Source: https://www.stthomas.edu/geology/faculty/kevin-theissen.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 23:20:33+00:00

Document:
GEOL 260 & 460: The Southwestern U.S.
I am a Sedimentary Geochemist and Paleolimnologist, and I apply geological and geochemical methods to study past climate and environmental change including recent human impacts. Sediment cores collected from lakes are a fantastic archive of this kind of information, and student researchers and I are using cores in several projects.
Our understanding of modern climate change relies on a firm grasp of the long and rich history of previous climate trends, cycles, and outliers. My research has focused on Holocene (last 10,000 yrs) sediment core records from small lakes that provide local to regional climate signals. I am currently working on a collaborative project with UST Geology faculty, staff, and students in the Great Basin region of southern Nevada where we are exploring past drought episodes. My students and I apply sedimentology and geochemical methods including elemental and stable isotopic analysis of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen in organic remains and carbonates from lakes.
Humans have transformed the landscape and our influence extends to lakes and streams. I work with collaborators at the Science Museum of Minnesota’s St. Croix Watershed Research Laboratory to collect and reconstruct histories of nutrient inputs and land use change here in Twin Cities metro area lakes. The information is applied by watershed managers to best maintain water resources. A current project is focused on histories from several lakes in the Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed District.
The Polar and near-Polar regions are warming at more than twice the global average. I am interested in climatic change on decadal to millenial scales from these areas and my past research has included work in Antarctica and the Patagonian Andes of South America. Recently, I conceived and co-developed a field course in Iceland that is offered periodically to UST students interested in geology, environmental science, and sustainability.
GEOL 260 and 460: Regional Geology and Field Methods in the Southwestern U.S.
Ramstack Hobbs, J., Hobbs, W., Edlund, M, Zimmer, K., Theissen, K.M., Hoidal, N., Domine, L., Hanson, M., Herwing, B., and Cotner, J. 2016. The legacy of large regime shifts in shallow lakes. Ecological Applications DOI: 10.1002/eap.1382.
Theissen, K.M., Hobbs, W.O., Hobbs, J.M.R., Zimmer, K.D., Domine, L.M., Cotner, J.B., and Sugita, S., 2012. The altered ecology of Lake Christina: A record of regime shifts, land-use change, and management from a temperate shallow lake. Science of the Total Environment, 433, 336-346.
Theissen, K.M., Paces, J.B., and Duggan, J.P. 2018, Strontium and uranium isotopes from lacustrine carbonates as a paleohydrologic tracer in arid wetlands: An example from the Pahranagat Valley, Nevada. AGU Fall Meeting Abstract. Poster presented 12/10/18, Washington, D.C.
Duggan, J.P., Theissen, K.M., Thole, J., Hickson, T.A., Stevens, E.W., and Brundrett, A. 2018, An Investigation of Holocene Microbial Microstructures from Sediments in Lower Pahranagat Lake, Nevada AGU Fall Meeting Abstract. Poster presented 12/10/18, Washington, D.C.
Theissen, K.M., Hickson, T.A., Brundrett, A.L., and Horns, S.E. 2017. a 5600-year record of paleohydroclimate from Lower Pahranagat Lake, southern Great Basin Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 49, No. 6 doi: 10.1130/abs/2017AM-305857.
Theissen, K.M. and Hickson, T.A. 2017. Science for the common good: an undergraduate geoscience program partners with Watershed Districts in the Twin Cities Metro Area Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 49, No. 6 doi: 10.1130/abs/2017AM-305620.
Houle G., Duncanson, S.P., Theissen K.M., and Edlund, M.B. 2016. Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed investigations using geochemical analyses. St. Croix River Research Rendezvous, Marine-on-St. Croix, MN, 10/10/16.
Hickson, T.A.,Theissen, K.M., and Lamb, M.A. 2015. Paleolakes of the Miocene Horse Spring Formation: Extensive microbially mitigated carbonate deposition in a complex rift setting. Sixth Int’l Limnogeology Congress-Abstract Volume, Reno, NV, June 15-19, 2015. USGS Open File Report 2015-1092, pp. 88-89.
Hickson, T.A., Theissen, K.M., and Frahm, J. 2015. Towards a paleohydrological record of the Holocene, Lower Pahranagat Lake, central Nevada. . Sixth Int’l Limnogeology Congress-Abstract Volume, Reno, NV, June 15-19, 2015. USGS Open File Report 2015-1092, p. 90.
Frahm, J.Y. and Theissen, K.M. 2014. A late Holocene paleohydrological record from Lower Pahranagat Lake, central Nevada. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs,v. 46, n. 6, p. 745.
Hickson, T.A., Gastaldo, R.A., Gran, K., MacDonald, H., McDaris, J.R., and Theissen, K.M. 2014. Getting together: reporting on an interdisciplinary workshop for sedimentary geologists, paleontologists, and geomorphologists. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs,v. 46, n. 6, p. 437.
