ACADEMICS


  •   Douglas Kowalewski Profile Picture

    Douglas E. Kowalewski

    Contact Information
    Office ST-310 Q
    508-929-8646
    douglas.kowalewski@worcester.edu
    Kowalewski's Research Page
     
    Education
    Ph.D., Boston University
    B.S., Virginia Tech

    Teaching Interests
    Kowalewski emphasizes applying the scientific method in his intro and upper level classes where he introduces students to fieldwork, laboratory analysis, and computational modeling for understanding earth’s major systems and the dynamic interactions between the solid earth, the frozen earth, the atmosphere, and anthropogenic forcing. Kowalewski currently teaches the following courses: Physical Geography, Global Warming and Energy Resources, Geomorphology, Climate Change in Earth’s History, Hydrogeology, Introduction to Soil Science, and Modeling in the Geosciences.

    Outreach
    Doug Kowalewski launched a program in 2005 entitled “AntarcticKids” that introduces young students to Antarctica through participating (remotely) in field research and conducting experiments with exciting discoveries. The program incorporates the scientific method, highlighting data collection, synthesis, and interpretation. The students “take part” in Antarctic research (as least through satellite phone conversations with researchers in the field and direct email communication), and ask hypothesis to be tested. The program strives to complement class curriculum and comply with State requirements while enhancing hands-on learning. Please contact Doug to learn more about this interactive science program for your K-12 classroom.

    For videos Kowalewski created while he was in Antarctica, please visit the  Ice Stories Web Page  

  • Courses Taught
    • Physical Geography (GS101)
    • First Year Seminar: Global Warming and Energy Resources (GS193)
    • Geomorphology (GS210)
    • Introduction to Soil Science (GS260)
    • Hydrogeology (GS335)
    • Climate Change in Earth’s History (GS365)
    Research
    Validating contrasting climate-sensitive Pliocene deposits
    A divergence in interpretation of paleoclimate reconstructions occurs in one of the most thoroughly studied sectors of Antarctica: the McMurdo Sound region of southern Victoria Land. Exceptionally high-quality Neogene sediment records recently recovered by ANDRILL (ANtarctic DRILLing) suggests multiple events of open-water conditions and elevated sea-surface temperatures at times when terrestrial data, through linking landforms with climate, from the McMurdo Dry Valleys (~100 km distant) call for enduring hyper-arid cold desert conditions These two records have resulted in vastly differing interpretations concerning regional Pliocene climate and the associated stability of the Antarctic Ice Sheets. I have collected meteorological data mapping micro-climatic zones in the McMurdo Dry Valleys and determining conditions required for long-term stability of landforms.

    Evolution and sublimation of ancient buried glacier ice
    Growing interest in our planet’s climate history has placed a premium on acquiring detailed records of past climate change. Of considerable interest are archives of ancient atmosphere trapped within the debris-covered alpine glaciers of the western Dry Valleys region of Antarctica. I established a model explaining the development of the sublimation till. This till caps and protects the underlying glacier ice from rapid rates of sublimation. To better examine the rates of ice loss in the McMurdo Dry Valleys I use a 2D vapor transport model investigating rates of ice loss through the sublimation till. Overall, model results are consistent with an inferred Miocene age for distal portions of the Mullins Valley debris-covered glacier and for a stagnant lobe of glacier ice in central Beacon Valley. The results suggest that ancient atmosphere may be preserved in buried glaciers in the western Dry Valleys.

    Influence of West Antarctic Ice Sheet on Antarctic climate past and future
    Strong evidence from off-shore sediment cores in the Ross Embayment (i.e. the ANDRILL record) suggests periodic retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) during warmer periods in the Pliocene. Similarly, ice sheet models predict potential instability of WAIS during warm Neogene interglacials. Here I investigate regional Antarctic climate with removal of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to look at climate modifications and the response of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. This will help scientists understand stability of the Ice Sheets for the current warming trend.

