Ken Rasmussen's

CURRICULUM VITAE

Background, Interests, Etc.

 

Kenneth Andrew Rasmussen, Ph.D.


 

Professor of Geology and Oceanography

Adjunct Instructor

Department of Geology

Program in Geosciences

Northern Virginia Community College;

The George Washington University

8333 Little River Turnpike

                                                                                                                 Washington, DC 20052

Annandale, VA 22003

Phone: 703/323-2139


 

 
E-mail at Dr. Rasmussen's NVCC office:
krasmussen@nvcc.edu

 


Interests

Education

Positions

Grants

Teaching

Awards

Research

Publications

Abstracts



 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Marine and lacustrine sedimentary geology

Sedimentary records of climate change

Carbonate sedimentology and depositional environments

Origin and development of microbial reefs

Hardground genesis, paleoecology, and taphonomy

 


 

(Return to top)

EDUCATION

Ph.D. Marine Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1989 Dissertation: "Unconformities and transgressive carbonate sequences within a karstic platform interior; Bight of Abaco, Bahamas", under direction of A. Conrad Neumann

M.S. Geology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 1983 Thesis: "An ecologic and taphonomic analysis of submarine cave communities: Salt River Canyon, St. Croix, U.S.V.I.", under direction of Carlton E. Brett

B.S. Biology-Geology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 1981 Thesis: "Organic carbon loading and depositional characteristics of Salt River Submarine Canyon, St. Croix, U.S.V.I."

(Return to top)

POSITIONS HELD

1999-       Professor, Department of Geology, Division of Mathematics, Science, and Engineering, Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale Campus

1992-       Visiting Researcher, Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

1992-99    Assistant and Associate Professor, Department of Geology, Division of Mathematics, Science, and Engineering, Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale Campus

1994        NSF-NATO Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia (Jan.-Aug.)

1989-92    Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

1989        Research Associate and Lecturer, Curriculum in Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

1981-82   Summer Research Assistant, Marine Geology and Geophysics, Sediment Core Laboratory (under direction of Dr. David A. Johnson)

(Return to top)

RESEARCH GRANTS AWARDED

2007  Virginia Community College System (VCCS) Professional Development Grant for Physical Geology Lab Manual Development (with Callan Bentley)

2005  Virginia Community College System (VCCS) Professional Development Grant for new course: "Natural History and Environment of Chesapeake Bay”

2004  Virginia Community College System (VCCS) Professional Development Grant for new course: "The Geology of the Mid-Atlantic States - A Natural Laboratory”

2003  NVCC Educational Foundation Grant for: “Acquisition of a Hydrolab Multi-Parameter Water Quality Instrument for Oceanography/Limnology Field Use”

2002  Presidential Sabbatical Awardee (central Asian paleoclimate research, Spr. 2002) Northern Virginia Community College

2000  Virginia Community College System (VCCS) Professional Development Grant for “The History of Central Asian Paleoclimate Change Recorded in Deep Sediments of Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia”

1999  National Science Foundation / Earth Systems History, Co-PI for "The Late Quaternary Paleoclimatic Archives of Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan: Calibration and Extension of the Sedimentological/Geochemical Proxy-Record", August, 1999- 2002.

Virginia Community College System (VCCS) Professional Development Grant for"Unraveling the Sedimentological Clues of Changing Climate: An 8,000-Year Textural And Constituent Record From Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia".

1998  Virginia Community College System (VCCS) Professional Development Grant for"Geological Analyses of Deep Sediment Cores from Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan: A Unique Sedimentary Archives of Central Asian Paleoclimate".

1996  National Science Foundation / Earth Systems History, Principal Investigator (PI) for "The Quaternary Record of Lake-level Oscillation and Climate Change: Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia", Aug. 1996-98.   

Virginia Community College System (VCCS) Professional Development Grant for "Recent Discoveries of Geologically Ancient Life-Forms: The Paleontological Significance of Modern Microbialite Reefs".