Stevens, E., McNamara, S., Terres, A., Hickson, T.A., and Theissen, K.M. 2014. Modern and ancient microbialite deposits from a shallow alkaline lake: Lower Pahranagat Lake, central Nevada. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs,v. 46, n. 6, p. 726.
Theissen, K.M., Hickson, T.A., and Stevens, E.W., 2014. The Pahranagat Lakes Project: Successfully incorporating original research into an undergraduate field geology course. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 46, n. 5, p.76.
Theissen, K.M., Frahm, J.Y., and Edwards, C.L. 2013. A 2400-year δ18O and δ13C stable isotopic record from Lower Pahranagat Lake suggests hydrological reorganization during the Medieval Climate Anomaly. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs,v. 47, n. 7, p. 552.
Hickson, T., Theissen, K. M., Lamb, M., Frahm, J. Y., Pomerleau, C., Edwards, C L., and Chatmas, E. 2013. Lower Pahranagat Lake: Modern analogue for lacustrine carbonate microbial facies of the Horse Spring Formation? Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 47, n. 7, p. 674.
Hermann, N.W., Theissen, K.M., and Hobbs, W.O. 2013. Caught in the middle: Evaluating the historical condition and potential impairment of Upper Prior Lake, Scott County, MN. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 47, n. 7, p. 781.
Anderson, H., MacGregor, K., Myrbo, A., Riihimaki, C., and Theissen, K. 2013. A historical record of climate change and human impact in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA: Using lacustrine sediment to understand geomorphic, climatic, and anthropogenic influences on a glaciated alpine valley. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 47, n. 7, p. 347.
Hobbs, J.M.R., Hobbs, W.O., Theissen, K., Edlund, M.B., Zimmer, K.D., Domine, L.M., and Cotner, J.B. 2013. A 150-year perspective on stable state theory in shallow lakes form the Prairie Pothole region. Ecological Society of America meeting, Minneapolis, MN August 6.
Hobbs, W.O., Zimmer, K.D., Hanson, M.A., Domine, L.M., Hobbs, J.M.R., Theissen, K., and Cotner, J.B. 2013. Trajectories of long-term ecological change in shallow lakes: allocthonous drivers and autochthonous stability. Ecological Society of America meeting, Minneapolis, MN August 6.
Cotner, J.B., Zimmer, K.D., Hobbs, W.O., Theissen, K., and Domine, L.M. 2013. Terrestrial-aquatic linkages in Prairie Pothole lakes in alternative stable states. Ecological Society of America meeting, Minneapolis, MN August 6.
Hobbs, J.M.R, Hobbs, W., LaFrancois, T., Edlund, E., Theissen, K.M., Zimmer, K., and Hanson, M., 2012. A long-term perspective on anthropogenic activities and management strategies in a prairie wetland. Presented at 2012 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, Calif., 3-7 Dec.
Theissen, K.M., Hobbs, W., Hobbs, J.M.R., Zimmer, K.D., Domine, L., and Cotner, J. 2012. A 200-year record of regime shifts, land-use change, and management from a prairie wetland. GSA Abstracts with Programs v. 44, n.7, p.358.
Chatmas, E., Kennedy-Harper, A., Theissen, K.M., Hermann, N.W., and Hickson, T. 2012. Lower Pahranagat Lake as a modern analog for ancient lacustrine microbialite facies of the Miocene Horse Spring Formation in southern Nevada. GSA Abstracts with Programs v. 44, n.7, p.438.
Climate change is among the most pressing challenges in our world today. In this course we will explore the Earth's climate system and the climatic changes that have occurred during the history of our planet. We will use a number of geological "fingerprints" to examine past climate and modern data to examine climate change in recent decades. You will gain hands-on experience collecting, analyzing, and interpreting climate data in several laboratory projects and in course exercises designed with an emphasis on scientific inquiry and problem solving. Students registering for GEOL 462-01 must also register for lab section GEOL 462-51. Prerequisite: One of GEOL 211, 220, 252 or 260, or permission of the instructor NOTE: Students who receive credit for GEOL 162 may not receive credit for GEOL 462.
Climate change is among the most pressing challenges in our world today. In this course we will explore the Earth's climate system and the climatic changes that have occurred during the history of our planet. We will use a number of geological "fingerprints" to examine past climate and modern data to examine climate change in recent decades. You will gain hands-on experience collecting, analyzing, and interpreting climate data in several laboratory projects and in course exercises designed with an emphasis on scientific inquiry and problem solving. Students registering for this lab must also register for GEOL 462-01 lecture. Prerequisite: One of GEOL 211, 220, 252 or 260, or permission of the instructor NOTE: Students who receive credit for GEOL 162 may not receive credit for GEOL 462.

References: v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.