Faculty & Staff Updates

Written by Ken Miller and Crystal Pletka After more than five decades of pioneering research, distinguished teaching, and international scientific leadership, including a 25-year career at Rutgers University, Marie-Pierre Aubry retires, having transformed our understanding of Earth's history and...

Written by Dr. Ken Miller, Board of Governors Professor James Van Buren Browning (Jim) came to Rutgers after earning his master’s with Dave Bottjer at USC to work in paleontology with George McGhee. Along the way, he developed an interest in benthic foraminifera and sequence stratigraphy and...

The Rutgers University Geology Museum, America’s first geology museum and a cornerstone of geoscience education since 1872, is entering an exciting new chapter with a leadership transition. Celebrating the Leadership of Dr. Lauren Neitzke Adamo After nearly 17 years of dedicated service, the...

EPS welcomes our newest faculty member, Dr. Yoshinori Miyazaki! Yoshi joins us from Caltech, where he spent four years as a Stanback Postdoctoral Fellow. He received his B.Sc. from the University of Tokyo and his Ph.D. from Yale University in the Department of Geology and Geophysics. Yoshi is a...

Shaunna joins us from the Carnegie Science Earth and Planets Laboratory (EPL) after spending 5 years there as an Endowed Carnegie Research Scientist. Prior to that, she was a postdoctoral fellow at EPL, and received her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Arizona Department of Geosciences. Shaunna explores...

Paleontologist, Distinguished Professor at Rutgers University George R. McGhee Jr. passed away on December 21, 2023 at RWJBH University Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ. Born September 25, 1951 in Henderson, NC. He received the B.S. degree with honors, from North Carolina State University and a...

Arriving at Rutgers in 1998, following over 30 years at Lamont/Columbia Dennis Kent started as a faculty/researcher in our department serving on the faculty for 22 years.  While at Rutgers, Dennis attained the titles of Distinguished Professor and Board of Governor’s Professor and was elected to...

Written by Roy Schlische with contributions from Michael Durcanin and Alissa Henza On July 1, 2020, after 20 years at Rutgers, Dr. Martha Oliver Withjack made the transition from tenured professor to professor emerita. We wish Martha all the best during this next phase of her life. Below are some...

Dr. Claude Herzberg retired this past year after 41 years of teaching and research at Rutgers. Claudebegan his career as a petrologist, teaching introductory geology and petrology to undergraduates and advanced petrology to graduate students. In later years, as his vision expanded tocover more...

Emily received her MS from Rutgers (2012) and a PhD from Baylor (2015). She did post-doctoral research at Georgia State Univ. (2016-17) and Univ. of Michigan (2017-2018) collaborating with Naomi Levin and Ben Passey. Emily’s research is cutting edge working at the interface of sedimentology, soil...

Honoring an EPS Fixture Written by Dr. Gail Ashley and Dr. Martha Withjack It is with great sadness that we report the death of our colleague, Robert E. Sheridan, on October 7, 2021. Bob was a dedicated teacher, mentor, and scholar, and he was a strong advocate for a comprehensive, rigorous...

Examining Volcanic Magmas and Planetary Interiors Ben joined EPS in 2021 after spending 5 years at CUNY City as an Assistant Professor. Prior to that, he was a postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley, and he received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Ben’s research relates the...

Saying Goodbye After Teaching Paleontology for Over Four Decades  Written by Ken Miller Following 42 years of teaching, research, and service, Distinguished Professor George McGhee retired in 2020 and assumed a position as Emeritus Professor. George received his PhD under David Raup from the...

Look to the Red Planet and Beyond! Written by Lauren Neitzke Adamo Dr. Lujendra (Luju) Ojha joined the faculty in Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS) in 2019 after completing a prestigious Balustein Postdoctoral Fellow and a Research Scientist, in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at...

End of an Era with Dr. Gail Ashley's Retirement Written by Jim Browning After teaching Sedimentology to several generations of geology students and supervising 39 graduate students, Distinguished Professor Gail Ashley retired at the end of 2018. Gail received her PhD from the University of British...

Studying and Teaching About the Building Blocks of Our Solar System Written by Lauren Neitzke Adamo The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS) would like to welcome Dr. Katherine Bermingham to the faculty. Katherine joined EPS in January 2020 after spending 2 years as a Research...