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Department of Geology |
Rhawn F. Denniston |
Tel: (319) 895-4306 |
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Cornell College |
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Fax: (319) 895-5667 |
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Mount Vernon, Iowa 52314 |
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Ph.D., Geosciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, 2000
M.S., Earth & Planetary Science, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1995
B.A., Geology, Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, 1991
Associate Professor of Geology, Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa 2006 - present
Visiting Research Scientist, University of New Mexico Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 2006-2007
Chair, Department of Geology, Cornell College, 2003 - present
Chair, Environmental Studies Program Committee, Cornell College, 2001 - present
Adjunct Professor, Department of Geosciences, University of Iowa, 2001 - present
Assistant Professor of Geology, Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa, 2000 - present
T. Anne Cleary Dissertation Research Fellowship, University of Iowa, 1999
Outstanding Teaching Assistant, University of Iowa, 1998
Howard Urbach Award, Richmond Area Speleological Society, 1998
Trowbridge Award for Outstanding Geology Doctoral Student, University of Iowa, 1997
Associated Western Universities Fellowship, Los Alamos National Laboratories, 1993-94
Published Manuscripts
Denniston, R.F., Asmerom, Y., Polyak, V., McNeill, D.F., Klaus, J.S., Cole, P., and Budd, A.F. (2008) Caribbean Chronostratigraphy Refined with U-Pb Dating of a Miocene Coral. Geology, 36, 151-154.
Denniston, R.F., Penn, S.C., Carpenter, S.J., and Budd, A.F. (in press) Constraints on Late Miocene Shallow Marine Seasonality for the Central Caribbean using d 18 O and Sr/Ca Ratios in a Fossil Coral. In Nehm, R.H. and A. F. Budd (Eds). Evolutionary Stasis: Species and Communities through Geological Time. Springer: New York.
Denniston, R.F., DuPree, M., Asmerom, Y., Polyak, V. Dorale, J.A., and Carpenter (2007) Episodes of Increased Aridity in the Late Holocene Recorded by Stalagmites from Devils Icebox Cave, Central Missouri, USA . Quaternary Research , 68 , 45-52.
Denniston, R.F., Asmerom, Y., Polyak, V. Dorale, J.A., Carpenter, S.J., Trodick, C. Hoye, B., and Gonz‡lez, L.A. (2007) Synchronous millenial-scale climatic changes in the Great Basin and the North Atlantic during the last interglacial. Geology , 35 , 619-622.
Baker, R.G., Bettis E.A. III, Denniston, R.F., Gonz‡lez, L.A., Strickland, L.E. and Krieg, J.R. (2002) Holocene paleoenvironments in southeastern Minnesota
chasing the prairie-forest ecotone. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 177, 103-122.
Denniston, R.F., Gonz‡lez, L.A., Polyak, V., Asmerom, Y., Reagan, M.K., and Saltzman, M.R. (2001) A high-resolution speleothem record of climatic variability
during the Aller¿d-Younger Dryas transition in Missouri, central United States. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 176, 147-155.
Baker, R.G., Bettis, E.A., III, Denniston, R.F., and Gonz‡lez, L.A. (2001) Plant remains, alluvial chronology, and cave speleothem isotopes indicate abrupt
Holocene climatic change in Midwestern USA. Global and Planetary Change, 28, 285-291.
Denniston, R.F., Gonz‡lez, L.A., Asmerom, Y., Sharma, R.H., and Reagan, M.K, (2000) Speleothem evidence for changes in Indian summer monsoon
precipitation over the last ~2300
years. Quaternary Research , 53,
196-202.
Denniston, R.F., Gonz‡lez, L.A., Asmerom, Y., and Reagan, M.K. (2000) Speleothem records of Holocene paleoenvironmental change in the Ozark Highlands,
U.S.A. Quaternary International, 67, 21-28.
Denniston, R.F., Gonzalez, L.A., Semken, H.A., Jr., Baker, R.G., Recelli-Snyder, H., Reagan, M.K., and Bettis, E.A., III. (1999) Integrating stalagmite,
vertebrate, and pollen sequences to investigate Holocene vegetation and climate change in the southern Midwest. Quaternary Research, 52, 381-387.
