Reseach Interests

Clastic Sedimentology and Stratigraphy, Sequence Stratigraphy, Historical Geology, Glacial and fluvial deposits and processes, The Late Paleozoic Ice Age, Gondwana Geology (Geology of the Southern Hemisphere: Antarctica, Argentina, South Africa, Australia), Landscape evolution during the Cretaceous and Tertiary, Experimental Sedimentology, Mars Analogues.

Description of current research

Research Locations and Collaborators

Antarctica

• Beardmore Glacier Region — with  Molly Miller (Vanderbilt University) and Chris Sidor (University of Washington).
• Nimrod and Byrd Glacier Regions.
• Shackleton Glacier Region.
• Darwin Glacier Region — with Rosemary Askin (Ohio State University) and Anne Grunow (Ohio State University).
• Pensacola Mountains — Ian Dalziel (University of Texas-Austin) Bryan Storey (University of Canterbury, New Zealand) and David Macdonald (University of Aberdeen, U.K.).
• Southern Victoria Land — with Rosemary Askin (Ohio State University) and Anne Grunow (Ohio State University).
• Allan Hills —- with Molly Miller (Vanderbilt University) and Chris Sidor (University of Washington).
• Central Tranantarctic Mountains — Study of ecosystems across the Permian−Triassic boundary with Edith Taylor(University of Kansas) Thomas Taylor (University of Kansas), Ruben Cuneo (MEF, Argentina).
• Dominion Range –Study of detrital zircon isotope characteristics and sandstone analysis of Beacon strata with David Elliot (The Ohio State University).

Appalachian Basin

• Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, and Ohio.

Argentina

• Calingasta-Uspallata, Rio Blanco, and San Rafael Basins — with Carlos Oscar Limarino (Univ. of Buenos Aires), Ana Tedesco (Universidad de Buenos Aires), Patricia (Pato) Ciccioli  (Universidad de Buenos Aires) and Sergio Marenssi(Univ. of Buenos Aires).
• National  Science Foundation IRES Project: Integrated Research & Educational Training of Geoscience Students in Deep-Time Paleoclimatology, Western South America– with Isabel Montañez (Univ. of California-Davis), Margaret Fraiser (UWM), Carlos Oscar Limarino (Univ. of Buenos Aires),  Sergio Marenssi (Univ. of Buenos Aires).
• Tepuel Basin–with Alejandra Pagani (MEF, Trelew, Argentina), Arturo Taboada (Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia),  Carlos Oscar Limarino (Univ. of Buenos Aires), Ruben Cuneo (MEF, Trelew, Argentina), Patricia (Pato) Ciccioli  (Universidad de Buenos Aires), and Margaret Fraiser (UWM).

Australia

• Tasmania — with Chris Fielding (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), Tracy Frank (University of Nebraska-Lincoln),Margaret Fraiser (UWM), Catherine Reid (University of Canterbury), and Eugene Domack (Hamilton College).

Falkland Islands

• Petrographic study.

Illinois Basin

• Illinois and Iowa.

Mars

• Collaborator on a NASA grant to R. Aileen Yingst, (Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium, UW-GB).

Southern Africa

• Karoo Basin — with Doug Cole (Counsel of Geosciences, South Africa) and Octavian Catuneanu (University of Alberta).

Western Interior Basins

• Montana and North Dakota , with Peter Sheehan (Milwaukee Public Museum), and David Fastovsky (University of Rhode Island).

Wisconsin

• Lower Paleozoic cores — with Mark Harris (UWM).
• Wisconsin River, SW Wisconsin — with Bill Kean (UWM), Dave Hart (Wisconsin Geological Survey), and Harry Jol(UW-Eau Claire).
• Pleistocene Ice Contact Deltas, DePere, Wisconsin– with Tom Hooyer (UWM) and Bill Mode (UW-Oshkosh).

Grants

Active Grants:

• 2016-19, National Science Foundation: Office of International Science and Engineering: IRES: Late Paleozoic Gondwanan Ecosystems. PI Margaret Fraiser, co-PIs Erik Gulbranson and John Isbell, UW-Milwaukee (UWM funds: $249,512).   2015-16
•  2016-17, Research Growth Initiative, UW-Milwaukee: Carboniferous and Permian strata in Brazil and surrounding areas: their significance in determining the timing and extent of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age ($104,052)
• 2015-17, National Science Foundation: Office of International Science and Engineering: US-Brazil Planning Visit: An Integrated Approach to Resolving the late Paleozoic Ice Age in the Parana Basin, Brazil. PIs Isabel Montanez and UC-Davis; John Isbell, UW-Milwaukee; co-PI. Qing-zhu Yin , UC-Davis (UWM funds: $30,748)

Pending Grants:

• 2016-19, National Science Foundation: Division of Polar Programs: Collaborative Research: Permian and Triassic Icehouse to Greenhouse Paleoenvironments and Paleobotany in the Shackleton Glacier area, Antarctica. PI Edith Taylor, Univ. of Kansas; and John Isbell, UW-Milwaukee; co-PIs Patricia Ryberg & Thomas Taylor, Univ. of Kansas; and Erik Gulbranson UW-Milwaukee (UWM Funds: $380,445). RECOMMENDED

Total Grants:

• National Science Foundation Grants
  • 17 NSF Research Grants
  • 2 NSF Workshop Grants
  • 1 Contributor on NSF RET Grant
  • 2 NSF Travel Grants
• 3 UWM Graduate School Grants
• 2 UWM Center for Latin American and Carribean Studies Travel Grant.
• 1 Shell Oil Company Grant
• 1 Chevron Oil Company Grant
• 1 NASA Grant (Contributor)
• 1 CIC Grant
• 1 Byrd Polar Research Center Grant (Ohio State)
• 1 Presidential Fellow Grant (Ohio State)
• 1 Friends of Orton Hall Grant (Ohio State)
• 1 Basin Analysis Group Grant (Ohio State)
• 1 Goldich Fund Grant (Northern Illinois)

Total Grants ~ $2.65 Million.