Geology Program

Geology students and faculty members share research lab facilities equipped with state-of-the-art analytical instruments; learn together in classes and lectures across all campuses; and explore geologically important settings around the world on joint fieldtrips.

Located within a 10-mile radius in the geologically rich Connecticut River Valley of western Massachusetts, the geoscience departments of the four colleges and the university collaborate to create a deep and broad pool of earth science faculty expertise. The Annual Five College Geology Distinguished Lecture Series brings a diverse slate of speakers to the valley to enrich our learning environment. The Annual Faculty Research Symposium (fall) and Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium (spring) showcase the spectrum of original research and discovery underway in the area and provide opportunities for cross-fertilization of ideas among earth scientists. Together, the Five College geology departments maintain an EarthScope seismic station. Along with the greater network of EarthScope instruments, data from our seismic station helps reveal the geologic architecture and plate tectonic dynamics of northeastern North America. Five College Geology Professor Michael Rhodes offers classes in Volcanology on a rotating basis at all campuses and makes his geochemical analytical lab open to all students and faculty members. The five geology departments also support a laboratory manager who trains students and faculty members of the consortium in applying the University of Massachusetts stable isotope and biogeochemistry labs in a range of earth science investigations.

If you want to be actively involved in the field of earth science, this is where you belong!

Faculty & Staff

Rachel E. Bernard(link is external), Assistant Professor of Geology, rbernard@amherst.edu

John T. Cheney(link is external), Samuel A. Hitchcock Professor of Mineralogy and Geology (Metamorphic & Petrology), Associate Provost and Associate Dean of the Faculty, jtcheney@amherst.edu

Peter D. Crowley(link is external), Professor of Geology (Structure & Petrology), pdcrowley@amherst.edu

Victor E. Guevara(link is external), Assistant Professor of Geology, vguevara@amherst.edu

Tekla A. Harms(link is external), Massachusetts Professor in Chemistry and Natural History (Structure & Tectonics), taharms@amherst.edu

Nicholas D. Holschuh(link is external), Assistant Professor of Geology, nholschuh@amherst.edu

David S. Jones(link is external), Associate Professor of Geology (Sedimentology & Stratigraphy); Director of the Beneski Museum of Natural History, djones@amherst.edu

Anna M. Martini(link is external), Professor of Geology (Environmental & Geochemistry) and Environmental Studies; Chair of Geology, ammartini@amherst.edu

Diane B. Hutton(link is external), Academic Department Coordinator, Geology, dbhutton@amherst.edu

Hayley M. Singleton(link is external), Head of Collections and Operations, hsingleton@amherst.edu 

Alfred J. Venne(link is external), Museum Educator, avenne@amherst.edu

Christina Cianfrani(link is external), Professor of Hydrology (Hydrogeology), ccns@hampshire.edu

Steven Roof(link is external), Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences (Surfical Processes), srns@hampshire.edu

Michelle J. Markley(link is external), Professor of Geology (Structure), Chair of Geology and Geography

Steven R. Dunn(link is external), Professor of Geology (Metamorphic Petrology)

Eugenio Marcano(link is external), Manager of the Geo-Processing Lab; Instructor in Geology and Geography

Mark McMenamin(link is external), Professor of Geology (Paleontology)

Thomas Millette(link is external), Professor of Geography; Director of the Geo-Processing Lab

Alan Werner(link is external), Professor of Geology (Geomorphology)

Serin D. Houston(link is external), Associate Professor of Geography and International Relations

Girma Kebbede(link is external), Professor of Geography

Debra LaBonte(link is external), Academic Department Coordinator

Claire Pless(link is external), Geoscience Technician

Marc Anderson(link is external), Instrument & Techniques Instructor

John B. Brady(link is external), Mary Elizabeth Moses Professor Emeritus of Geosciences (Metamorphic Petrology)

Mark Brandriss(link is external), Senior Lecturer in Geosciences (Igneous Petrology, Geochemistry)

H. Robert Burger(link is external), Achilles Professor Emeritus of Geosciences (Structure, Geophysics)

H. Allen Curran(link is external), William R. Kenan Jr. Professor Emeritus of Geology (Paleontology, Oceanography)

Gregory de Wet(link is external), Assistant Professor of Geosciences

Bosiljka Glumac(link is external), Professor of Geosciences (Sedimentology)

Jack Loveless(link is external), Professor of Geosciences (Structural Geology)

Sarah Mazza(link is external), Assistant Professor of Geosciences

Robert Newton(link is external), Professor Emeritus of Geosciences (Geomorphology, Hydrology)

Sara Pruss(link is external), Professor of Geosciences (Paleontology, Oceanography)

Amy Larson Rhodes(link is external), Professor of Geosciences (Environmental Geology)

Toby Martin Applegate(link is external), Lecturer (Geography)

David F. Boutt(link is external), Professor (Hydrogeology, Watershed Hydrology, Groundwater Recharge/Discharge)

Forrest J. Bowlick(link is external), Lecturer (GIS, Geography Education)

