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Robert Gastaldo

Title

Whipple-Coddington Professor of Geology, Emeritus

Department

Geology

Information

Address

5807 Mayflower Hill Waterville, Maine 04901-8853

Education

  • Ph.D., Southern Illinois University, 1978
  • M.S., Southern Illinois University, 1975
  • B.A., Gettysburg College, 1972

Areas of Expertise

  • Evolution of terrestrial plants and peat-forming environments
  • Paleoecology and taphonomy
  • Extinctions and recovery
  • Sedimentology and stratigraphy
  • Deep-time climate proxies

Personal Information

  • Fulbright Fellowship, Sub-Saharan Africa, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa, 2013
  • Paleontological Society Fellow, 2008-present
  • Distinguished Service Award, Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM), 2008
  • PALAIOS 2004 Best Paper Award – Honorable Mention
  • Councilor-at-Large, Paleontological Society, 2002-2004
  • College of Science & Mathematics Research Award, Auburn University (Physical Sciences), 1997-1998
  • Smithsonian Institution Short-Term Visitor, 1997
  • NSF EAR Geology & Paleontology Panel Member, 1997-2000
  • Member, SEPM Council, 1996-2002
  • Distinguished Lecturer, GSA Coal Geology Division, 1996-1998
  • Fellow, Geological Society of America, 1994-present
  • Distinguished Lecturer, Paleontological Society, 1994-1995; 1995-1996
  • Adjunct Professor of Geology, University of Pennsylvanian, Department of Geology, 1992-present
  • Senior U.S. Research Award, Forschungspreisträger, Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, Bonn, 1991-1992; 2012
  • Chairman, Coal Division, Geological Society of America, 1991-1992; Chairman-elect, 1990-1991
  • Alumni Professorship, Auburn University, 1990-1991; 1992-1996
  • Visiting Curator, Department of Geology, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, 1986-1987 (NSF BSR 8702337 curatorial grant)
  • Research Collaborator, Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution (renewed 1998-present)
  • President, Southeastern Section Paleontological Society, 1986-87; President-elect, 1985-86
  • Fulbright Fellowship, Netherlands American Commission for Educational Exchange, Laboratory of Paleobotany and Palynology, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 1982
  • Phi Kappa Phi, National Honor Society
  • Member, Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society of North America

Recent Publications

  • Glasspool, I.J. and Gastaldo, R.A., 2024, Don’t mind the ‘Charcoal Gap’: a reassessment of Devonian wildfire: GEOLOGY, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1130/G52648.1
  •  Gastaldo, R.A., Gensel, P., Glasspool, I., Hinds, S.J., King, O.A., Park, A.F., and Stimson, M.R., 2024, To rush into the secret house of death; the fate of a Tournaisian plant: GEOLOGY,  DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1130/G52348.1
  • Glasspool, I.J. and Gastaldo, R.A., 2024, Through fire, and through water, an abundance of Mid-Devonian charcoal: PALAIOS, DOI:  https://dx.doi.org/10.2110/palo.2024.009
  • Gastaldo, R.A., Gensel, P., Glasspool, I., Hinds, S.J., King, O.A., McLean, D., Park, A.F., Stimson, M.R.,  and Stonesifer, T., 2024, Enigmatic fossil plants with three-dimensional,  arborescent-growth architecture from the earliest Carboniferous of New Brunswick, Canada: Current Biology, v. 34, p. 1-12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.01.011
  • Rochín-Bañaga, H., Gastaldo, R.A., Davis, D.W.,  Neveling, J., Kamo, S.L., Looy, C.V., and Geissman, J.W., 2024, U-Pb dating of pedogenic calcite near the Permian—Triassic boundary, Karoo Basin: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 136, p. 1689-1700. https://doi.org/10.1130/B36968.1 
  • Gastaldo, R.A., Wan, M., and Yang, W., 2023, The taphonomic character, occurrence, and persistence of upper Permian–Lower Triassic plant assemblages in the mid-paleolatitudes, Bogda Mountains, western China: PALAIOS, v. 38, p. 1-21.  DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2110/palo.2022.025
  • Gastaldo, R.A., and Bamford, M., 2023, The influence of time and taphonomy on the paleobotanical record of the Permian—Triassic transition of the Karoo Basin (and elsewhere): Journal of African Earth Sciences, 204 (2023) 104960   DOI:doi.org/10.1016/f.fafrearsci.2023.104960 
  • Gibling, M., Jia, R., Gastaldo, R.A., Neveling, J. and Rochín-Bañaga, H., 2023, Braided-river architecture of the Triassic Swartberg Member, Katberg Formation, South Africa: Assessing age, fluvial style and paleoclimate after the end-Permian extinction: Journal of Sedimentary Research https://doi-org.colby.idm.oclc.org/10.2110/jsr.018
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To learn more, visit Professor Gastaldo’s website.