Overview:
I am a sedimentary geologist and paleobiologist interested in the evolution of Earth’s terrestrial environments and their preservation in the stratigraphic record. My research has been funded in part by the institutions of higher learning that I have been affiliated with over the years. These include Lafayette College, Lawrence University, Colgate University, and the University of Chicago. I have also been supported by external grants from the National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, the US Department of Interior, the National Park Service, the Keck Geology Consortium, the Paleontological Society, the Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM), the Geological Society of America, and the Mellon Foundation.
Projects:
Paleoenvironment and Paleoecology of High-Latitude Forested Ecosystems
My primary research interests are in terrestrial paleoecology of forested ecosystems. My research projects integrate stratigraphic/sedimentological data with fossil plant assemblages in order to address research questions in paleoclimate, plant-insect interactions, and paleoenvironmental reconstruction. I have conducted fieldwork across the northern high latitudes (Alaska, East Greenland, Russia, and Canada) in time periods from the Permian to Eocene.
Cretaceous – Neogene Paleoenvironments of Alaska
– Principle collaborators: Chris Williams (Franklin & Marshall), David Grimaldi (AMNH), Jeff Trop (Bucknell), Carla Tomsich, Sarah Fowell (University of Alaska-Fairbanks), Tim White (Penn State), Jim Baichtal & Anna Harris (USFS)
Other Projects
Microplastics Project
It is becoming increasingly clear how microplastics (<5mm) are ubiquitous in the modern world’s natural ecosystems. How these materials are becoming deposited in beach sands is the subject of our new collaborative research agenda. Over the past few years, my students and I have developed a simple, safe, and inexpensive flotation extraction method and employed it on almost 100 beach sand samples. The work has environmental implications in the regions of the sampling and growing importance as we come to understand the impact and preservation of the human footprint on planet Earth.
Plant Taphonomy Project
What would it look like if you were to take your backyard forest and fossilize it in sediments? Would the rank order of plants in the fossilized version match that of the known standing forest? What sort of plant remains would be under- or over-represented in the fossil signature of that forest? This thought experiment has bearing on how we interpret plant fossil assemblages in the geologic past. How closely do fossil assemblages represent the standing vegetation at the time? How can wood, foliage, and pollen remains give us independent(?) clues to the nature of the forest? To get at these issues, my students and I are analyzing a series of plant litter (wood, leaves, seeds, pollen) samples from modern forests in varied geomorphic settings in order to test their fidelity in approximating the actual forest make-up.
Geoscience Education
I have many ongoing projects in geoscience education research. One of which is a collaborative effort with Dr. L. Malinconico (Lafayette College) on an innovative course curriculum for topics in sedimentary geology, stratigraphy, structural geology, and tectonics. The field-based pedagogy includes a basin analysis and structural mapping project in the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming. This work is supported by Lafayette College and is ongoing.
– iPad applications for field mapping and stratigraphic measuring. In collaboration with Drs. L. Malinconico & C.-W. Liew – StratLogger & GeoFieldBook
Current and Former Research Students: (* = Alaska projects, # = microplastics project, * = plant taphonomy project, * = other projects)
*Ellie Spencer – Lafayette College (’26)
#Liana Wijetunga – Lafayette College (’26)
#Olivia Najjar – Lafayette College (’23) – now at NJ BPU
*Caitlyn Dempsey – Lafayette College (’22) – now at Langan
#Aidan Hinchey – Lafayette College (’22) – now at USGS
*Tessa Landon – Lafayette College (’22)
*Anna Golub – Lafayette College (’19) – now at Scripps Institute of Oceanography
#Rebecca Webster – Lafayette College (’19) – now with the City of Sarasota (FL)
*Justine Perrotti – Lafayette College (’19) – now at Johns Hopkins Univ.
