Jeffrey Scott Munroe
Associate Professor

Geology Department
Middlebury College
Middlebury, Vermont 05753
Phone: 802-443-3446   FAX: 802-443-2072
e-mail: jmunroe@middlebury.edu

Glacier Number 1, Headwaters of the Urumqi River, Xinjiang China

 

Education

B.A.- Bowdoin College, 1994

M.S. - University of Wisconsin-Madison (Dept. of Geology & Geophysics), 1996

Ph.D. - University of Wisconsin-Madison (Dept. of Geology & Geophysics), 2001

Background

My research and teaching interests include glacial geomorphology, Quaternary geology, paleolimnology, and arctic environments. For my Masters thesis I studied a sequence of soils developed in glacial deposits on the north side of the Brooks Range in northern Alaska.  Since 1996, I have also been actively studying the late Quaternary history of the northern Uinta Mountains in northeastern Utah.  This work included my Ph.D. dissertation as well as a number of separate projects. I also completed numerous geomorphic maps of the northern Uintas as part of the land-systems inventory for the Ashley and Wasatch-Cache National Forests.  Prior to the start of my Ph.D. research I taught earth science courses during the 1996-97 academic year at Northland College in northern Wisconsin.  I have been at Middlebury College since 2001.

Courses Taught

  • Arctic and Alpine Environments (incl. lab) (GEOL/GEOG 250)
  • Geomorphology (incl. lab) (GEOL/GEOG 251)
  • Quaternary Geology (incl. lab) (GEOL/GEOG 352)
  • Glacial Geology (inc. lab) (GEOL 333)
  • Environmental Geology (incl. lab) (GEOL 112)
  • Understanding Vermont Lakes: Winter Field Experience (J-term, 2002)
  • Geologic Evolution of the Hawaiian Islands (J-term, 2003)
  • Geology Senior Seminar (GEOL 400)
  • Senior Geology Research (GEOL 700)
  • 19th Century Exploration of the American West: First-Year Seminar 1070 (Fall, 2004)

Research

·        Personal Research

·        Student Research

Recent Research Grants 

·        National Geographic Society: Developing a Chronology of Holocene Glacier Fluctuations in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA

·        NSF-P2C2: Climate and Chronology of the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition, North-Central Great Basin, U.S.A.

·        NSF-MRI: Acquisition of a Multi-Sensor Core Logger, Pycnometer, C:N Analyzer, and Freeze Dryer for use in Lake and Paleoclimate Studies at Middlebury College

·        NSF-BCS SGER: Developing a chronology for Neoglaciation in Glacier National Park, Montana

·        American Philosophical Society: Developing a chronology for Neoglaciation in Glacier National Park, Montana

·        Ashley National Forest: Glacial mapping of the Uinta Mountains

·        Utah Geological Survey: Glacial mapping of the northern Uinta Mountains

  • NSF Geomorphology and Land-Use Dynamics: Workshop: UINTAS 2006-The Uinta Interdisciplinary Assessment Symposium
  • NSF Geology & Paleontology, Supplement to Collaborative/RUI: Late-Quaternary Glacial and Paleoclimate History of the Uinta Mountains, Northeastern Utah
  • Lintilhac Foundation: Investigating Soil Development in the Alpine Zones of the Green Mountains
  • NSF Earth Systems History: Collaborative: High-Resolution Records of Holocene Climate Change, Drought Variability, and Monsoon Behavior from the Uinta Mountains of Utah (with Katrina Moser, University of Western Ontario; David Porinchu, The Ohio State University; and Glen MacDonald, University of California, Los Angeles)
  • NSF Geology & Paleontology: Collaborative/RUI: Late-Quaternary Glacial and Paleoclimate History of the Uinta Mountains, Northeastern Utah (with David Mickelson and Brad Singer, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
  • Vermont EPSCoR: Acquisition of a Modern Thermogravimetric Analyzer for Use in Making Percent Loss-On-Ignition Measurements of Sediment Organic Content at Middlebury College
  • NSF International Program: Final research planning visit for collaborative study of the extent of Late Pleistocene glaciation on the Eastern Qinghai-Xizang Plateau
  • USGS EDMAP Program: Geologic mapping of the southern Lake Fork Mtn. quadrangle, Uinta Mountains, northeastern Utah

Publications

1.      Laabs, B.J.C., Refsnider, K.A., Munroe, J.S., Mickelson, D.M., Applegate, P.J., Singer, B.S., and Caffee., M.W., 2009: Latest Pleistocene glacial chronology of the Uinta Mountains: Support for Moisture-Driven Asynchrony of the Last Deglaciation. Quaternary Science Reviews, 28: 1171-1187.

