Short Biography
Joanne (Jody) Bourgeois
Professor
Office: JHN-332
ESS Mailing Address
Phone: 206-685-2443
Fax: 206-543-0489 (shared)
E-Mail: bourgeois@ess.washington.edu
Homepage: http://www.ess.washington.edu/bourgeois
Research Groups: Sedimentology/Stratigraphy/Sedimentary Petrology, Quaternary Research, Paleoseismology and Neotectonics
Areas of Interest:
Sedimentology and Stratigraphy, Paleoseismology & Neotectonics
Education:
Ph.D., Geology, University of Wisconsin, 1980
Current Research Interests:
Jody Bourgeois' main research interests are: environmental and process analysis of clastic sediments and sedimentary rocks; interpretation of sedimentary structures; and tectonics and sedimentation. She also teaches and does research in the history of geology, believing that exploration of the philosophy and methodology that have driven scientific inquiry leads to more fruitful generation and testing of hypotheses, and to more critical analysis of present-day models. Bourgeois also served a two-year stint as a Program Director in the Earth Sciences Division of the National Science Foundation.
Bourgeois' own research in sedimentary geology has concentrated on analysis of terrigenous shallow-marine and coastal environments. Her students have worked on sediments ranging from proximal-fluvial to deep-marine environments. Expertise at the University of Washington in sedimentology, surface processes, oceanography, and paleontology/zoology provides excellent opportunities to study and compare modern and ancient sedimentary processes and environments. Critical to these studies is the rigorous analysis of sedimentary structures and textures, incorporating modern concepts of sediment transport and animal-sediment interactions.
Strengths in structure, tectonics and seismology at the University of Washington allow Bourgeois' students to do critical work related to these areas. Recently, Bourgeois and her students have focused on paleo-tsunami deposits as a key to paleoseismicity, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and the Russian Far East. Her students and colleagues are also looking at a number of topics related to Quaternary coastal history of these regions. Bourgeois has also been involved in documenting evidence for paleo-mega-tsunamis associated with asteroid impacts.
Graduate Research:
Andrew Moore: Paleotsunami deposits in Puget Sound and Hawaii
Bretwood Higman: Sedimentology of tsunami and other event deposits
Charlies Thibault: Coastal geomorphology on Kamchatka
Elizabeth Pitts Mahrt: Coastal history of archaeological sites, Kodiak Archipelago
Russian collaborators' research:
Vera Ponomareva: Tephrachronology and volcanic history, Kamchatka
Tatiana Pinegina: Geomorphology and paleoseismology, Kamchatka
Veronika Dirksen: Palynology, vegetation history in the Russian Far East
Selected Publications:
Bourgeois, J. and Leithold, E., 1984, Wave-worked conglomerates: Modes of deposition and criteria for recognition. In: Sedimentology of Gravels and Conglomerates, Koster, E. H. and Steel, R. J., eds., Can. Soc. Petrol. Geol. Mem. 31, p. 331-343.
Bourgeois, J., 1987, Geography and geology of the Portus Cosanus and its fishery. In: The Portus Cosanus: An Early Roman Port and fishers, McCann, A. M., et al., Princeton University Press, p. 44-57, plus plates.
Bourgeois, J., Hansen, T. A., Wiberg, P. L., and Kauffman, E. G., 1988, A tsunami deposit at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in Texas, Science, v. 241, p. 567-570.
Bourgeois, J., 1990, Boundaries; a stratigraphic and sedimentologic perspective, Geological Society of America Special Paper 247, p. 411-416.
Bourgeois, J. and Koppes, S., 1998. Robert S. Dietz and the identification of impact structures on Earth: Earth Sciences History, v. 17(2), p. 139-156.
Bourgeois, J., Petroff, C., Yeh, H., Titov, V., Synolakis, C.E., Benson, B., Norabuena, E., Kuroiwa, J., Lander, J., 1999. Geologic setting, field survey and modeling of the Chimbote northern Peru, tsunami of 21 February 1996: PAGEOPH, v. 154, p. 513-540.
Bourgeois, J. and Johnson, S.Y., 2001. Geologic evidence of earthquakes at the Snohomish delta, Washington, in the past 1200 yr: Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 113(4): 482-494 plus Data Repository.
Pinegina, T.K., and Bourgeois, J., 2001. Historical and paleo-tsunami deposits on Kamchatka, Russia: long-term chronologies and long-distance correlations: Natural Hazards and Earth Systems Sciences, v. 1: 177-185.