*Nicole Maksymiw – Lafayette College (’18) – now with Environmental Logic
*Freya Morris – Lafayette College (’17) – Ph.D. Cal Tech – now at Whitman College
*Jack Shaw – Lafayette College (’17) – Ph.D. Yale Univ. – now at Santa Fe Institute
*George Tillery – Lafayette College (’17) – M.S. George Washington Univ. – now at Smithsonian
*Liana Agrios – Lafayette College (’14) – M.S. Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
*Annie Aaroe – Lafayette College (’14) – M.S. Texas Tech University – now at Rutgers Univ. Ph.D program
*Jaci White – Lafayette College (’13) – M.S. Univ. of Connecticut
*Alexandria Brannick – Lafayette College (’12) – M.S. Marshall University, Ph.D. Univ. of Washington
*Sean Murphy – Lafayette College (’11) – M.S. Rice University, P.G.
*Jennifer Bell – Lafayette College (’11)
*Michelle Dempsky – Lafayette College (’10) – J.D. Temple University
*Liz Graybill – Lafayette College (’10) – M.S. Ohio University, P.G. – now at RH Magnesita
*Alysia LeComte – Lafayette College (’10) – now at The Spire School (CT)
*Sarah Wildermuth – Lafayette College (’09) – now at Univ. of Kansas
*Garrison Loope – Oberlin College (’09) – M.S. Penn State University
*Nancy E. Parker – Lafayette College (’09) – M.S. UW-Madison
*Eric S. Ricci – Lafayette College (’08) – M.S. James Cook University
*Jennifer Murphy – Lawrence University (’06) – M.S. Vanderbilt University
*Kelsey Lutz – Lawrence University (’07)
*Kristina Nockleby – Lawrence University (’07)
External Committee Member/Reviewer:
Christopher West – University of Saskatchewan (Ph.D. ’19)
Carla Tomsich – University of Alaska, Fairbanks (Ph.D. ’15)
Selected Publications (*student collaborator):
Sunderlin, D. & T.C. Landon. in prep. Forests on an ancient island arc: The paleoflora of the Early Jurassic Talkeetna Volcanic Formation, Alaska.
White, T., Sunderlin, D., & D.C. Bradley. 2022. Stratigraphy, paleoflora, and tectonic setting of the Paleogene Sheep Creek Volcanic Field, central Alaska. USGS Professional Paper
Phillips, C., Sunderlin, D., & T.M. Addy. 2021. Adapting to new modes of teaching during COVID-19: Developing instructional approaches that empower learners and facilitate virtual learning experiences. Journal of Transformative Learning. 8 (1): 10-21.
Golub, A.R.*, Sunderlin, D., Allen, S.E., & H.W. Meyer. 2021. Evaluating the sensitivity of paleoclimate results using different approaches of leaf morphotype resolution: A case study using the Eocene Florissant paleoflora, central Colorado. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 575: 110472.
Trop, J.M., Benowitz, J., Koepp, D., Sunderlin, D., Brueseke, M., Layer, P., & P. Fitzgerald. 2019. Stitch in the Ditch: Fluvial strata and a Tortschunda fault zone dike in the Nutzotin Mountains (Alaska) record ~117 Ma suturing between the Wrangellia terrane and western North America and the initiation of the Totschunda fault zone by ~114 Ma. Geosphere. 16: 1-29.
Grimaldi, D.A., Sunderlin, D., Aaroe, G.A.*, Dempsky, M.R.*, Parker, N.E.*, Tillery, G.Q.*, White, J.G.*, Barden, P., Nascimbene, P.C., & C.J. Williams. 2018. Biological inclusions in amber from the Paleogene Chickaloon Formation of Alaska. American Museum Novitates. 3908: 1-37.
Trop, J.M., Cole, R.B., Sunderlin, D., Hults, C.P., & E. Todd. 2015. Bedrock geology of the Glenn Highway from Anchorage to Sheep Mountain, Alaska. Geological Society of America & Alaska Geological Society. 44 p.
Sunderlin, D., Trop, J.M., Idleman, B.D., Brannick, A.*, White, J.G.*, & L. Grande. 2014. Paleoenvironment and paleoecology of a late Paleocene high-latitude terrestrial succession, Arkose Ridge Formation at Box Canyon, southern Talkeetna Mountains, Alaska. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 401: 57-80.