Denniston, R.F., Gonzalez, L.A., Baker, R.G., Asmerom, Y., Reagan, M.K., Edwards, R.L., and Alexander, C.E. (1999) Speleothem evidence for a sharp and
long-term prairie-forest ecotone at the northeast border of the middle Holocene prairie peninsula. The Holocene, 9, 671-676.
Denniston, R.F., Gonz‡lez, L.A., Asmerom, Y., Baker, R.G., Reagan, M.K. and Bettis, E.A. III. (1999) Evidence for increased cool season moisture during the
middle Holocene. Geology, 27, 815-818.
Denniston, R.F., Shearer, C.K., Vaniman, D.T., and Layne, G.D. (1997) Minor and trace element distributions in fracture calcites from Yucca Mountain, Nevada.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 61, 1803-1818.
Hickmott, D.D., Herrin, J.M., Abel, R., George, M., Stimac, J., Gauerke, E.R., and Denniston, R.F. (1997) Environmental applications of the LANL nuclear
microprobe. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, 130, 564-570.
Krogmeier, D., Denniston, R.F., Carpenter, S.J., Dorale, J.A., Polyak, V., and Asmerom, Y. (2006) A stalagmite record of the penultimate deglaciation from
northwestern Arkansas. Iowa Academy of Science Annual Meeting Program with Abstracts, Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, IA.
Lommler, M., Denniston, R.F., and Budd, A.F. (2006) Comparison of U/Ca and Sr/ca ratios in Neogene corals from the Dominican Republic. Geological
Society of America Spring Meeting Program with Abstracts, v. 38, no. 4, pg. 37-11.
Trodick, C.T., Denniston, R.F., Asmerom, Y., Polyak, V., Haws, J. and Souto, P. (2006) U-Th chronologies of stalagmites from Almonda Cave, western
Portugal. Geological Society of America Spring Meeting Program with Abstracts, v. 38, no. 4, pg. 20-1.
Moellers, L., Denniston, R.F., Carpenter, S.J., Dorale, J.A., Polyak, V., and Asmerom, Y. (2006) A stalagmite record of the penultimate deglaciation from
northwestern Arkansas. Geological Society of America Spring Meeting Program with Abstracts, v. 38, no. 4, pg. 20-2.
Borowske, A.C., Denniston, R.F., Haws, J.F., Carpenter, S.J., and Dorale, J.A. (2005) A stable isotopic analysis of an end Pleistocene-age stalagmite from
Almonda cave, west-central Portugal. Geological Society of America Spring Meeting Program with Abstracts.
Cole, P., Denniston, R.F., Polyak, V.P., McNeill, D.F., and Budd, A. (2005) Uranium-lead dating of a coral from the Neogene Gurabo formation, Dominican
republic. Geological Society of America Spring Meeting Program with Abstracts.
Hoye, B., Denniston, R.F., Carpenter, S.J., Dorale, J.A., Asmerom, Y., Polyak, V.Y. (2005) Stable isotopic trends in a 23-26 ka Arkansas stalagmite.
Geological Society of America Spring Meeting Program with Abstracts.
Baker, R.G., Dorale, J.A., Bettis, E.A., Moss, P., and Denniston, R.F. (2004) Contrasts in prairie-forest border dynamics in the northern vs. southern Midwest.
American Quaternary Association 18th Biennial Meeting Program with Abstracts, Lawrence, KS, 107-108.
Denniston, R.F. (2004) Preliminary geochemical analysis of corals from the Neogene Gurabo Formation, Dominican Republic. 116th Annual Meeting of Iowa
Academy of Science, Cedar Falls, Iowa, April 24.
Denniston, R.F. and Penn, S. (2004) Suitability of corals from the Gurabo Formation, Dominican Republic, for geochemically-based SST reconstructions.
Geological Society of American North-Central Meeting Abstracts with Programs, 36, 52.