  1. Munroe, J.S., 2008: “Alpine Soils on Mt. Mansfield, Vermont, USA: Pedology, History, and Intraregional Comparison” Soil Science Society of America Journal, 72(2): 524-533.
  2. Munroe, J.S., Doolittle, J.A., Kanevskiy, M.Z., Hinkel, K.M., Jones, B.M., Shur, Y., Nelson, F.E., Kimble, J.M., 2007: Application of Ground-Penetrating Radar Imagery for Three-Dimensional Visualization of Near-Surface Structures in Ice-Rich Permafrost, Barrow, Alaska. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 18(4): 309-321.
  3. Munroe, J.S., Ryan, P.C., Carlson, H.A.*, and Miller, E.K., 2007: Testing Latest Wisconsinan Ice Flow Directions in Vermont through Quantitative X-ray Diffraction Analysis of Soil Mineralogy. Northeastern Geology and Environmental Sciences, 29(4): 263-275.
  4. Munroe, J.S., 2007: Properties of Alpine Soils Associated with Well-Developed Sorted Polygons in the Uinta Mountains, Utah, U.S.A. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 39(4): 578-591.
  5. Munroe, J.S., 2007: Exploring Relationships Between Watershed Properties and Holocene Loss-On-Ignition Records in High-Elevation Lakes, Southern Uinta Mountains, Utah, U.S.A. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 39(4): 556-565.
  6. Porinchu, D.F., Moser, K.M., and Munroe, J.S., 2007: Development of a Midge-Based Summer Surface Water Temperature Inference Model for the Great Basin of the Western United States. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 39(4): 566-567.
  7. Laabs, B.J.C., Munroe, J.S., Rosenbaum, J.G., Refsnider, K.A., Mickelson, D.M., Singer, B.S., and Caffee, M.W., 2007: Chronology of the Last Glacial Maximum in the Upper Bear River Basin, Utah. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 39(4): 537-548.
  8. Munroe, J.S., Laabs, B.J.C., Moser, K.A., and Gurrieri, J.T., 2007: UINTAS 2006: the Uinta Interdisciplinary Assessment Symposium, Snowbird, Utah, May 2006—Introduction. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 39(4): 517-520.
  9. Munroe, J.S., 2007: In the In the Footsteps of Timothy O’Sullivan: Rephotographing the 1869 King Survey in the Headwaters of the Bear River, Uinta Mountains. Utah Historical Quarterly, 75: 238-257.
  10. Roush, W.*, Munroe, J.S., and Fagre, D.B., 2007: Using Ground-Based Repeat Photography and Spatial Analysis Tools to Detect Changes in the Alpine Treeline Ecotone, Glacier National Park, Montana. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 39: 297-308.
  11. Munroe, J.S., Farrugia, G.*, and Ryan, Peter C., 2007: Parent material and chemical weathering in alpine soils on Mt. Mansfield, Vermont, USA. Catena 70:39-48.
  12. Munroe, J. S., Laabs, B.J.C., Shakun, J.D.*, Singer, B.S., Mickelson, D.M., Refsnider, K., and Caffee, M. 2006: Latest Pleistocene advance of alpine glaciers in the southwestern Uinta Mountains, Utah, USA: Evidence for the influence of local moisture sources. Geology 34: 841-844.
  13. Colgan, P. M., Munroe, J. S., and Zhou, S., 2006: Cosmogenic nuclide evidence for the limited extent of Late Glacial Maximum glaciers in the Tanggula Shan of the central Tibetan Plateau. Quaternary Research, 65: 336-339.
  14. Munroe, J. S., 2006: Investigating the spatial distribution of summit flats in the Uinta Mountains of northeastern Utah, USA. Geomorphology, 75: 437-449.
  15. Munroe, J. S., Laabs, B. J. C., and Carson, E. C., 2006: “Quaternary landscape change and modern process in western North America. Geomorphology, 75: 281-282.
  16. Munroe, J. S., 2005: Glacial geology of the northern Uinta Mountains. in Dehler et al., eds., Uinta Mountain Geology: Salt Lake City, Utah, Utah Geological Association Publication 33.
  17. Munroe, J. S., Laabs, B. J. C., Pederson, J. L., and Carson, E. C., 2005: From cirques to canyon cutting: New Quaternary research in the Uinta Mountains. in Pederson, J. L., and Dehler, C. M., eds., Interior Western United States: Geological Society of America Field Guide 6, p. 53-78.
  18. Carson, E. C. and Munroe, J. S., 2005: Tree-ring based reconstruction of streamflow for Ashley Creek, northeastern Utah: Implications for paleohydrology of the southern Uinta Mountains. The Holocene, 14(4): 602-611.
  19. Munroe, J. S., 2003: Estimates of Little Ice Age climate inferred through historical rephotography, northern Uinta Mountains, U.S.A. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research, 35(4): 489-498.
  20. Bockheim, J. G., O’Brien, J. D., Munroe, J. S., and Hinkel, K.M., 2003: Factors affecting the distribution of Populus balsamifera on the North Slope of Alaska, U.S.A. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research, 35(3): 331-340.
  21. Munroe, J. S., 2003: Holocene timberline and palaeoclimate of the northern Uinta Mountains, northeastern Utah, U.S.A. The Holocene, 13(2): 175-185.
  22. Munroe, J. S. and Mickelson, D. M., 2002: Reconstruction of latest Pleistocene alpine glacier equilibrium line altitudes and paleoclimate, northern Uinta Mountains, northeastern Utah, U.S.A. Journal of Glaciology, 48(161): 257-266.
  23. Munroe, J. S., 2002: Timing of post-glacial cirque reoccupation in the northern Uinta Mountains, northeastern Utah, U.S.A. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research, 34(1): 38-48.
  24. Munroe, J. S. and Bockheim, J. G., 2001:  Soil development in low-arctic tundra of the northern Brooks Range, Alaska. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research, 33(1): 78-87.
  25. Bockheim, J. G., Munroe, J. S., Douglass, D. C., and Koerner, D., 2000: Soil development along an elevational gradient in the southeastern Uinta Mountains, Utah, USA. Catena, 39: 169-185.