Williams, C.J. & D. Sunderlin. 2013. Geology, paleoecology and paleoclimate of the Paleogene Chickaloon Formation, Matanuska Valley, Alaska. 26th Annual Keck Symposium. 207-212.
Sunderlin, D. 2012. Ideas for creating a stimulating undergraduate paleobiology course: Emphasis on student-directed learning, evolution, and the chronological succession of Phanerozoic life. in Teaching Paleontology in the 21st Century, M.M. Yacobucci & R. Lockwood (eds.), Paleontological Society Special Paper. 11-20.
Neff, J.*, Hagadorn, J.T., Sunderlin, D., & C.J. Williams. 2011. Sedimentology, facies architecture, and chemostratigraphy of a continental high-latitude Paleocene-Eocene succession – The Chickaloon Formation, Alaska. Sedimentary Geology. 240: 14-29.
Sunderlin, D., Loope, G.*, Parker, N.E.*, & C.J. Williams. 2011. Paleoclimate and paleoecology implication of a Paleocene-Eocene fossil leaf assemblage, Chickaloon Formation, Alaska. Palaios. 26(6): 335-345.
Williams, C.J., Trostle, K.*, & D. Sunderlin. 2010. Fossil wood in coal-forming environments of the Late Paleocene-Early Eocene Chickaloon Formation. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 295: 363-375.
Tomsich, C.S.*, McCarthy, P., Fowell, S.J., & D. Sunderlin. 2010. Paleofloristic and Paleoenvironmental Information from a Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Flora of the Lower Cantwell Formation near Sable Mountain, Denali National Park, Alaska. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 295: 389-408.
Sunderlin, D. 2010. Evidence for a western extension of the Angaran phytogeographic province in the Early Permian. International Journal of Coal Geology. 83: 266-275.
Sunderlin, D. 2009. Integrative mapping of global-scale processes and patterns on “Imaginary Earth” continental geometries as a teaching tool in an Earth History course. Journal of Geoscience Education. 57(1): 73-81
Sunderlin, D. & C.J. Williams. 2009. Paleoecology and paleoenvironment of Early Tertiary Alaskan forests, Matanuska Valley, Alaska. 22nd Annual Keck Symposium. 64-69.
Sunderlin, D. & L. Xu. 2008. An Island Studies Course at a Liberal Arts Institution: Pedagogy from a Natural History Perspective. Island Studies Journal. 3(2): 199-210.
Sunderlin, D. 2008. The flora, fauna, and sediments of the Mt. Dall Conglomerate (Farewell Terrane, Alaska, USA). Geological Society of America Special Paper. 442: 133-150.
Soja, C.M., Sunderlin, D., Close, S.J., & B. White. 2005. “Eclosion fenetre” and dinosaur egg taphonomy. North American Paleontological Conference (NAPC), Halifax, NS, 2005.
Rowley, D.B., Sunderlin, D., & A.M. Ziegler. 2003. Updated Permian paleogeographic maps. International Committee for Coal and Organic Petrology Utrecht Abstracts. 457.
Ziegler, A.M., Eshel, G., Rees, P.M., Rothfus, T.A., Rowley, D.B., & D. Sunderlin. 2003. Tracing the tropics across land and sea: Permian to present. Lethaia. 36(3): 227-254.
Bradley, D.C., Dumoulin, J., Layer, P., Sunderlin, D., Roeske, S., McClelland, B., Harris, A., Abbott, G., Bundtzen, T., & T. Kusky. 2003. Late Paleozoic orogeny in Alaska’s Farewell Terrane. Tectonophysics. 372: 23-40.
Shealer, D.A., Snyder, J.P., Dreisbach, V.C., Sunderlin, D., & J.A. Novak. 1999. Foraging patterns of eastern grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) on goldenrod gall insects: a potentially important winter food resource. American Midland Naturalist. 142(1): 102-109.