Denniston, R., DuPree, M.A., Asmerom, Y., and Polyak, V.P (2003) Paleoclimatic implications of U-series dating of aragonite and calcite stalagmites from central
Nepal. Geological Society of America Fall Meeting Abstracts with Programs, 35, 172.
DuPree, M.A., Denniston, R.F., Asmerom, Y., and Carpenter, S.J. (2003) A 4000-year speleothem stable isotopic record from Devils Ice Box cave, central
Missouri. Geological Society of America Spring
Meeting Abstracts with Programs,
Paper No. 19-1.
Hartman, B.S., Gonzalez, L.A., Wulff, A.H. and Denniston, R.F. (2000) Carbon and oxygen isotopic analysis of speleothems from the Pokhara Valley, central
Nepal: a record of seasonal to decadal variability in the Indian summer monsoon. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting Abstracts with Programs, 81,
F32.
Denniston, R.F., Gonz‡lez, L.A., and Reagan, M.K. (2000) Mineralogic and stable isotopic characteristics of select Great Basin speleothems. Geological Society
of America Spring Meeting Abstracts with Programs, 32, A-11.
Denniston, R.F. and Gonzalez, L.A. (2000) Holocene environmental change in the Ozarks as deduced from stalagmites. 16th Biennial American Quaternary
Association Meeting Abstracts with Programs, Fayetteville, AR, 5-7.
Gonz‡lez, L.A., Denniston, R.F., Reagan, M.K., Ciochon, R., and Asmerom, Y. (1999) The use of stalagmites in the study of the history of the Asian monsoon
system. Geological Society of America Fall Meeting Abstracts with Programs, 31, 89.
Denniston, R.F., Gonz‡lez, L.A., Reagan, M.K., and Asmerom, Y. (1999) A high-resolution record of Indian summer monsoon variability preserved by
speleothem carbonate mineralogy. Geological Society of America Fall Meeting Abstracts with Programs, 31, 153.
Denniston, R.F., Gonz‡lez, L.A., Reagan, M.K., and Asmerom, Y. (1999) Effects of the Younger Dryas on the carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions of a
Missouri speleothem. Geological Society of America Spring Meeting Abstracts with Programs, 31, 13.
Denniston, R.F., Gonzalez, L.A., Semken, H.A., Reagan, M.K., and Asmerom, Y. (1998) Combining speleothem carbon and faunal assemblages to examine
vegetation change in the southern Midwest. Geological Society of America Fall Meeting Abstracts with Programs, 30, 167.
Gonzalez, L.A., Denniston, R.F., Baker, R.G., and Reagan, M.K. (1998) Speleothem-based timing for prairie incursion in southeastern Minnesota and
northeastern Iowa and its implication on temperature vs. changes in E-T balance during the mid-Holocene. Geological Society of America Fall Meeting
Abstracts with Programs, 30, 114.
Denniston, R.F., Gonzalez, L.A., Asmerom, Y., Baker, R.G., and Reagan, M.K. (1998) Correlating speleothem carbon and pollen records from the southern
Midwest: tracking Holocene vegetation changes. American Quaternary Association Meeting Program with Abstracts, Puerto Vallarta, 103.
Denniston, R.F., Gonz‡lez, L.A., Baker, R.G., Reagan, M.K. Bettis, E.A., III, Asmerom, Y. and Pickett, D. A. (1998) Effects of middle Holocene vegetation
change on the oxygen and carbon isotopic composition of three midwestern speleothems. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting Abstracts with
Program, 79, 107.
Denniston, R.F. and Gonzalez, L.A. (1997) Microsampling and isotopic analysis of adjacent fluorescent/non-fluorescent band couplets in a Midwestern
speleothem. Geological Society of America Spring Meeting Abstracts with Programs, 29, 12.
Denniston, R.F. and Shearer, C.K. (1995) A mineralogical approach to understanding fluid flow in shallow crustal regimes: application to forecasting the integrity of
potential waste repositories. WERC Meeting, Las Cruces, NM.