    The regional climate model simulation focuses on a warmer timeframe (Marine Isotope Stage 31), where there is an absence of ice shelves yet carbon dioxide levels are similar to that of today. Initial climate model simulations with a reduced WAIS suggest an inherent stability exists (i.e. cold climate conditions) within the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) and predicts greater precipitation in the form of snow. The climate model predicts that variability in ice sheet configuration has a high impact on wind magnitude and seasonal sea ice extent.

    Mars Analogs
    The McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica have commonly been used as an analog for Mars; analogies are due in part to the regions hyper-arid and cold climate as well as its abundance of similar-appearing microscale and macroscale morphological features such as gullies, lineated valley fill, and polygons. With the recent direct observations of water ice on Mars from the NASA Phoenix lander and MRO Satellite images, a complete understanding of the physics of buried-ice preservation in Antarctica is becoming increasingly important in helping to model the stability and age of buried ice deposits on Mars.
    Publications
    Golledge, N.R., Kowalewski, D.E., Naish, T.R., Levy, R.H., Fogwill, C.J., Gasson, E.G.W., 2015. The multi-millennial Antarctic commitment to future sea-level rise. Nature.

    Kowalewski, D.E., Marchant, D.R., Head, J.W.III, Jackson, D.W., 2012. Modeling the effects of thermal contraction-crack polygons on sublimation of buried glacier ice, Antarctica. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes.

    DeConto, R.M., Pollard, D., Kowalewski, D.E., 2011. Modeling Antarctic ice sheet and climate variations during Marine Isotope Stage 31. Global and Planetary Change.
     
    Kowalewski, D.E., Marchant, D.R., Swanger, K.M., Head, J.W. III, 2011. Modeling vapor diffusion within cold and dry supraglacial tills of Antarctica: Implications for the preservation of ancient ice. Geomorphology, 126, p. 159-173.

    Swanger, K.M., Marchant, D.R., Kowalewski, D.E., Head, J.W. III, 2010. Viscous flow lobes in central Taylor Valley, Antarctica: origin as remnant buried glacier ice. Geomorphology, 120(3-4), p. 174-185.

    Levy, J.S., Head, J.W. III, Marchant, D.R., Kowalewski, D.E., 2008. Identification of sublimation-type thermal contraction crack polygons at the proposed NASA Phoenix landing site: Implications for substrate properties and climate-driven morphological evolution. Geophysical Research Letters 35, L04202.

    Kowalewski, D.E., Marchant, D.R., Levy, J.S., Head, J.W. III, 2006. Quantifying summertime sublimation rates for buried ice in Beacon Valley, Antarctica. Antarctic Science 18 (3), p. 421-428.

    Lewis, A.R., Marchant, D.M., Kowalewski, D.E., Baldwin, S.L., Webb, L.E, 2006. The age and origin of the Labyrinth, western Dry Valleys, Antarctica: Evidence for extensive middle Miocene subglacial floods and freshwater discharge to the Southern Ocean. Geology 34 (7), p. 513–516.

    De Paor, D.G., Brenton, B.M., Cox, K.F., Duplantis, S.R., Egan, P.T., Kowalewski, D.E., Lancaster, P.J., Masaric-Johnson, C.A., Melanson, H., Orlando, A.J., Sauer, L.M., Witkowski, C.M., 2004. Structural Analysis of Eagle Crater, Meridiani Planum, Mars: New Challenges for the Extraterrestrial Field Geologist. Journal of the Virtual Explorer 14.
    Honors and Grants

    2013

    • Collaborative Research: West Antarctic Ice Sheet stability, alpine glaciation, and climate variability: a terrestrial perspective from cosmogenic-nuclide dating in McMurdo Sound NSF, $640,840 ($41,692 to Worcester State University). PI David Marchant (BU)
    • Preservation of a terrestrial climate record: Determining the age, origin, and stability of shallow ice deposits on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. $4,590. Worcester State University Faculty Mini-Grant


    2012

    • Validating contrasting terrestrial climate-sensitive Pliocene deposits through high resolution modeling of paleo-environments in the Transantarctic Mountains. $160,119. PI: Kowalewski
    • Collaborative Research: Activation of high-elevation alluvial fans in the Transantarctic Mountains, $10,653. Sub award from North Dakota State University. PI Adam Lewis (NDSU)