 

*Student-co-author

Abstracts

·        2009 AGU abstract “Developing the Late Quaternary Record of Pluvial Lake Clover, Northern Great Basin, U.S.A.” co-authored with B. Laabs

·        2009 AGU abstract “A 7000-year Lacustrine Record from Angel Lake, Nevada” co-authored with B. Laabs

·        2009 GSA abstract “A Lacustrine Sedimentary Record of Neoglaciation in the Uinta Mountains, Utah” co-authored with M. Bigl*

·        2009 NE-GSA abstract “Paleoclimatic Significance of Equilibrium Line Altitudes in the Northeastern Great Basin during the Angel Lake Glaciation” co-authored with M. Badding* and B. Laabs

·        2009 NE-GSA abstract “Grain-Size Data from Lacustrine Sedimentary Records Provide Constraints on the Timing of Alpine Loess Deposition in the Uinta Mountains of Northeastern Utah” co-authored with L. Corbett*, L. Duran*, B. Fisher*, A. Peters*, and B. Laabs

·        2008 GSA abstract “Glacial and Pluvial Records of the Angel Lake Glaciation in Northeastern Nevada and Inferences of Latest Pleistocene Climate” co-authored with B. Laabs

·        2008 NE-GSA abstract “A Multi-Proxy Investigation of Lake Sediments from the Uinta Mountains, Utah” co-authored with L. Corbett*

·        2007 AGU abstract “Evidence of Regional Warming during the 20th Century in Alpine and Subalpine Lakes in the Western United States” co-authored with D. Porinchu, S. Reinemann, A. Potito, K. Moser, G. MacDonald, B. Mark, and J. Box

·        2007 AGU abstract “Cosmogenic Surface-Exposure Age Limits for Latest-Pleistocene Glaciation and Paleoclimate Inferences in the American Fork Canyon, Wasatch Mountains, Utah, U.S.A.” co-authored with B. Laabs, E. Bash, K. Refsnider, R. Becker, D. Mickelson, and B. Singer

·        2007 INQUA abstract “Investigating Post-Glacial Environmental Gradients with Lacustrine Sedimentary Records: An Example from the Uinta Mountains of Northeastern Utah, U.S.A.:

·        2007 NE-GSA abstract “Glacial geology of the Nulhegan Basin area, northeastern Vermont, USA”

·        2007 NE-GSA abstract “Post-glacial lake sediment records from northeastern Vermont, USA” co-authored with C. Rodgers*

·        2006 AGU abstract “New Cosmogenic Beryllium-10 Exposure-Age Limits on Terminal Moraines of the Last Glaciation in the Bear River Drainage, Uinta Mountains, Utah” co-authored with B. Laabs, J. Rosenbaum, and K. Refsnider

·        2006 AGU abstract “High Resolution Analysis of Sub-fossil Midges from the Great Basin, United States Provides Evidence of 20th Century Warming” co-authored with D. Porinchu, A. Potito, G. MacDonald, and K. Moser

·        2006 GSA abstract “Parent material and chemical weathering in alpine soils on Mt. Mansfield, Vermont, USA” co-authored with Gianina Farrugia* and Pete Ryan, Middlebury College

·        2006 GSA abstract “Vermont Terroir: Investigating the relationship between maple syrup chemistry and bedrock lithology” co-authored with Lee Corbett*, Middlebury College