Denniston, R.F., Shearer, C.K., and Vaniman, D.T. (1994) Application of cathodoluminescence and minor-trace element micro-analysis for deciphering the
crystallization history of calcite from shallow crustal regimes. American Geophysical Union Spring Meeting Abstracts with Program, Baltimore, 75, 121.
Denniston, R.F., Shearer, C.K., and Vaniman, D.T. (1994) An ion microprobe study of trace element (REE, Mn, Sr) zoning in calcite from shallow crustal
regimes. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting Abstracts with Program, San Francisco, 75, 698.
Denniston, R.F., Shearer, C.K., Vaniman, D.T., and Hickmott, D.D. (1993) Analysis of elemental zoning in calcites from fracture systems at Yucca Mountain,
Nevada: preliminary investigations and results. Fifth Annual Associated Western Universities Annual Meeting, Carlsbad, NM, 72.
Denniston, R.F., Gauerke, E., Shearer, C.K., Vaniman, D.T., and Hickmott, D.D. (1993) Trace element distributions in fracture calcites from Yucca Mountain,
Nevada: implications for shallow crustal transport phenomena. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting Abstracts with Program, San Francisco,74, 677.
Tewksbury, B.J., Cunningham, A.C., and Denniston, R.F. (1991) A kinematic analysis of the Payne Lake leucogneiss, northwest Adirondack Lowlands, New
York. Geological Society of America Spring Meeting Abstracts with Program, Baltimore, 23, 193.
Non-Peer Reviewed
Publications
Denniston, R.F. and Denniston, J.R. (2003) Cave Formations Reveal Climate and Archeological Change in New Mexico Magazine, New Mexico State Tourism
Publication.
Denniston, R.F. (1999 and subsequent editions) Geology of the Southwest, Geology of the Grand Canyon, Geology of Carlsbad National Park, in Lonely Planet
Guide to the Southwest: Arizona, New Mexico, Utah (R. Rachioweicki, Ed.), Lonely Planet Publishers, Melbourne, 28-31, 430-431, 954.
Denniston, R.F. (1999 and subsequent editions) Geology of North America, in Lonely Planet Guide to the U.S.A. (R. Rachioweicki, Ed.), Lonely Planet
Publishers, Melbourne, 30-33.
Denniston, R.F. (1999) Geology of the Rio Grande Rift, in The History of Corrales, New Mexico (C. Tidwell, Ed.), 16-21.
"Formation of the Central American Isthmus and 5 Million Years of Faunal Turnover in the Caribbean" Edgewood College (Madison, WI) Environmental Studies
Seminar, April 16, 2004.
"Towards Caribbean Seasonal Sea Surface Temperature and Salinity Variability from Neogene Corals" University of Dubuque (Dubuque, IA) Department of
Environmental Science Guest Lecture, November 14, 2003.
"Stalagmites as Paleoclimatic Records" Augustana College (Rock Island, IL) Geology Department Seminar, April 25, 2003.
"Understanding Climatic Change using Speleothems" University of Northern Iowa Department of Geography, Geomorphology Course Guest Lecture, April 21,
2003.
"Paleoclimatic Implications of a Negative Oxygen Isotopic Excursion in Middle Holocene Stalagmites from the Midwest" University of North Dakota Department
of Geology and Geological Engineering Leading Edge of Earth and Planetary Sciences Lecture Series, January 31, 2003.
"The Not-So-Isolated Climate of the Northern American Interior" University of Iowa Department of Geoscience Environmental Seminar, October 9, 2002.
"Paleo-precipitation and Vegetation Characteristics Deduced from Speleothems" University of Northern Iowa Earth Science Seminar, October 7, 2002.
"Isotopes in the Midwest and Mineralogy in Nepal: Two Different Approaches to Paleoclimate Reconstructions using Speleothems" Iowa State University
Department of Geology Guest Speaker Series, November 30, 2001.
"Understanding Climatic Change using Speleothem Mineralogy, Growth Rates, and Stable Isotopic Compositions" University of Northern Iowa Department of
Geography, Geomorphology Course Guest Lecture, April 24, 2001.