Raymond S. Bradley(link is external), Distinguished Professor (Climatology, Paleoclimatology, Global Change, Arctic Environments)

Julie Brigham-Grette(link is external), Professor (Quaternary/Glacial Geology, Arctic Paleoenvironments)

Stephen J. Burns(link is external), Professor, Department Head (Paleoclimatology, Speleothems, Stable Isotopes, Sediment Diagenesis)

Isla S. Castañeda(link is external), Associate Professor (Biogeochemistry, Molecular Paleoclimatology)

William P. Clement(link is external), UMass Extension Associate Professor (Near-Surface Geophysics, Hydrogeophysics)

Tim Cook(link is external), Research Associate Professor & Lecturer (Paleoclimate, Arctic, Lacustrine systems)

Michele Cooke(link is external), Professor (Structural Geology, Geomechanics, Rock Fracture Mechanics)

Britt Crow-Miller(link is external), Senior Lecturer (Human Geography, Sustainability, Sustainability Education, Environmental Politics, Political Ecology)

Robert M. DeConto(link is external), Professor (Climatology, Glaciology, Earth System Modeling)

Haiying Gao(link is external), Associate Professor (Seismology, Geophysics)

Piper R. Gaubatz(link is external), Professor (Urban Studies in China, Japan, and the U.S.)

Christine Hatch(link is external), UMass Extension Associate Professor (Hydrogeology, Water Resources and Climate Change, Ecohydrology, Surface Water - Groundwater Interactions)

Michael J. Jercinovic(link is external), Associate Professor (Microanalysis, Mineralogy, Geochemistry)

Ambarish Karmalkar(link is external), Research Assistant Professor (Climate Change, Climate Change Impacts Assessment)

Isaac Larsen(link is external), Assistant Professor (Geomorphology, Landscape Evolution, Cosmogenic Nuclides)

R. Mark Leckie(link is external), Professor (Micropaleontology, Stratigraphy, Biostratigraphy, Paleoceanography)

Stephen Mabee(link is external), Senior Lecturer (Hydrogeology)

Martin Medina Elizalde(link is external), Associate Professor (Paleoclimatology, Paleoceanography, Climate Change)

Steve Petsche(link is external), Associate Professor (Biogeochemistry, Geomicrobiology, Organic Geochemistry)

Michael Rawlins(link is external), UMass Extension Associate Professor (Climatology, Climate Change, Remote Sensing)

J. Michael Rhodes(link is external), Five College Professor (Volcanology, Petrology, Geochemistry)

Justin Richardson, Assistant Professor (Biogeochemistry, Trace Metal Cycling, Plant-Soil-Rock Interactions)

Jeff Salacup(link is external), Lecturer, Lab Manager (Isotope and Molecular Paleoclimatology)

Seda Salap-Ayca, Lecturer (Geography, GIS, and Spatial Analysis)

Eric Thomas(link is external), Lecturer (Environmental Anthropology, Political Ecology)

Stephen Turner(link is external), Lecturer (High Temperature Geochemistry and Petrology)

Eve Vogel(link is external), Assistant Professor (Political and Environmental Geography)

Michael Williams(link is external), Professor (Structural Geology, Metamorphic Petrology, Precambrian Geology)

Matthew Winnick(link is external), Assistant Professor (Biogeochemical Cycles, Chemical Weathering, Isotope Hydrology)

Jon Woodruff(link is external), Professor (Sediments, Coastal Dynamics)

Brian Yellen(link is external), Research Assistant Professor (Sediment Storage)

Qian Yu(link is external), Associate Professor (Environmental Geography, GIS, Remote Sensing)

jeff salacup

Five College Laboratory Manager

Sophisticated analytical instruments require skilled operation. The geology departments of the Five College Consortium support a lab manager – Jeff Salacup - in the Stable Isotope and Biogeochemistry labs at the University of Massachusetts so that undergraduate students from across the consortium can be trained and gain hands-on experience with several different mass spectrometers, gas chromatographs, and other elemental and isotopic analyzers as part of their research or studies.

Salacup’s research focuses on the application of elemental, isotopic, and organic geochemical techniques to ancient and modern ocean, coastal, and lacustrine sediments and waters in order to reconstruct past environments and ecosystems within a framework of modern processes.

EarthScope map

Five College EarthScope Seismic Station

The Five College EarthScope(link is external) seismic station, located at Smith College’s MacLeish Field Station(link is external), is part of a continent-scale instrumentation network known as USArray(link is external) that investigates the continental lithosphere and deep Earth structure by capturing seismic wave data.

Contact Us

Department Chairs:

David Jones(link is external), Professor of Geology and Environmental Studies, Amherst College

Steven Roof(link is external), Professor of Earth and Environmental Science, Hampshire College

Michelle Markley(link is external), Professor of Geology and Geography, Mount Holyoke College

Jack Loveless(link is external), Professor of Geosciences, Smith College

Piper Gaubatz(link is external), Professor of Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences, UMass Amherst

Five College Staff Liaison:

Ray Rennard, Director of Academic Programs