1995  Virginia Community College System (VCCS) Professional Development Grant for "Geologic Evidence for Climate Change and Lake-level Oscillation: Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan (C.I.S.), Central Asia".

1994  NSF-NATO Post-Doctoral Fellowship, PI for "Quaternary beachrock of modern and ancient Lake Issyk-Kul: Geologic and climatic significance".

1992  Shuler Open Moment Fellowship, Northern Virginia Community College, for "Modern stromatolite reefs fringing a brackish coast of Belize, Central America: A modern analogue for Precambrian life?".

1991  National Science Foundation / Geology and Geophysics, Co-PI for "Carbonate Ramp Deposition in the Northern Bahamas", Jan. 1991- July 1993.

NOAA National Undersea Research Program, Co-PI for "Factors controlling the origin of submarine topography on Great Bahama Bank".

1990  National Academy of Sciences, PI for "Comparative Genesis and Expression of Hungarian and Bahamian Paleokarst/Carbonate Cycles", Aug. 1990.

1988  National Science Foundation/Geology and Geophysics, Co-PI for "The Genesis of Cyclic Limestones and Unconformities in the Bahamas", Oct. 1988- Mar. 1991.

(Return to top)

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

1992-   Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale Campus
-Physical Geology (GOL105; plus Honors sections)
-Historical Geology (GOL106; plus Honors sections)
-Introductory Oceanography I and II (GOL111/112; plus Honors sect.)
-Field Studies in Geology (GOL135-, sections 52N, 53N, 55N, 56N, 58N)
-History and Development of Chesapeake Bay (GOL299-51N)                                                                                                             -Topics in Mid-Atlantic Field Geology (GOL295-50N)                            

2001-02  Guest Lecturer, Foreign Service Institute (US Department of State)

1994  Visiting Lecturer, Institute of Geology, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (spring)

1989  Instructor, Curriculum in Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina
     Oceanography

1983-89  Teaching Assistant, Curriculum in Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina
     Geological Oceanography
     Carbonate Depositional Environments

1981-83  Teaching Assistant, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Rochester
     Limnology
     Historical Geology
     Invertebrate Paleontology
     Sedimentology and Stratigraphy

(Return to top)

AWARDS AND HONORS

2009  John H. Moss Award for Excellence in College Teaching, NAGT – Eastern Section

2007  "Faculty of the Year" award nominee, Northern Virginia Community College

2002  Presidential Sabbatical Award, Northern Virginia Community College

1995  NVCC "Faculty of the Year" award, Northern Virginia Community College

1994  NSF-NATO Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan, CIS

1992  Shuler Fellowship, Northern Virginia Community College

1991  Invited speaker, Department of Mineralogy, Eotvos L. Univ., Budapest, Hungary

1989  Invited speaker, International Geological Correlation Program (IGCP-287) "Correlation of Mesozoic/Tertiary Bauxites and Related Paleokarst in the Tethyan Realm", Sumeg, Hungary

1988  Invited contributor, Paleokarst, N.P. James and P.W. Choquette, eds.

1987  Invited speaker, Geological Society of America Penrose Conference on "Late Quaternary Sea Levels", Bermuda

1984  Guest speaker, Institute of Geology, University of Naples, Italy

(Return to top)

FIELD RESEARCH CHRONOLOGY

1993-2000  Co-Chief Scientist, Quaternary sedimentation, paleoclimate, and microbialite studies, Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan

1992  Bahamian island stratigraphy and bauxite studies, Eleuthera, Bahamas Co-Chief Scientist, R/V Bellows 9207, Bahamas

1991  Co-Chief Scientist, R/V Calanus 9108, 9115, and 9123, Bahamas Co-Chief Scientist, Stromatolite reef and coastline modification studies, Belize

