Dr. Stephen R. Meyers

(Photo © Gigi Cohen)

Dr. Stephen R. Meyers
Assistant Professor
Department of Geoscience
UW-Madison

Ph.D., Northwestern University, 2003

Quantitative Stratigraphy, Paleoclimatology, Sedimentary Geochemistry

Download Curriculum Vitae

COURSES TAUGHT AT UW-Madison:

GEOSCI 100: General Geology (3 credit hours)

An introduction to how the Earth works, from the inner core to the climate system. Topics to be covered include: the Earth's heat engine, volcanoes, mountain formation, earthquakes, plate tectonics, and climate change. Last offered Spring 2011. Next offered Spring 2012.

Go to the website for this class

GEOSCI 732: Geochemistry of Sediments (3 credit hours)

An introduction to the chemistry of sediments (chemical sedimentology). The objective of this course is to develop a thorough understanding the processes that control the chemistry of marine and lacustrine sediments, with a special emphasis on the theoretical basis for commonly used paleoenvironmental proxies. Topics to be covered include: controls on the composition of seawater; sedimentary diagenesis near the sediment-water interface; the description and classification of marine and lacustrine sediments; lithogenous, biogenous, hydrogenous, volcanogenic and cosmogenic sedimentary components; patterns of sediment distribution in the world’s oceans; the measurement of time in the paleoclimate archive; a survey of common isotopic, organic, and elemental (trace, minor, major) proxies for paleoenvironmental change. Next offered Fall 2012.

GEOSCI 875: Advanced Topics in Geology, Chronostratigraphy (2 credit hours)

Co-taught with Dr. Bradley Singer. Last offered Fall 2010.

GEOSCI 875, Section 2: Advanced Topics in Geology: Rhythms in Global Climate (3 credit hours)

An overview of the mechanisms of cyclic climate change, and a review of the geologic evidence for these climate rhythms. We will investigate the theoretical basis for cyclic climate changes on a wide range of timescales (millions of years to decades), with a particular emphasis on the Milankovitch orbital cycles. Some specific topics to be covered include: • Regional and global climate responses to orbital-insolation change. • Millennial-scale paleoclimate variability and abrupt climate change during the Pleistocene and Holocene. • Stochastic versus deterministic forcing of climate and sedimentation. • Astrochronology and the geologic time scale. • An introduction to quantitative methods for assessment of cyclic climate change. Last offered Fall 2011.

COURSES TAUGHT AT UNC-Chapel Hill (January 2006-May 2009):

GEOL 101: Introductory Physical Geology

GEOL 202: Earth Systems History

GEOL 507: Rhythms in Global Climate and the Stratigraphic Record

GEOL 513 (a.k.a. GEOL 512): Sedimentary Geochemistry (and the Paleoclimate Archive)