Maria Groves

I am a first year Ph.D. student with a concentration on paleoclimate and paleoecology. My interests include natural and anthropogenic environmental disturbances during the Late Holocene in East Central Utah. My dissertation project looks at changes in vegetation, fire regimes, and climate as seen in sediment cores from Range Creek, Utah. The proxies and methods I am using include modern and fossil pollen, charcoal, modern vegetation, X-Ray Fluorescence, and GIS.   My research goal is to contribute to the natural history knowledge of Range Creek Canyon including the Fremont occupation period and to add to the understanding of regional climate patterns. I received my B.S. in Earth Science from Penn State University, my M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from California State University Monterey Bay, and a post-graduate certificate in GIS from Penn State University. For the last few years I have been working at Utah Valley University as an adjunct instructor in the Earth Sciences teaching geology, oceanography, and meteorology. In my spare time I love to travel with family, ski, hike, and take Zumba classes.