Paul Bierman

Dr. Paul Bierman is a geologist with broad, interdisciplinary interests in both research and teaching. He has taught at the University of Vermont since 1993, where he oversees the NSF/UVM Community Cosmogenic Nuclide Laboratory and the UVM Landscape Change Program. A common topic of research for Dr. Bierman and his students is erosion. Over the past two decades, he and his students have used a variety of techniques to figure out how, where, and how quickly material is shed from Earth's surface. They have used cosmogenic isotopes, such as 10-Be, to track sediment from its origin on bedrock outcrops to its resting place in sedimentary deposits all over the world. On Baffin Island and in Greenland, they examined the influence of ice temperature on glacial erosion. In the deserts of Australia, they demonstrated that rock surfaces remain nearly unchanged over millions of years. And in Vermont, they used lake cores, alluvial fan trenches, and historic image records to document how 10,000 years of mega storms and 200 years of human impact have changed the face of landscapes.