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GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES- Geophysicist
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.
This proposed position is for a geophysicists is a broad sense, but we
would have a preference for an individual with expertise in electromagnetism.
The latter field would fill a substantial gap in the campus's geophysical
community. At present, electromagnetic geophysics (EM geophysics) is not a
specialty for any CU geophysicist. Our presence in this field will increase the
profile for the geophysics program and CU; the relatively small number of
academic EM scientists in the US means that our participation will be noticed
immediately.
EM geophysics is widely used in industry for both exploration (petroleum,
geothermal and hard rock) and for environmental work, so there is a demand for
practitioners in the broader community. A role in understanding and anticipating
volcanic hazards seems increasingly likely with repeated monitoring of
systems like Yellowstone. It also provides a separate view into the earth's
subsurface that complements the expertise already here at CU.
EM geophysics has only relatively recently acquired the capacity to
consider three dimensional earth structures; it is now poised to produce much
more dramatic insights into the structure of the upper 100-200 km of the
earth. Because the resistivity of earth materials reflects a different sensitivity to
physical properties than seismology (currently the main means of obtaining
three-dimensional images of the earth's interior), far more robust understandings
of the workings of the outermost 200 km of the earth are possible. NSF
investment in passive-source EM geophysics has produced some new and large
datasets that seek to exploit this very aspect of this field.
From our students' perspective, we offer only the most cursory
consideration of EM techniques within our upper division undergraduate
curriculum and no regular classes within the graduate program. To our
knowledge, no relevant EM instruction exists on campus. Addition of a faculty
member in EM techniques would greatly expand exposure to this field among our
students, both undergraduate and graduate, and the numerous applications of
EM techniques to problems of interest in science and engineering assures a
wealth of potential interactions with other members of the CU community.
Additional faculty within the geophysics program enhances that whole
community, which extends into the Engineering College as well as into several
units in the Arts and Sciences. One important type of EM geophysics uses the
variations in the earth's magnetic field generated by interaction with the solar
wind, an interaction often termed space weather and a field with practitioners
within CIRES. Collaboration between a scientist filling this position and those
working to understand space weather and its hazards to the power grid on earth
could be most productive.
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
2 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.
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?
3 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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