Richard L Reynolds
I investigate how climatic variability, weather, and land uses affect surfaces and ecosystems of deserts, with emphasis on sediment eroded, transported, and deposited by wind, mostly as atmospheric dust.
My studies probe the geologic, biologic, and human controls on dust generation as well as the mineralogic and geochemical properties of dust that in turn affect climate, weather, ecosystem health, water resources (effects of dust on melting of snow and ice), ocean fertility, and the health of a large proportion of earth’s people. I have also conducted research on:
- Hawaiian coral-reef health in settings of coastal erosion
- Quaternary climate and responses of landscapes to climatic change and human activities
- Iron-sulfur diagenesis and its effects on lake-sediment paleoenvironmental records
- Magnetic and chemical records of airborne pollution and environmental change
- Paleomagnetism of Tertiary and Quaternary sedimentary and igneous rocks
- Sources of magnetic anomalies in the shallow crust
- Field geology, Antarctica (1970-1971; 1978-1979)
Professional Experience
Research Geologist, USGS (periodic supervisory positions) 1975-2012
Acting Program Manager, Global Change Program USGS 2002
Senior Scientist, USGS 2012-2013 Emeritus since 2013
Adjunct Research Professor, Univ. of Minnesota
Affiliate, Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research Univ. of Colorado
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Univ. of Colorado, 1975
M.S., Univ. of Colorado, 1970
A.B., Princeton University, 1968
Affiliations and Memberships*
Geological Society of America; Fellow
American Geophysical Union. Assoc. Editor, Jour. Geophysical Res. 1992-1995
Yellowstone-Bighorn Research Assoc.
American Quaternary Assoc.
International Medical Geology Assoc.
International Society for Aeolian Research (guest editor, 2013-14; Board of Directors, 2014-2016)
Honors and Awards
2012 Elected Senior Scientist, USGS
2012-2014 Distinguished Visiting Scholar, School of Geography and the Environment, Univ. of Oxford
2011 Astor Visiting Lecturer for the Humanities, Univ. of Oxford
2007 Co-recipient, Kirk Bryan Award; best publication in Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology, Geological Society of America
Meritorious Service Award, Dept. of the Interior (1995)
1995 Best Paper Award, Jour. Great Lakes Res.
1994 Elected Fellow, Geological Society of America
1993 Visiting Fellow, Institute for Rock Magnetism, Univ. Minnesota
1992 Best Paper Award, Geophysics
Science and Products
Iron oxide minerals in dust of the Red Dawn event in eastern Australia, September 2009
Composition of dust deposited to snow cover in the Wasatch Range (Utah, USA): Controls on radiative properties of snow cover and comparison to some dust-source sediments
Mercury deposition and methylmercury formation in Narraguinnep Reservoir, southwestern Colorado, USA
Biological effects of desert dust in respiratory epithelial cells and a murine model
The role of dust storms in total atmospheric particle concentrations at two sites in the western U.S.
Iron mineralogy and bioaccessibility of dust generated from soils as determined by reflectance spectroscopy and magnetic and chemical properties--Nellis Dunes recreational area, Nevada
Aeolian controls of soil geochemistry and weathering fluxes in high-elevation ecosystems of the Rocky Mountains, Colorado
Spatial and temporal patterns of dust emissions (2004-2012) in semi-arid landscapes, southeastern Utah, USA
Post-fire land treatments and wind erosion -- lessons from the Milford Flat Fire, UT, USA
Fingerprinting of glacial silt in lake sediments yields continuous records of alpine glaciation (35–15 ka), western USA
Physical, chemical, and mineralogical data from surficial deposits, groundwater levels, and water composition in the area of Franklin Lake playa and Ash Meadows, California and Nevada
Dust: Small-scale processes with global consequences
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Iron oxide minerals in dust of the Red Dawn event in eastern Australia, September 2009
Composition of dust deposited to snow cover in the Wasatch Range (Utah, USA): Controls on radiative properties of snow cover and comparison to some dust-source sediments
Mercury deposition and methylmercury formation in Narraguinnep Reservoir, southwestern Colorado, USA
Biological effects of desert dust in respiratory epithelial cells and a murine model
The role of dust storms in total atmospheric particle concentrations at two sites in the western U.S.
Iron mineralogy and bioaccessibility of dust generated from soils as determined by reflectance spectroscopy and magnetic and chemical properties--Nellis Dunes recreational area, Nevada
Aeolian controls of soil geochemistry and weathering fluxes in high-elevation ecosystems of the Rocky Mountains, Colorado
Spatial and temporal patterns of dust emissions (2004-2012) in semi-arid landscapes, southeastern Utah, USA
Post-fire land treatments and wind erosion -- lessons from the Milford Flat Fire, UT, USA
Fingerprinting of glacial silt in lake sediments yields continuous records of alpine glaciation (35–15 ka), western USA
Physical, chemical, and mineralogical data from surficial deposits, groundwater levels, and water composition in the area of Franklin Lake playa and Ash Meadows, California and Nevada
Dust: Small-scale processes with global consequences
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government