People

People

Faculty

Harold C. Connolly, Jr., Professor and Department Chair

Dr. Connolly is the Mission Sample Scientist and Co-I on NASA’s New Frontiers 3 asteroid sample return mission, OSIRIS-REx, and Co-I on JAXA’s Hayabusa2 asteroid sample return mission. Dr. Connolly’s research is focused on understanding the origin of rocky bodies in the Solar System through the study of asteroids and meteorites, the oldest rocks in our collections. He is the recipient of the Antarctic Service Medal from the U.S. government, has an asteroid named over him, 6761 Haroldconnolly, and is co-discoverer of the third mineral to form in the Solar System, Krotite. More >>

 

Aaron M. Barth, Assistant Professor of Geology

Dr. Barth looks at the geologic record to better understand how climatically-important bodies of ice behaved and changed in the past - from large ice sheets that once covered the continents to glaciers found at the tops of mountain peaks. By measuring the concentration of cosmogenic isotopes created on the surface of rocks affected by glacial activity, conclusions can be drawn about how alpine glaciers respond to climate forcing, the rate at which ice sheets thinned, and how these erosive features interact with the surface of the Earth. Dr. Barth combines both field and lab methods in his research to address questions of paleoclimatology. More >>

 

Zachary M. Boles, Lecturer

Dr. Boles is a vertebrate paleontologist who has conducted extensive excavations and research at the Edelman Fossil Park. His studies focus on marine taphonomy, paleohistology, and molecular paleontology. Zack was also part of the team that described the supermassive titanosaur, Dreadnoughtus schrani, from Patagonia. He has also worked on modern and fossil penguins. More >>

 

Sara Rosenzweig Cribbs, 3/4 Faculty

Ms. Cribbs's geology background includes teaching and field and lab work in various disciplines and settings. She brings to her classroom a background in research and practicing law and a focus on diversity, access, and equity in science education. More >>

 

Kenneth J. Lacovara, Professor of Paleontology

Dr. Lacovara is a world-renowned paleontologist, best known for his discovery of the giant plant-eating dinosaur Dreadnoughtus, which weighed more than nine T. rex. He was the founding Dean of the School of Earth & Environment and is founding Director of the Jean and Ric Edelman Fossil Park of Rowan University, where he and his team are investigating the mass extinction of the dinosaurs and 75% of life on Earth that occurred 65 million years ago. His work is featured in television documentaries, newspapers around the world and his TED has have been viewed by over one and a half million people. His book, Why Dinosaurs Matter, is available in bookstores around the globe and is an Amazon best-seller.

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Lily S. Pfeifer, Assistant Professor of Geology

Dr. Pfeifer is a sedimentologist and paleoclimatologist who studies climate change on tectonic time scales.She uses traditional field methods and modern analytical techniques to study ancient sedimentary basins. Her work takes her to Western Europe and to the midcontintent of the United States. More >>

 

Gerald T. Rustic, Associate Professor of Geology

Dr. Rustic studies climate variability at human time scales to understand how short-term variability relates to long-term, large scale climate change. His main research focus is the El Niño Southern Oscillation, the largest source of interannual climate variability on planet Earth. He reconstructs past ocean states by analyzing the geochemical signatures of single-celled organisms called foramininfera found in deep-sea sediment cores.  More >>

  

Kristyn K. Voegele, Assistant Professor of Geology

Dr. Voegele studies the paleobiology of dinosaurs. Her diverse research interests include myological reconstruction and biomechanical modeling of sauropod dinosaurs, as well as the study of ancient proteins preserved in fossil bones. Her interdisciplinary research primarily explores the application of biomedical engineering models to extinct organisms. She also has conducted and collaborated on research at the Jean and Ric Edelman Fossil Park at Rowan University such as osteological investigations of crocodile specimens, molecular paleontological investigations, and the chronostratigraphic placement of the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. More >>