1990  Scientist, submersible Nekton Delta dive series, Western Great Bahama Bank, Bahamas

1989  Tethyan carbonate platform evolution and bauxite studies, Hungary

1987-92  Coastal bioerosion/community-disturbance field studies, Bimini, Bahamas

1987  Co-Chief Scientist, R/V Calanus 8711, Bahamas Coastal bioerosion by chitons, San Salvador Island, Bahamas

1986  Chief Scientist, R/V Calanus 8616, Bahamas and Straits of Florida

1985  Chief Scientist, R/V Calanus 8516, Bahamas Co-Chief Scientist, R/V Calanus 8501, Bahamas

1984  Scientist, R/V Atlantis II - DSRV Alvin 112-3 lithoherm dive series, Straits of Florida Cretaceous carbonate platform studies, Italy/Sicily

1982  Co-Chief Scientist/Aquanaut, HYDROLAB Mission 82-11, Salt River Canyon, St. Croix, USVI

(Return to top)

PUBLICATIONS - Journals, books, and reports

Ferronsky, V. I., Polyakov, V. A.,  Brezgunov, V.S., Vlasova, L.S., Karpychev, Yu. A., Bobkov, A.F., Romanovsky, V.V., Johnson, T.C., Ricketts, R.D., and Rasmussen, K.A., 2003. Variations in the hydrological regime of Kara-Bogaz-Gol Gulf, Lake Issyk-Kul, and the Aral Sea assessed based on data of bottom sediment studies. Water Resources, v. 30, p. 252-259. (Transl. from Vodnye Resursy, v. 30, 2003, p. 281-288)

Rasmussen, K.A., Ricketts, R.D., Johnson, T.C., Romanovsky, V.V., and Grigina, O.M., 2001, A 8,000 Year Multi-proxy Record from Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan, PAGES News, Vol. 9, No. 2, July 2001, p. 5-6.

Ricketts, R. D.,  Johnson, T. J., Brown, E. T., Rasmussen, K. A., and Romanovsky, V. V., 2001, The Holocene paleolimnology of Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan: Trace element and stable isotope composition of ostracodes: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 176, p. 207-227.

Johnson, T. J., Rasmussen, K. A., and Romanovsky, V. V., 1999, Research of natural processes taking place in Issyk-Kul lake and Issyk-Kul hollow by means of isotopic methods, Science and New Technologies, Special issue No. 1, Bishkek, p. 86-91.

Rasmussen, K. A., 1995, Lake Issyk-Kul: Kyrgyzstan's Imperiled Natural Wonder, Surviving Together: Quarterly Publication of the Institute for Soviet-American Relations, Vol. 13, p. 13-15.

Boss, S. K. and Rasmussen, K. A., 1995, Misuse of Fischer plots as sea-level curves, Geology, Vol. 23, p. 221-224. (and Reply, Geology, Vol. 23, p. 1049-1050).

Kuehnast, K.R., Prior, D., and Rasmussen, K.A., 1994, "Kyrgyzstan in the Transition Period", United Nations Report: Transition in Europe and Central Asia, New York.

Rasmussen, K. A., Macintyre, I. G., and Prufert, L., 1993, Modern stromatolite reefs fringing a brackish coastline, Chetumal Bay, Belize, Geology, Vol. 21, No. 5, p. 199-202. (Cover photo)

Rasmussen, K. A., and Frankenberg, E.W., 1991, Intertidal bioerosion by the chiton Acanthopleura granulata; San Salvador, Bahamas, Bulletin of Marine Science, Vol. 47, p. 680-695.

Rasmussen, K. A., Haddad, R. I., and Neumann, A. C., 1990, Stable isotope record of organic carbon from an evolving carbonate banktop, Bight of Abaco, Bahamas, Geology, Vol. 18, p. 790-794.

Boardman, M. R., Neumann, A. C., and Rasmussen, K. A., 1989, Halocene sea level in the Bahamas, in: Mylrole, J. E. ed., Proceedings of the Fourth Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas: CCFL Bahamian Field Station, Vol. 4, p. 45-52.

Rasmussen, K. A., and Neumann, A. C., 1988, Holocene Overprints of Pleistocene Paleokarst: Bight of Abaco, Bahamas, in: James, N. P. and Choquette, P. W. eds., Paleokarst , Springer-Verlag, New York, p. 132-148.

