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. 4
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