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She Rocks!
Trinity University Geoscientist Awarded Early CAREER Grant from National Science Foundation
By Susie P. Gonzalez
September 2009
Kathleen Surpless, assistant professor of geosciences at Trinity University, may be a sedimentary geologist by academic training, but her passion is
solving puzzles. Not just any puzzles, but those comprised of rocks – once
covered by oceans – but now exposed to the atmospheric elements after having
been “sliced and diced” by Earth movements for millions of years.
The puzzle pieces are scattered about basins she explores in California, Oregon, Washington, and southern British Columbia. Adding challenge to the puzzles she tackles is the absence of complete pictures, like ones on a jigsaw box, showing what the finished product is supposed to look like. “For me, that’s where the fun is,” Professor Surpless says.
She is trying to take what erosion and tectonic activity have left behind to compose a complete picture of prehistoric geography – where the mountains were, what minerals they contained, and related questions to what happened 70 million to 100 million years ago. “The history is important to the present,” she explains.
So fascinating is her work that she has co-authored six articles in scholarly journals and given numerous conference presentations. She has received grants from the American Chemical Society’s Petroleum Research Fund and the National Science Foundation (NSF), among others. She also serves on the editorial board of the journal Geology and is a geosciences councilor for the National Council on Undergraduate Research.
In May, Trinity recognized her with a junior faculty research and distinguished teaching award, and in the summer of 2009, the NSF named her a recipient of the Faculty Early CAREER Development Program. She received a five-year grant in the amount of $402,985 to continue her research, which will involve as many as 10 Trinity students. The CAREER program supports professors who are likely to become academic leaders in the 21st century.
Professor Surpless joins Trinity chemists Adam Urbach (awarded in 2008) and Bert D. Chandler (awarded in 2005) in being identified by the NSF as stellar faculty members. Professor Urbach’s work involves the design of molecules that recognize and label specific peptides in aqueous solutions, while Professor Chandler’s research focuses on catalytic technologies involving bimetallic nanoparticles.
Diane Smith, associate vice president for Academic Affairs, said it is prestigious for three Trinity faculty members to be singled out for the CAREER Award in the last four years. “This is significant because we are engaged in primarily undergraduate research and compete with top tier research universities for awards such as this one from the National Science Foundation. Less than 2 percent of all CAREER grants are awarded to faculty at predominantly undergraduate institutions.”
Courses Taught by Professor Surpless:
- Earth History
- Exploring Earth
- Environmental Geology
- Sedimentology and Stratigraphy
- First Year Seminar on Climate Change
Selected Publications of Professor Surpless:
Surpless, Kathleen D., and Augsburger, G. A., in press, “Provenance of the Pythian Cave conglomerate, northern California: Implications for mid-Cretaceous paleogeography of the U.S. Cordillera,” accepted for publication in Cretaceous Research.
Surpless, Kathleen D., Ward, R.W., and Graham, S.A., 2009, “Sedimentology and facies architecture of slope gully deposits,” Monterey Formation (Miocene), Gaviota Beach, California: Marine and Petroleum Geology, vol. 26, p. 269-288.
Surpless, Kathleen D., Graham, S. A., Covault, J. A., and Wooden, J. L., 2006, “Does the Great Valley Group contain Jurassic strata? Reevaluation of the age and early evolution of a classic forearc basin,” Geology, v. 34, no. 1, p. 21-24.
© 2009 Trinity University