Catherine A. Riihimaki, Ph.D.
Department of Geology
Bryn Mawr College
101 N. Merion Ave.
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
criihima@brynmawr.edu
Office Phone:610-526-7971
Fax: 610-526-5086
Cell:831-325-1564
URL: http://www.brynmawr.edu/geology/criihima/
EDUCATION
2004-2007 Keck Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, Bryn Mawr College
Projects: Cirque glacier dynamics, Grinnell Glacier, Montana, and Late-Cenozoic stream incision based on clinker ages, Powder River Basin, Wyoming
Advisor: Don C. Barber
1998-2003 Ph.D. Earth Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz
Dissertation: Quantitative Constraints on the Glacial and Fluvial Evolution of Alpine Landscapes
Advisor: Robert S. Anderson
1994-1998 B.A. Geosciences and Mathematics, Williams College
Summa Cum Laude and Highest Honors
Senior Honors Thesis: Rates of Aggradation and Pedogenesis, Southeastern Puye Quadrangle, New Mexico
Advisor: David P. Dethier
HONORS
2004-2007 Keck Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, Bryn Mawr College
1999-2002 NSF Graduate Fellowship, UC-Santa Cruz
1998-1999 University of California Regents Fellowship
1998 Highest Honors, Department of Geosciences Williams College
1998 Phi Beta Kappa
1998 Freeman Foote Award, Best Thesis Presentation, Department of Geosciences Williams College
1998 National Association of Geosciences Teachers Student Fellowship
1997 Council on Undergraduate Research Summer Research Fellowship
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2007-present Lecturer, Department of Geology, Bryn Mawr College
Courses taught: Problem Solving in the Environmental Sciences, How the Earth Works laboratory, Earth History laboratory, Earth Systems and the Environment laboratory
2004-2007 Keck Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Geology, Bryn Mawr College
Courses developed and taught: Senior Seminar in Environmental Studies, Problem Solving in the Environmental Sciences, Glaciology and Glacial Geology
Course taught: Earth Systems and the Environment
Senior thesis students: Beth Copeland, Shannon Ulrich, Andrea Cutruzzula, Kaitlin Friedman, Nathaniel Grabman
2003-2004 Visiting Asst. Professor, Department of Geology, Colby College
Courses taught: Physical Processes of Planet Earth, Geomorphology (with lab)
Courses developed and taught: Geology in the Movies
2001-2003 Teaching Assistant, Earth Sciences Department, UC-Santa Cruz
Taught lab sections: Geologic Field Methods, The Dynamic Earth
2002 Instructor, COSMOS Program, University of California, Santa Cruz
Course developed and taught: The Mountains
1997-1998 Teaching Assistant, Geosciences Department, Williams College
Assisted with lab sections: Environmental Geology, Oceanography
PRINCIPAL RESEARCH INTERESTS
1) Late Cenozoic evolution of alpine landscapes, 2) Real-time measurements and numerical modeling of glacial erosion, 3) Chronology and numerical modeling of bedrock stream incision, 4) Environmental impacts of human activity
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
2005-present Grinnell Glacier, Glacier National Park, Montana
Real-time measurements of glacier surface velocity using differential GPS
Meteorology station programming, wiring, and installation
Lake-coring to document glacial erosion rates
Numerical modeling of glacier mass balance and glacial erosion
2005-present Powder River Basin, Wyoming
(U-Th)/He dating of clinker
Numerical modeling of stream incision
1998-present Rocky Mountains, Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana
Cosmogenic radionuclide dating of terraces
Numerical modeling of stream incision and flexural isostasy
1999-2002 Bench Glacier, Alaska
Real-time measurements of glacier surface velocity using differential GPS and theodolite
Sediment and water discharge measurements
Meteorology station programming and installation
Statistical analysis of glacial and fluvial time-series
1998 Rio Puerco, New Mexico
NAGT Intern, US Geologic Survey
1997 San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico
Senior thesis research mapping surficial geology along Rio Grande
RESEARCH GRANTS
2005 National Science Foundation, Geology and Paleontology. $150,000 for collaborative research on Powder River Basin clinker. Collaborator: Peter Reiners, Yale University
2005 American Philosophical Society. $4,000 for field research in Glacier National Park.
SERVICE
2006 Co-chair, Topical Session, American Geophysical Union, Fall National Meeting
2005-present Co-organizer and participant, Math-Science Partnership of Greater Philadelphia
2005-present Representative, Science Computer Committee, Bryn Mawr College
2005 Co-leader, Undergraduate field trip to San Salvador, Bahamas, Bryn Mawr College
2004 Co-organizer, Tri-College Mellon Modeling Group, Bryn Mawr College
2004 Co-leader, Undergraduate field trip to Canadian Rockies, Bryn Mawr College
2002 Co-chair, Topical Session, Geological Society of America, Fall National Meeting
2001-2003 Graduate Student Representative, Earth Sciences Department, University of California, Santa Cruz
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Geophysical Union, Geological Society of America, Sigma Xi, Association for Women Geoscientists, Council on Undergraduate Research
PUBLICATIONS
Riihimaki, C. A., and Libarkin, J. C. (accepted), Terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides as paleoaltimetric proxies, Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry.
