(go to P. Olsen, Departmental page)
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
of Columbia University
Rt. 9W
Palisades, New York 10964
polsen@ldeo.columbia.edu
send e-mail to Paul
Personal:
Born: August 4, 1953, New York City. U.S. Citizen
Education:
B.A., Geology Yale University, (with honors), 1978
M. Phil., Ph.D., Biology, Yale University, 1984
Interests:
Ecosystem Evolution, especially aspects of external forcing and intrinsic biological inovations.
Triassic and Jurassic Continental Ecosystems, Paleobiology, Climate, and Stratigraphy.
(go to Triassic/Jurassic Research Group)
(go to Newark Basin Coring Project Home Page)
"Lower" Vertebrate Systematics and Paleobiology, including Tetrapod Footprints
(go to The Triassic/Jurassic Footprint Project Home Page)
Positions Held:
Dec.
, 1996 to present: Board of Directors, Black Rock Forest Consortium
June, 1996 to present: Faculty, CERC (Center for Environmental Conservation and Research)
Jan., 1995 to present: Storke Memorial Professor of Geological Sciences, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University.
Jan., 1991 to present: Associate Professor of Geological Sciences, Department of Geological Sciences, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University.
July, 1985 to present: Research Associate American Museum of Natural History.
Nov., 1985 to present: Research Associate Virginia Natural History Museum.
Sept., 1984 to Dec. 1990: Assistant Professor of Geological Sciences, Department of Geological Sciences, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University.
March, 1987 to March, 1990: Associate Editor, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Sept., 1983 to August, 1984: Postdoctoral Fellow, Miller Institute of Basic Research in Science, University of California, Berkeley.
Service to Scientific Community:
1984-1995: Member, Steering Committee, Earth Systems History, NSF; Columbia Representative to Black Rock Forest Consortium; Participant in Continental Scientific Drilling Forum Meetings; Leader of Field trips for Scientific Drilling Organizations; Principle Leader of International Geological Congress Field Trip T351 (NC. to Nova Scotia).
Public Education in the Media:
1984-1995: Interviewed on numerous television and radio shows including National Public Radio, Good Morning America (TV), RAI's Italia Sera (Rome, TV), CBC - As it Happens, Morningside, NBC News, CBC - Maritimes (TV), New Jersey Network (TV), etc. Interviewed for numerous magazines and newspapers including American Scientist, TIME, New York Times, Washington Post, National Geographic, Science Times, Science News, Discover, Boston Herald, Philadelphia Inquirer, Readers Digest, Science Digest, New Scientist, Washington Times, Los Angeles Times
Service to Industry:
1984-1995: Mobil Oil, Rift Basin Tectonics Course (with Martha Withjack, Robert Clarke, John Wagener, John Armentrout, Martin Link); Marathon Oil, Lacustrine Exploration Course (with William Bosworth, Joseph Lambiase); Consultant to Eastern Exploration Inc.; Consultant to Exxon, Texaco, Mobil Oil, Citco, Arco Petroleum, North Central Oil, Cornell Oil.
Teaching: (go to Deparment of Geological Sciences)
1997: (new course) The Life System (undergraduates, graduate students)
1993: Seminar in Global Ecosystems and the Carbon Cycle (graduate students)
1993-present: Seminar in Structural Geology (graduate students)
1989-present: Seminar in Stratigraphy (graduate students)
1989-present: Dinosaurs and the History of Life (non-major undergraduates)
1985-1986: Advanced General Geology (undergraduates, incoming graduate students)
1984-present: Concepts and Methods in Biostratigraphy (undergraduates, graduate students)
1984-1992: Time in the Earth Sciences (undergraduates)
Professional Affiliations:
Society for Economic Mineralogists and Paleontologists, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Carolina Geological Society, New York Geological Association, Sigma Xi, Paleontological Society, Geological Society of America, New York Petroleum Exploration Society, Fellow, New York Paleontological Society
Grants, Contracts, and Awards:
1995-1997: The effects of Milankovitch Climate Cycles and Paleolatitude on Triassic Floral Diversity. (S. Fowell and P. Olsen) (NSF $165,000).
1994-1995: Acquisition of a mass spectrometer system for K/Ar dating by the 40Ar/39Ar method.(W. Broecker, M. Anders, D. Kent, C. Langmuir, and P. Olsen) (NSF $185,000)
1993-1996: Milankovitch Forcing of Continental Monsoons Across the Equator of Pangaea. (P. Olsen and D. Kent) (NSF $380,000).
1990-1993: 30 Million Year Record of the Evolution of a Continental Rift: the Newark basin. (P. Olsen and D. Kent) (NSF $2,100,000). The Newark Basin Coring Project (NBCP)
1990-1991: Anatomy of a Continental Rift.. (M. Steckler, J. Diebold, P. Olsen) (NSF $50,000)
1990-1992: A Triassic Synapsid-Dominated Tetrapod Assemblage of Gondwanan Aspect from the Richmond Basin of Virginia. (H. D. Sues and P. Olsen) (NSF $99,876)
1990-1991: A Triassic Synapsid-Dominated Tetrapod Assemblage of Gondwanan Aspect from the Richmond Basin of Virginia (H-D. Sues and P. Olsen) (Nat. Geographic. Soc. $14,000)
1989-1990: Hudson River Seismic Experiment (J. B. Diebold, G. Bond, P. Buhl, R. C. Raleigh, L. Seeber, and P. Olsen) (NSF $180,000).
1989-1990: A Late Triassic South American Vertebrate Assemblage from Virginia. (H-D. Sues and P. Olsen) (Nat. Geographic. Soc. $11,000)
1988-1990: Early Mesozoic Continental Tetrapod Diversification and Extinction in Eastern North America. (NSF $135,000).
1988-1989: Distribution of extension with depth in the Newark basin. (G. Karner, M. Steckler, P. Olsen) (NSF $65,000).
1988-1990: Comparison of growth structures along border faults... (American Chemical Society $18,000).
1988-1990: Paleomagnetism of the Newark Supergroup... (D. Kent and P. Olsen) (NSF $150,000).
1987: Paleomagnetism of the Newark Supergroup: A Test of the Paleomagnetic Euler Pole Model. (D. Kent and P. Olsen) (NSF $20,000).
1987: Faunal change across the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary in Nova Scotia. (N. Shubin, and P. Olsen, M. H. Anders) (Nat. Geographic. Soc. $14,050).
1986: Diverse Early Jurassic Tetrapod Assemblage from Nova Scotia. (P. Olsen and N. Shubin) (Nat. Geographic. Soc. $13,700).
1986-1988: Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow. ($25,000).
1985: First Diverse Early Jurassic Tetrapod Assemblage. (P. Olsen and N. Shubin) (Nat. Geographic. Soc. $10,400).
1985-1986: Arco Petroleum Research Fellowship. ($12,000).
1984-1988: N.E. U.S. Neotectonic Research. (L. Seeber and P. Olsen) (N.R.C. $200,000).
Theses Sponsored
Schlische, R. W., 1990, Aspects of the Structural and Stratigraphic Development of Early Mesozoic Rift Basins of Eastern North America [Ph.D. thesis]: New York, New York, Columbia University, 479 p.
Fowell, S. J. 1993, Palynology of Triassic/Jurassic boundary sections from the Newark Supergroup of Eastern North America: Implications for catastrophic extinction scenarios [Ph. D. Thesis]: New York, New York, Columbia University, 133 p.
Reynolds, D. J., 1993, Sedimentary basin evolution: tectonic and climatic interaction [Ph.D. thesis]: New York, New York, Columbia University, 215 p.