Rasmussen, K. A. and Brett, C.E. 1988, Modern Reef Community, Virgin Islands, USA, in: Moores, E. M. and Whal, F. M., eds, The Art of Geology, Geological Society of America Special Paper 225, p. 104-105

Rasmussen, K. A. and Brett, C.E. 1985, Taphonomy of Holocene cryptic biotas from St. Croix, Virgin Islands: Information loss and preservational biases, Geology , V. 13 (7), p. 551-553. (Cover photo)

Johnson, D. A. and Rasmussen, K. A. 1984, Late Cenozoic turbidite and contourite deposition in the southern Brazil Basin, Marine Geology , Vol. 58, p. 225-262.

Shor, A.N., Jones, G.A., Rasmussen, K.A. and Burckle, L.H., 1983, Carbonate spikes and displaced components at deep sea drilling site 515: Pliocene/Pleistocene depositional processes in the southern Brazil Basin, in: Barker, P.F. et al., eds., Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, Vol. 72, p. 885-893.

(Return to top)

PUBLICATIONS - Abstracts

Rasmussen, K. A., Ricketts, R. D.,  Johnson, T. J., and Romanovsky, V. V., 2003, A 13,500 Year Multi-proxy Sedimentary Record from Eastern Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan. The 3rd International Limnogeology Congress, March 29 - April 2, 2003, Tucson, Arizona. p. 225. 

Ricketts, R. D., and Rasmussen, K. A., 2003, Evidence for the Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period in the Issyk-Kul basin. The 3rd International Limnogeology Congress, March 29 - April 2, 2003, Tucson, Arizona. p. 229.

Ricketts, R.D. and Rasmussen, K.A., 2001, Millennial Record of Climate Change from Lake Issyk-Kul Multicores, Kyrgyzstan: Abstracts of the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, December, 2001.

Rasmussen, K.A., Ricketts, R.D., Johnson, T.C., Romanovsky, V.V., and Grigina, O.M., 2000, An 11,000-year History of Central Asian Paleoclimate Change Recorded in Deep Sediments of Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan. Abstracts of the American Geophysical Union, Fall meeting, San Francisco, California.

Ricketts, R. D., Rasmussen, K. A., Brown, E. T., and Johnson, T. J., 1999, Stable isotope and trace element composition of ostracodes from Lake Issyk Kul, Kyrgyzstan, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, California, December 12.

Rasmussen, K. A., Ricketts, R. D., Johnson, T. C., and Romanovsky, V. V., 1999, Late Quaternary sedimentation of Lake Issyk Kul, Kyrgyzstan: An 8,000 year record of deposition and Central Asian paleoclimate change, The Second International Congress of Limnogeology, Plouzane, France, May 25-29.

Ricketts, R. D., Liu, X., Johnson, T. C., and Rasmussen, K. A., 1998, The paleoclimate record from Lake Issyk Kul, Kyrgyzstan, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, California, December 6-10.

Rasmussen, K. A., Johnson, T. C., and Romanovsky, V. V., 1998, Deep sediments of Lake Issyk Kul, Kyrgyzstan: Depositional history and evidence for Central Asian paleoclimate change, GSA Abstracts with Programs, Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada, October 25-29.

Rasmussen, K. A. Romanovsky, V.V., Macintyre, I.G., and Prufert, L., 1996, Late Quaternary coastal microbialites and beachrocks of Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan: Geologic, hydrographic, and climatic significance, GSA Abstracts with Programs, Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.

Rasmussen, K. A. and Romanovsky, V.V., 1995, Late Holocene climate change and lake-level oscillation: Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia, Program and Abstracts, 1st SEPM Congress on Sedimentary Geology, St. Petersburg, FL, p. 103.

Boss, S.K., Neumann, A.C., and Rasmussen, K. A., 1995, Cross-platform sediment flux: A prerequisite for sustained "high-stand shedding" of sediment from carbonate platforms, Program and Abstracts, 1st SEPM Congress on Sedimentary Geology, St. Petersburg, FL, p. 32.

