Joanne (Jody) Bourgeois
Emeritus Professor
Participating Faculty, UW Quaternary Research Center
Office: JHN-332
Phone: 206-685-2443
Fax: 206-543-0489 (shared)
Email: [javascript protected email address]
Interests: Sedimentology and Stratigraphy, Paleoseismology & Neotectonics
Research Groups: Sedimentology/Stratigraphy/Sedimentary Petrology, Quaternary Research, Paleoseismology and Neotectonics
Current Research:
Jody Bourgeois' main research interests are: environmental and process analysis of clastic sediments and sedimentary rocks; interpretation of sedimentary structures; and tectonics and sedimentation. She also teaches and does research in the history of geology, believing that exploration of the philosophy and methodology that have driven scientific inquiry leads to more fruitful generation and testing of hypotheses, and to more critical analysis of present-day models. Bourgeois also served a two-year stint as a Program Director in the Earth Sciences Division of the National Science Foundation.
Bourgeois' own research in sedimentary geology has concentrated on analysis of terrigenous shallow-marine and coastal environments. Her students have worked on sediments ranging from proximal-fluvial to deep-marine environments. Expertise at the University of Washington in sedimentology, surface processes, oceanography, and paleontology/zoology provides excellent opportunities to study and compare modern and ancient sedimentary processes and environments. Critical to these studies is the rigorous analysis of sedimentary structures and textures, incorporating modern concepts of sediment transport and animal-sediment interactions.
Strengths in structure, tectonics and seismology at the University of Washington allow Bourgeois' students to do critical work related to these areas. Recently, Bourgeois and her students have focused on paleo-tsunami deposits as a key to paleoseismicity, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and the Russian Far East. Her students and colleagues are also looking at a number of topics related to Quaternary coastal history of these regions. Bourgeois has also been involved in documenting evidence for paleo-mega-tsunamis associated with asteroid impacts.
Graduate Research:
Andrew Moore: Paleotsunami deposits in Puget Sound and Hawaii
Bretwood Higman: Sedimentology of tsunami and other event deposits
Charlies Thibault: Coastal geomorphology on Kamchatka
Elizabeth Pitts Mahrt: Coastal history of archaeological sites, Kodiak Archipelago
Russian collaborators' research:
Vera Ponomareva: Tephrachronology and volcanic history, Kamchatka
Tatiana Pinegina: Geomorphology and paleoseismology, Kamchatka
Veronika Dirksen: Palynology, vegetation history in the Russian Far East