Riihimaki, C. A., Anderson, R. S., and Safran, E. B. (2007), Impact of rock uplift on rates of late Cenozoic Rocky Mountain river incision, Journal of Geophysical Research, Earth Surface, 112, F03S02, doi:10.1029/2006JF000557.
Riihimaki, C. A., Anderson, R. S., Safran, E. B., Dethier, D. P., Finkel, R. C., and Bierman, P. R. (2006), Longevity and progressive abandonment of the Rocky Flats surface, Front Range, Colorado, Geomorphology, 78, 265-278.
Stock, G. S., Riihimaki, C. A., and Anderson, R. S. (2006), Age constraints on cave development and landscape evolution in the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming, USA, Journal of Cave and Karst Studies, 68, 76-84.
Anderson, R. S., Riihimaki, C. A., Safran, E. B., and MacGregor, K. R. (2006), Facing reality: Late Cenozoic evolution of smooth peaks, glacially ornamented valleys and deep river gorges of Colorado's Front Range, GSA Special Paper 398, 397-418.
Riihimaki, C. A., MacGregor, K. R., Anderson, R. S., Anderson, S. P., and Loso, M. G. (2005), Sediment evacuation and glacial erosion rates at a small alpine glacier, Journal of Geophysical Research, Earth Surface, 110, F03003, doi:10.1029/2004JF000189.
MacGregor, K. R., Riihimaki, C. A., and Anderson, R. S. (2005), Spatial and temporal evolution of sliding velocity on a small alpine glacier: Bench Glacier, Alaska 1999 and 2000, Journal of Glaciology, 51, 49-63.
Anderson, R. S., Anderson, S. P., MacGregor, K. R., Waddington, E. D., O'Neel, S., Riihimaki, C. A., and Loso, M. G. (2004), Self-defeating unsteady sliding of an alpine glacier, Journal of Geophysical Research, Earth Surface, 109, F03005, doi:10.1029/2004JF000120.
MANUSCRIPTS IN PREPARATION
Riihimaki, C. A., MacGregor, K. R., Catania, G., and Copeland, E. Affects of global warming on Grinnell Glacier, Glacier National Park, Montana, Geophysical Research Letters.
Riihimaki, C. A., and McMillan, M. E., Late Cenozoic flexural uplift of the Rocky Mountains, Geophysical Research Letters.
MEETING ABSTRACTS
Riihimaki, C. A., Anderson, R. S., and Safran, E. B. (2004), Modeling the impact of epeirogenic rock uplift on late Cenozoic river incision in the central Rocky Mountains, Fall American Geophysical Union Meeting, Abstracts with Program, Invited talk.
Jones, L. C., Riihimaki, C. A., MacGregor, K. R., Jankowski, K. L., Myrbo, A., and Shapley, M. (2006), Coulometric analysis of a sediment core from Swiftcurrent Lake, Glacier National Park, Montana, Geological Society of America, Fall National Meeting, Abstracts with Program.
Jankowski, K. L., MacGregor, K. R., Riihimaki, C. A., Myrbo, A. E., and Shapley, M. (2006), Preliminary limnogeological characterization of glacial erosion and environmental change from sediment cores, Swiftcurrent Lake, Glacier National Park, Montana, Geological Society of America, Fall National Meeting, Abstracts with Program.
Libarkin, J. C., Riihimaki, C. A., and Farley, K. (2006), Terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides as paleoaltimeters: new approaches and future potential, Goldschmidt Conference.
Riihimaki, C. A., and MacGregor, K. R. (2005), Source-to-sink study of erosion at Grinnell Glacier, Glacier National Park, Montana, Fall American Geophysical Union Meeting, Abstracts with Program.
Safran, E. B., Anderson, R. S., Riihimaki, C. A., and Armstrong, J. (2005), Longitudinal stream profile morphology and patterns of knickpoint propagation in the Bighorn Range, Fall American Geophysical Union Meeting, Abstracts with Program.
Riihimaki, C. A., Anderson, R. S., and Safran, E. B. (2004), Testing the impact of late Cenozoic rock uplift on the topography of the Rocky Mountains, Geological Society of America, Fall National Meeting, Abstracts with Program, Invited talk.
