After nearly 10 years as the Department of Geography Vice-Chair, Dan Montello has relinquished the position to Oliver Chadwick: “As I now pass the duties of Vice-Chair to Oliver Chadwick, I want to thank all of you for your help and accommodation over the years. I know you will join me in wishing Oliver good luck.” Oliver’s position became formal as of July 1. Apart from filling in when the Chair is absent, the Vice-Chair is responsible for Teaching Assistant assignments.
Professor Chadwick is a biogeochemist with research interests in pedology (the study of soils, including their origins, characteristics, and uses), geomorphology, quaternary geology, soil-water-vegetation interactions and landscape relationships, and isotopic fractionations of elements such as silicon during soil evolution.
He uses the Hawaiian Islands and South Africa’s Kruger National Park as well-constrained model systems to understand how rock type, climate, topographic setting, and duration of soil-forming processes affect the biogeochemical patterns that define these and other landscapes. His recent collaborations on coupled Polynesian human-environment dynamics have been published in Science and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and have been summarized in a 93106 article reprinted in our April 18 Events/News as well as in a piece in the Nexus on April 27. Oliver’s personal web site provides more information about past and current research projects as well as the classes he teaches.
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