Laura Reynolds
Assistant Professor of Earth Science
I am a sedimentary geologist interested in understanding how sedimentary environments have evolved over time. I study how salt marsh, wetland, and lake sediments record the interplay of water level changes, tectonic events, flooding, and human influences. I have worked in both modern and ancient systems, in field sites in California, Texas, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Here at Worcester State, undergraduate students in my lab group are studying: the fire history recorded in estuarine sediments; sediment transport in the Tatnuck watershed; and microplastics in Patch Reservoir, among other projects.
Education
2020
Rutgers University
Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science
Postdoctoral Fellow
2018
University of California Santa Barbara
Geological Science
Ph.D.
2011
Dartmouth College
Environmental Earth Science
BA
Achievements
Publications
Service
Research
Courses
Publications
Please see this link for full and up-to-date list of publications.
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Late Quaternary relative sea level in Southern California and Monterey Bay.
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Tectonic subsidence of California estuaries increases forecasts of relative sea-level rise
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Coastal flooding and the 1861-2 California storm season
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Deltaic response to climate change: The Holocene history of the Nueces Delta
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Marine radiocarbon reservoir values in southern California estuaries: interspecies, latitudinal, and interannual variability.
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Courses
GS140
Physical Geology
Introduction to geological science: plate tectonics, rocks and minerals, local field geology
4 credits
GS225
Oceanography
The principles of physical, chemical, biological, and geological oceanography.
3 credits
GS270
The Sedimentary Record
Modern sedimentary processes, depositional environments, the sedimentary record of earth history, principals of stratigraphy.
4 credits