Southeast Alaska is a majestic wonderland known for spectacular cruise-ship scenery, world-class fishing and abundant wildlife. It is also a natural laboratory for exploring the legacy of enormous Ice Age glaciers and dramatic sea level changes, all set against the rich history of a Native Alaskan homeland.
This talk highlights an ongoing University at Buffalo research program that uses geological and biological techniques to reconstruct past changes in volcanic eruptions, Ice Age glaciers, sea level rise and fall, ecosystem shifts and swings in climate.
Dr. Jason Briner is Professor of Earth Sciences at the University at Buffalo. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington (1996), a master’s degree from Utah State University (1998), and a PhD from the University of Colorado (2003).
His research on the history of ice sheets, glaciers and sea level rise has appeared in numerous peer-reviewed journal publications. Briner’s fieldwork has taken him and his students above the Arctic Circle more than 40 times.
He uses a wide range of geological methods to reconstruct the history of climate and ice in regions such as Alaska, Norway and Greenland.
Briner teaches introductory courses on climate change, classes for geology majors on geomorphology and advanced courses on glaciers and paleoclimate. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