Riihimaki, C. A., MacGregor, K. R., Anderson, R. S., Anderson, S. P., and Loso, M. G. (2003), Interpretation of fine and coarse sediment yield from Bench Glacier, Alaska, Fall American Geophysical Union Meeting, Abstracts with Program.
Anderson, R. S., Riihimaki, C. A., and Safran, E. B. (2003), A numerical sketch of late Cenozoic evolution of the Front Range, Colorado, Geological Society of America, Fall National Meeting, Abstracts with Program.
Riihimaki, C. A., Anderson, R. S., and Safran, E. B. (2002), Age and Mechanics of Formation of the Rocky Flats and Analogous Surfaces Bounding Laramide Ranges in Northern Colorado and Wyoming, Fall American Geophysical Union Meeting, Abstracts with Program.
Safran, E. B., Zellers, N. A., Anderson, R. S., Gilbert, G. J., and Riihimaki, C. A., (2002), Interpreting Longitudinal Stream Profile Morphology in the Laramide Ranges, Fall American Geophysical Union Meeting, Abstracts with Program.
Riihimaki, C. A., Anderson, R. S., and Safran, E. B. (2002), Morphology of the Granite Mountains, Wyoming, as an Analogue for Pre-exhumation Laramide Ranges, Geological Society of America, Fall National Meeting, Abstracts with Programs.
Anderson, R. S., Riihimaki, C. A., Safran, E. B., and Stock, G. M. (2002), Late Cenozoic Glacial and Fluvial Incision of Laramide Ranges, Geological Society of America, Fall National Meeting, Abstracts with Programs.
Safran, E. B., Gilbert, G. J., Anderson, R. S., Riihimaki, C. A., and Zellers, N. A. (2002), Laramide Range Morphology and Geomorphic Implications, Geological Society of America, Fall National Meeting, Abstracts with Programs.
Riihimaki, C. A., Anderson, R. S., and Safran, E. B. (2001), Modeling of Non-Uniform, Late Cenozoic Exhumation of the Laramide Landscape Using Proposed Geophysical and Climatic Forcing Mechanisms, Fall American Geophysical Union Meeting, Abstracts with Program.
Riihimaki, C. A., MacGregor, K. R., Anderson, R. S., and Anderson, S. P. (2000), Fine and Coarse Sediment Evacuation and Subglacial Channel Network Evolution at the Bench Glacier, Chugach Range, Alaska, Geological Society of America, Fall National Meeting, Abstracts with Programs.
MacGregor, K. R., Riihimaki, C. A., Anderson, R. S., Anderson, S. P., and Waddington, E. D. (2000), Developing a Linked Glaciological and Hydrological Data Set to Understand Valley-Scale Subglacial Erosion over Glacial-Interglacial Cycles, Geological Society of America, Fall National Meeting, Abstracts with Programs.
Riihimaki, C. A., MacGregor, K. R., Anderson, R. S., and Anderson, S. P. (1999), Sediment yield of the Bench Glacier, Alaska, during the 1999 melt season, Fall American Geophysical Union Meeting, Abstracts with Programs, 80, F426-F427.
MacGregor, K. R., Anderson, R. S., Anderson, S. P. Riihimaki, C. A., and Harper, J. T. (1999), Spatial and temporal ice velocities and implications for subglacial erosion: Bench Glacier, Alaska. Fall American Geophysical Union Meeting, Abstracts with Programs, 80, F426.
Riihimaki, C. A., and Dethier, D.P. (1998), Rates of Holocene aggradation and pedogenesis, southeastern Puye Quadrangle, New Mexico, Geological Society of America, Northeastern Section, 33rd Annual Meeting, Abstracts with Programs, 30, 70.
INVITED LECTURES
2007 'The recent rise of the Rocky Mountains,' Vanderbilt University
2007 'The rise and fall and rise of the Rocky Mountains,' Earlham College
2006 'Source-to-sink study of erosion at Grinnell Glacier, Glacier National Park, Montana,' Philadelphia Mineralogical Society
2006 'Tectonics or climate? Modeling the causes of landscape evolution in the Rocky Mountains,' Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania
2006 'Documenting landscape change at Grinnell Glacier, Glacier National Park, Montana,' Geology Department, Lafayette College
2005 'Alpine landscape evolution: lessons from Bench Glacier, AK, and Grinnell Glacier, MT,' Geology Department, University of Delaware
2005 'The "control" of nature in New Orleans: the past, present, and future of the Mississippi Delta,' Center for Science in Society, Bryn Mawr College
2004 'Building the topography of the modern Rocky Mountains with heat and ice,' Geology Department, Bryn Mawr College
2003 'Alpine landscape evolution: lessons from Bench Glacier, AK, and Rocky Mountains,' Geology Department, Colby College