M. Cachel (Ph.D., Chicago), paleoanthropology, paleoecology, evolutionary processes, extinction theory, coevolution; 732-932-9475; cachel@rci.rutgers.edu
  • Craig S. Feibel (Ph.D., Utah), geoarchaeology, geochronology, stratigraphy; 732-932-8853; feibel@rci.rutgers.edu
  • John W.K. Harris (Ph.D., California at Berkeley), paleoanthropology-Africa, geoarchaeology, theory and method in Old World history; 732-932-8083; jwharris@rci.rutgers.edu
• ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES / MARINE SCIENCES
  • Anthony Broccoli (PhD., Rutgers) Climate modeling with emphasis on simulation of past climates and climate change; 732-932-9817 x9185; broccoli@envsci.rutgers.edu
  • Paul Falkowski (Ph.D., British Columbia), global biogeochemical cycles; 732-932-6555 x370; falko@imcs.rutgers.edu
  • James R. Miller (Ph.D., Maryland), ocean heat transport, air-sea interactions and hydrologic cycle for last glacial maximum; 732-932-6555 x545; miller@arctic.rutgers.edu
  • Alan Robock (Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology); climate change, volcanic eruptions and climate, soil moisture; Editor, Journal of Geophysical Research--Atmospheres; 732-932-9478; robock@envsci.rutgers.edu
  • Yair Rosenthal (Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology / Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute; biochemistry, paleoceanography; 732-932-6555 x250; rosentha@imcs.rutgers.edu
  • Robert M. Sherrell (Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology / Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute), geochemistry of marine and fresh waters, paleochemical records in ice cores; 732-932-6555 x252; sherrell@ahab.rutgers.edu
• LIFE SCIENCES
  • Kathleen M. Scott (Ph.D., Yale), vertebrate paleontology, functional morphology, paleoecology of ungulates; 732-445-2806; scott@biology.rutgers.edu
• GEOGRAPHY
  • David A. Robinson (Ph.D., Columbia), climatology, paleoclimatology, cryospheric studies; State Climatologist of the State of New Jersey; 732-445-4741; drobins@rci.rutgers.edu
• GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES
  • Gail M. Ashley (Ph.D., British Columbia), sedimentology, glacial geology, geomorphology; 732-445-2221; gmashley@rci.rutgers.edu
  • Dennis V. Kent (Ph.D., Columbia), paleomagnetics, geochronology, paleoclimatology; 732-445-6974; dvk@rci.rutgers.edu
  • Kenneth G. Miller (Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program), paleoceanography, Cenozoic stratigraphy, micropaleontology; 732-445-3622; kgm@rci.rutgers.edu
  • Richard K. Olsson (Ph.D., Princeton), micropaleontology, marine paleoecology; 732-445-3043; olsson@rci.rutgers.edu
  • Carl C. Swisher III (Ph.D., California at Berkeley), geochronology, paleomagnetics, stratigraphy, Neogene mammalian biochronology; 732-445-5363; cswish@rci.rutgers.edu
  • James D. Wright (Ph.D., Columbia), paleoceanography, stable isotope geochemistry, paleoclimatology; 732-445-5722; jdwright@rci.rutgers.edu
• ASSOCIATED FACULTY
  • John C.F. Tedrow (Ph.D., Rutgers), polar soils, soils as stratigraphic markers; 732-932-9631

For Information

Gail M. Ashley, Director
Department of Geological Sciences
Rutgers University
Wright Geological Laboratory
610 Taylor Road
Piscataway, NJ 08854-8066
(732) 445-2221, 2044
gmashley@rci.rutgers.edu