ÒHolocene Shifts in Speleothem Isotopic Compositions and their Paleoenvironmental ImplicationsÓ American Quaternary Association (AMQUA) Meeting,
Fayetteville, Arkansas, May 2000.
"The Use of Speleothems in Paleoclimatic Reconstruction" University of Iowa Department of Geoscience Weekly Seminar, May, 2000.
ÒStalagmites, Caves, and Climate ChangeÓ University of Iowa Afternoon with a Scientist Speaker Series, Iowa City, Iowa, April 13, 1999.
ÒGreat Basin Speleothems: A
Way to Test Milankovitch Cyclicity?Ó Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa, January
31, 2000.
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Organization |
Title |
Date |
Amount |
Iowa Science Foundation |
Establishing Growth Histories for Stalagmites from Blanchard Springs Caverns, Northcentral Arkansas as a First Step Toward Paleoenvironmental Reconstructions |
2006 |
$5,000 |
Cornell College |
Faculty Development Grants: Student/Faculty Research in Portugal |
2006 |
$4,500 |
Cornell College |
Campbell R. McConnell Sabbatical Fellowship |
2006-07 |
$15,000 |
Associated Colleges of the Midwest |
Faculty Careers Enhancement Project: Construction of a 50,000 Year Paleoclimate Record for the Nazare Region, Portugal
|
2006 |
$3,000 |
Iowa Science Foundation
|
Reconstructing Late Pleistocene Vegetation Change in the Ozarks using Stalagmites from Cosmic Caverns, Arkansas
|
2005
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$5,000
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Cornell College
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Faculty Development Grants: Student/Faculty Research at the University of New Mexico
|
2005
|
$5,500
|
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Cornell College |
Faculty Development Grant: Student/Faculty Research at the University of New Mexico
|
2004 |
$3,500 |
|
Petroleum Research Fund |
Dominican Republic Corals As High-Resolution Records Of Shallow Marine Paleoenvironmental Conditions Prior To Closure Of The Panamanian Seaway |
2004-06 |
$35,000 |
|
Iowa College Foundation |
R.J. McElroy Student/Faculty Research Program: Dominican Republic Coral Research |
2003-04 |
$1,700 |
|
Cornell College |
Faculty Development Grant: Student/Faculty Research at the University of Iowa and the Dominican Republic |
2003 |
$3,500 |
|
Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research |
Development of a High-Resolution Paleoclimate Data Set from New Zealand using Speleothem Growth Banding and Stable Isotopic Ratios |
2002-03 |
$16,140 |
|
Iowa College Foundation |
R.J. McElroy Student/Faculty Research Program: Midwestern Speleothem Research |
2002-03 |
$1,745 |
|
Iowa Science Foundation |
Reconstructing Shifts in Prairie and Deciduous Forest across the Central Midwest using Speleothems |
2002-03 |
$4,000 |
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Cornell College |
Faculty Development Grant: Student/Faculty Research at the University of New Mexico |
2002 |
$3,500 |
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NSF |
Acquisition of an Alpha Spectrometry System for Research and Undergraduate Training in Geology and Environmental Science (with B. Greenstein) |
2001-02 |
$97, 826 |
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NSF |
Collaborative Research: Timing of Late Holocene Changes in Summer Indian Monsoon Intensity as Recorded in Mineralogic Changes in Speleothems, Pokhara Valley, Central Nepal |
2000-02 |
$20,000 |
Geological Society of America; National Speleological Society; Sigma Xi; Nevada Bureau of Land Management; Richmond (VA) Area Speleological Society; University of Iowa |
Various Grants for Dissertation Research |
1995-00 |
$25,000 |
Professional
Affiliations/Memberships
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Geological Society of America |
National Speleological Society |
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American Quaternary Association |
Nepal Geological Society |
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Iowa Academy of Science |
National Association of Geoscience Teachers |
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Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research |
American Geophysical Union |
Chair, Geology Section, Iowa Academy of Science, 2003-2004
Vice-Chair, Geology Section, Iowa Academy of Science, 2002-2003
Committee on Preserves, Iowa Academy of Science, 2001-2002
Board of Directors, Geological Society of Iowa, 2001-present