·        2006 GSA abstract “Cosmogenic radionuclide 10Be exposure ages for two glacial advances in the  Boduizangbu and Palongzangbu river valleys, southeastern Tibetan Plateau” co-authored with Pat Colgan, Zhou Shangzhe, Xu Liu Bing, Danny Douglass, Kurt Refsnider, and Dave Mickelson

·        2006  AMQUA abstract “Lacustrine loss-on-ignition records from the southern Uinta Mountains”

·        2005 GSA abstract “Lacustrine loss-on-ignition records from the southern Uinta Mountains”

·        2005 GSA abstract “New evidence of synchroneity between deglaciation of the Uinta Mountains and the fall of Lake Bonneville” co-authored with Ben Laabs, Gustavus Adolphus College, Jeremy Shakun*, Middlebury College, and Marc Caffee, Purdue PRIMELab

·        2005 NE-GSA abstract “Investigating alpine pedogenesis on Mt. Mansfield, Vermont” co-authored with Gianina Farrugia*, Middlebury College

·        2004 GSA abstract “Evidence for multiple glaciations of the Tanggula Shan of the central Tibetan Plateau”

·        2003 GSA abstract “A lacustrine sedimentary record of the Holocene climatic optimum in the Uinta Mountains, northeastern Utah”

·        2003 GSA abstract “Last Glacial Maximum equilibrium-line altitudes and paleoclimate, northeastern Utah” co-authored with Jeremy Shakun*, U. Massachusetts-Amherst

·        2003 GSA abstract “Cosmogenic-exposure age limits on the last glacial maximum in the south-central Uinta Mountains, northeastern Utah” co-authored with Ben Laabs, U. Wisconsin-Madison

·        2003 INQUA abstract “Past and present glacier extent in the Tanggula Shan of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China” co-authored with Pat Colgan, Grand Valley State University, and Zhou Shangzhe, Guangzhou University

·        2002 GSA abstract “A 5000-year record of fire and sedimentary response for the Uinta Mountains, northeastern Utah” co-authored with Jamie Laidlaw*, Middlebury College link to poster

·        2002 AMQUA abstract “Application of historical rephotography for quantifying post-Little Ice Age changes in timberline forests, northern Uinta Mountains, northeastern Utah”

·        2001 GSA abstract “Reconstructed late Pleistocene glacier equilibrium line altitudes provide evidence for lake-effect snow from Lake Bonneville”

·        2001 GSA abstract “Dendrochronology-based reconstruction of stream for Ashley Creek and Whiterocks River, Uinta Mountains, northeastern Utah” co-authored with Eric Carson, U. Wisconsin-Madison

·        2000 GSA abstract  "Post-Last Glacial Maximum history of the northern Uinta Mountains inferred from upper subalpine geomorphology, palynology and radiocarbon dating"

·        2000 GSA abstract "Climate required for Holocene glaciation in the Uinta Mountains, Utah" co-authored with Keith Brugger, U. Minnesota-Morris

·        2000 AMQUA abstract  "Sedimentology and paleoenvironments of Holocene valley fills from the upper Henrys Fork river basin, Uinta Mountains, northeastern Utah"

·        2000 GSA Rocky Mountain abstract  "Radiocarbon dates provide constrains on the extent of Neoglaciation in the Uinta Mountains, northeastern Utah"

·        1999 GSA abstract "Structural controls on dynamics of alpine glaciers of the northern Uinta Mountains during the Smiths Fork and Blacks Fork glaciations"

·        1998 GSA abstract "Physical and chemical evidence for eolian additions to subalpine soils in the eastern Uinta Mountains, northeastern Utah"

·        1998 GSA North-Central abstract "Soils in the glaciated headwaters of South Fork Ashley Creek, Uinta Mountains, northeastern Utah"

·        1998 GSA North-Central abstract "Anomalous Hummocky Lateral Moraines in the Eastern Uinta Mountains, Northeastern Utah: Evidence for Extensive Mass-Wasting-Derived Supraglacial Debris?"

* denotes student co-author

Reports to the US Forest Service

  • Surficial Geology of the Northern Uinta Mountains (6/21/01)
  • Glacial Geomorphology of the Northern Uinta Mountains (6/21/01)
  • Descriptions of the Glaciated Valleys of the Northern Uinta Mountains (6/21/01)
  • An Analysis of the Geologic and Hydrologic Factors Leading to the Dry Fork Slope Failure, May 18, 1997 (6/26/00)
  • Preliminary report of investigations of two sediment cores from Lily Lake (3/20/00)
  • Sedimentology and paleoenvironments of Holocene valley fills in the upper Henrys Fork drainage: a preliminary report of investigations (3/22/99)
  • Factors governing the origin and persistence of upper subalpine dry meadows in the Whiterocks Basin, Uinta Mountains, northeastern Utah: An outline of proposed investigations and preliminary report (11/18/98)

Link to c.v.

Last updated by J. Munroe 9/8/09