Abby Springer
My research interests are
mainly in coastal processes; specifically in the sedimentology and
stratigraphy of coastal wetlands, with a strong interest toward
understanding how climate and sea level influence coastal environments past
and present. My dissertation research will involve all of these aspects in
relation to the North Island – Winyah Bay study area. I plan to broaden my
horizons as a Doctoral candidate by integrating new techniques and equipment
into my research such as acquisition and profiling of high resolution
shallow water seismic, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology, and
geochemistry for absolute dating and habitat characterization. The
integrative nature of this research will involve aspects of sedimentology,
stratigraphy and paleoclimatology with respect to oscillating sea level and
changing land-use in the Winyah Bay watershed. The long term prospects are
very exciting to me and involve principles that I would like to pursue later
in my career. My long-term goal after completing my PhD is to obtain an
academic position where I can combine my love of research with my passion
for teaching. Email :
aspringer@geol.sc.edu
Douglas F. Williams
Williams is co-PI in the History of Lena River Discharge Project. Williams
has been conducting paleoclimate and paleolimnological research in Russia for
over a decade. Williams has published nearly 200 scientific papers,
received numerous research grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation, and
won awards at USC for outstanding teaching and mentoring of undergraduates.
Currently he is Associate Dean of the South Carolina Honors College and Carolina
Trustee Professor of Marine and Geological Sciences at USC where he has been a
faculty member since 1977.
Email: doug.williams@schc.edu
Eugene B. Karabanov
Karabanov is a Research Associate Professor of the Department of Geological
Sciences at the University of South Carolina, SC, and a Principal Investigator
in the Institute of Geochemistry Russian Academy of Sciences, Irkutsk, Russia.
Karabanov has more than 30 years of experience studying sediments of Lake
Baikal, Black Sea, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and Arctic Seas. He has produced
more then 100 publications including several books concerning the sediments,
sedimentology, ecology, paleoecology and paleoclimate reconstruction in Siberia
and Central Asia. His research interest focuses on sedimentology and sedimentary
processes as a tool for reconstructing of high-resolution paleorecords of
environmental and climatic changes in terrestrial and marine environments.
Email: ekarab@geol.sc.edu.
Janiel Rivera
Rivera received
his BS and MS from the University of Puerto Rico and began his PhD work at
USC in 2002. His dissertation involves a high resolution study of the Late
Holocene sedimentation in the continental shelf of the Laptev Sea, Russian
Arctic. This study will use the results of the fine sedimentary structures
and the components that form those structures combined with estimated
sedimentation rates, to produce the high-resolution stratigraphic framework
necessary to understand how climate relevant changes have affected the
freshwater discharge from the Lena River during the last 1000 years. His
dissertation involves core sampling with Benthos gravity core, piston
gravity cores and vibracore, magnetic susceptibility profiles, particle size
fractionation with Sedigraph and wet sieving analysis, and computer-assisted
thin-section analyses. Email : jrivera@geol.sc.edu
Juana Montane
Salt marshes
are dynamic environments about which little is known regarding the history
of sedimentation, evolution and it’s relation to the underlying Pleistocene
and Holocene back-barrier and marsh surfaces. There is a need to better
understand how sedimentation on marsh islands is related to drainage
features, especially small tidal creeks, which have been shown to be
critically important to nekton production in a marsh.
The goal is to reconstruct a 50 to 100 year record
of historical cycles of sedimentation on a salt marsh island from
sediment core analyses, seismic data and surface and subsurface topographic
trend analysis for potentially emerging patterns will reveal the
stratigraphic framework and allow the story to be told of the island’s
present nature and the evolutionary processes and inheritances that created
it. Understanding development and stability of salt marshes is
scientifically valuable for many efforts, these include: biological,
environmental, habitat and ecological as well as economical objectives.
This study could also have implications for pressures to develop residential
properties on marsh settings. Email: jmontane@geol.sc.edu
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