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
Controls of bedrock geochemistry on soil and plant nutrients in Southeastern Utah
Atmospheric dust in modern soil on aeolian sandstone, Colorado Plateau (USA): Variation with landscape position and contribution to potential plant nutrients
Late Quaternary eolian and alluvial response to paleoclimate, Canyonlands, southeastern Utah
Multi-decadal impacts of grazing on soil physical and biogeochemical properties in southeast Utah
Linking the scales of observation, process, and modeling of dust emissions
Magnetic mineralogy of sediments in Bear Lake and its watershed, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming: Support for paleoenvironmental and paleomagnetic interpretations
The history of recent limnological changes and human impact on Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon
The geochemical and magnetic record of coal combustion products in West Virginia reservoir sediments and soils
Record of late Pleistocene glaciation and deglaciation in the southern Cascade Range: II. Flux of glacial flour in a sediment core from Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon
Basis for paleoenvironmental interpretation of magnetic properties of sediment from Upper Klamath Lake (Oregon): Effects of weathering and mineralogical sorting
Comparison of aerodynamically and model-derived roughness lengths (zo) over diverse surfaces, central Mojave Desert, California, USA
Record of late Pleistocene glaciation and deglaciation in the southern Cascade Range. I. Petrological evidence from lacustrine sediment in Upper Klamath Lake, southern Oregon
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
Controls of bedrock geochemistry on soil and plant nutrients in Southeastern Utah
Atmospheric dust in modern soil on aeolian sandstone, Colorado Plateau (USA): Variation with landscape position and contribution to potential plant nutrients
Late Quaternary eolian and alluvial response to paleoclimate, Canyonlands, southeastern Utah
Multi-decadal impacts of grazing on soil physical and biogeochemical properties in southeast Utah
Linking the scales of observation, process, and modeling of dust emissions
Magnetic mineralogy of sediments in Bear Lake and its watershed, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming: Support for paleoenvironmental and paleomagnetic interpretations
The history of recent limnological changes and human impact on Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon
The geochemical and magnetic record of coal combustion products in West Virginia reservoir sediments and soils
Record of late Pleistocene glaciation and deglaciation in the southern Cascade Range: II. Flux of glacial flour in a sediment core from Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon
Basis for paleoenvironmental interpretation of magnetic properties of sediment from Upper Klamath Lake (Oregon): Effects of weathering and mineralogical sorting
Comparison of aerodynamically and model-derived roughness lengths (zo) over diverse surfaces, central Mojave Desert, California, USA
Record of late Pleistocene glaciation and deglaciation in the southern Cascade Range. I. Petrological evidence from lacustrine sediment in Upper Klamath Lake, southern Oregon
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