Earth surface processes and critical zone science at
​central michigan university
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Publications:
  • West, N., Kirby, E., Nyblade, A., Brantley, S., 2019, Climate preconditions the critical zone: Elucidating the role of subsurface fractures in the evolution of asymmetric topography. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 513, 197-205. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2019.01.039.
  • DiBiase, R.A., Denn, A.R., Bierman, P.R., Kirby, E., West, N., Hidy, A.J., 2018, Stratigraphic control of landscape response to base-level fall, Young Womans Creek, Pennsylvania, USA. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 
  • Brantley, S.L., White, T., West, N., Williams, J.Z., Forsythe, B., Shapich, D., Kaye, J., Lin, H., Shi, Y., Kaye, M., Herndon, E., Davis, K.J., He, Y., Eissenstat, D., Weitzman, J., Dibiase, R., Li, L., Reed, W., Brubaker, K., Gu, X., 2018, Susquehanna Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory: Shale Hills in the context of Shavers Creek Watershed. Vadose Zone Journal.
  • Boggs, K.J.E., Aster, R., Audet, P., Brunet, G., Clowes, R., de Groot-Hedlin, C., Eaton, D., Elliott, J., Freymueller, J., Hedlin, M., Hyndman, R., Kushner, P., Morell, K., Rowe, C., Schutt, D., James, T., Ulmi, M., Vernon, R., and West, N., EON-ROSE and the Canadian Cordillera Array – Building Bridges to Span Earth System Science in Canada. Geoscience Canada.
  • Ferrier, K. and West, N., 2017, Responses of chemical erosion rates to transient perturbations in physical erosion rates, and implications for relationships between chemical and physical erosion rates in regolith-mantled hillslopes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
  • Wymore, A., West, N., Maher, K., Sullivan, P., Harpold, A., Karwan, D., Marshall, J., Perdrial, J., Rempe, D., Ma, L., 2016, A growing generation of international critical zone scientists. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. 
  • Sullivan P.L., Hynek, S., Gu, X., Singha, K., White, T., West, N., Kim, H., Clarke, B., Kirby, E., Duffy, C., Brantley, S.L., 2016, Oxidative dissolution under channel leads geomorphological evolution at the Shale Hills Catchment, American Journal of Science, 316, 981-1026. doi:10.2475/10.2016.02.
  • Sullivan, P.L., Ma, L., West, N., Steinhoefel, G., Jin, L., Noireaux, J., Hynek, S., Gaines, K., Gaillardet, J., Derry, L.A., Meek, K., Karwan, D.L., Yesavage, T., Fantle, M.S., Brantley, S.L., CZ-tope at Susquehanna Shale Hills CZO: Testing multiple isotope proxies to elucidate Critical Zone processes across timescales in a temperate forested landscape. Chemical Geology. doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2016.05.012.
  • Harpold, A. A., Marshall, J. A., Lyon, S. W., Barnhart, T. B., Fisher, B. A., Donovan, M., Brubaker, K. M., Crosby, C. J., Glenn, N. F., Glennie, C. L., Kirchner, P. B., Lam, N., Mankoff, K. D., McCreight, J. L., Molotch, N. P., Musselman, K. N., Pelletier, J., Russo, T., Sangireddy, H., Sjöberg, Y., Swetnam, T., and West, N., 2015, Laser vision: lidar as a transformative tool to advance critical zone science, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 19, 2881-2897. doi:10.5194/hess-19-2881-2015, 2015.
  • West, N., Kirby, E., Bierman, P., Clarke, B., 2014, Aspect-dependent variations in regolith creep revealed by meteoric Be-10, Geology, doi:10.1130/G35357.1.
  • West, N., Kirby, E., Bierman, P., Slingerland, R., Ma, L., Brantley, S., Rood, D., 2013, Regolith production and transport in the Susquehanna Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory: Part 2 - insights from meteoric Be-10, Journal of Geophysical Research – Earth Surface, 118(3), 1877 – 1896. doi:10.1002/jgrf.20121.
  • Ma, L., Chabaux, F., West, N., Kirby, E., Jin, L., Brantley, S., 2013, Regolith production and transport in the Susquehanna Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory: Part 1 - insights from Uranium series disequilibrium, Journal of Geophysical Research – Earth Surface, 118(2), 722 – 740. doi:10.1002/jgrf.20037.
  • West, N., Schreiber, M., Gotkowitz, M., 2012, Arsenic release from chlorine-promoted alteration of a sulfide cement horizon: evidence from batch studies on the St. Peter Sandstone, Wisconsin, USA, Applied Geochemistry, 27, 2215 – 2224. doi: 10.1016/j.apgeochem.2012.01.019
  • West, N., Kirby, E., Bierman, P., Rood, D., 2011, Preliminary estimates of regolith generation and mobility in the Susquehanna Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory, Pennsylvania, using meteoric Be-10, Applied Geochemistry, v.26, S146 – S148. doi:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2011.03.053
Grants Awarded:
  • NSF Hydrologic Sciences – “Critical Zone Research Coordination Network: Building capacity to deepen the critical zone: expanding boundaries and exploring gradients through data-model synergy” Co-PI – total requested $500,000; 2019
  • NSF Geomorphology and Land Use Dynamics – “Collaborative research: Microscopic fracturing and macroscopic weakening: A novel model for bedrock fracturing by biotite weathering” Co-PI, total award: $441,322; 2018
  • Purdue Rare Isotope Measurement Laboratory Seed Grant – “Testing the control of physical denudation on rates on chemical erosion in the Klamath Mountains” PI – $5,450 equivalent in accelerator time, 2017
Honors and Awards:
  • Frontiers Postdoctoral Scholarship Award, 2015, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • NASA Earth and Space Science Graduate Research Fellowship, 2011
  • Charles E. Knopf, Sr., Memorial Scholarship, 2009, Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University
  • William Preston Society Master’s Thesis Award, 2008, Virginia Polytechnic Institute
  • Geological Society of America Graduate Student Research Award, 2007
  • Wones Geosciences Graduate Research Award, 2007, Department of Geosciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute 
Professional Experience:
  • Assistant Professor, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI,       2016-present
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
  • Postdoctoral Scholar, Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
  • Staff Geochemist, Schlumberger Water Services, Denver, CO
  • Contractor, Eastern Mineral Resources Team, United States Geological Survey, Reston, VA 

Education:
  • Pennsylvania State University, PhD
  • Virginia Polytechnic Institute, MS
  • James Madison University, BS
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  • About
  • Research
  • Teaching
  • Field Photos
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