Jarrett, B.D., Boss, S.K., Neumann, A.C., and Rasmussen, K.A., 1994, Carbonate cements: applications for environmental interpretation and for eolianite preservation, GSA Abstracts with Programs, Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA.

Boss, S.K., Neumann, A.C., and Rasmussen, K.A., 1994, Misuse of Fischer plots as sea-level curves, GSA Abstracts with Programs, Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA.

Boss, S.K., Neumann, A.C., and Rasmussen, K.A., 1993, Depositional "cyclicity" on carbonate platforms: Real-world limits on computer model output, GSA Abstracts with Programs.

Rasmussen, K.A., Boss, S.K., and Neumann, A.C., 1992, Submarine hardgrounds of the northern Great Bahama Banktop, GSA Abstracts with Programs, Annual Meeting, Cincinnati, OH, Vol. 24.

Boss, S.K., Rasmussen, K.A., and Neumann, A.C., 1992, Comparative depositional geometries and facies within windward rimmed platform and carbonate ramp sequences, GSA Abstracts with Programs, Annual Meeting, Cincinnati, OH, Vol. 24.

Boss, S. K., Rasmussen, K.A., and Neumann, A.C., 1992, Early sequence evolution during carbonate platform flooding: A case study on Great Bahama Bank, SEPM/IAS Research Conference, Carbonate Stratigraphic Sequences: Sequence Boundaries and Associated Facies, La Seu, Spain.

Rasmussen, K.A., Neumann, A.C., Boss, S.K., and Boardman, M. R., 1992, Alternative styles of carbonate banktop submergence: Internal Vs external transgression, Abstracts, South -Central Section GSA, Houston, TX.

Hardman, T., Rasmussen, K.A., Neumann, A.C., Boss, S.K., Dennis, P., and Harwood, G., 1992, Depositional environments of transgressive Holocene Bahamian carbonates: Evidence from geochemistry of carbonate muds, Abstracts, 9th Meeting of Carbonate Sedimentologists, Liverpool University, Liverpool, UK.

Macintyre, I.G., Rasmussen, K.A., and Prufert, L., 1991, A tropical stromatolite reef complex, Chetumal Bay, Belize, Abstracts, International Society for Reef Studies Annual Meeting, Berkeley, CA, p. 40.

Boss, S. K., Neumann, A.C., and Rasmussen, K.A., 1991, Contrasting depositional patterns on a high-energy carbonate platform, Northern Great Bahama Bank, GSA Abstracts with Programs, San Diego, CA, p. 385.

Rasmussen, K.A., Macintyre, I.G., and Prufert, L., 1991, Modern tropical stromatolite reefs along the brackish Belizean coast, GSA Abstracts with Programs, San Diego, CA, p. 66.

Rasmussen, K.A., Neumann, A.C., Boss, S.K., and Trumbull, W.J., 1991, Controls upon banktop carbonate cycles: Sea level Vs antecedent topography, Abstracts, The Second International Symposium on the Adriatic Carbonate Platform, Zadar, Yugoslavia, p. 77.

Rasmussen, K.A., Neumann, A.C., Boardman, M.R., and Trumbull, W.J., 1991, Submergence styles and intrinsic controls upon banktop carbonate cycles, Abstracts, NE/SE Section GSA, Baltimore, MD.

Rasmussen, K.A. and Neumann, A.C., 1990, Carbonate sequence development and the taphonomy of subaerial exposure surfaces within a flooded paleokarstic basin; Bight of Abaco, Bahamas, Abstracts, 13th International Sedimentological Congress of the IAS, Nottingham, England, p. 449.

Rasmussen, K.A., and Frankenberg, E.W., 1990, Faecal pellet deposition and coastal limestone bioerosion by the intertidal chiton Acanthopleura granulata; San Salvador Island, Bahamas, Poster Abstracts, 13th International Sedimentological Congress of the IAS, Nottingham, England, p. 184.

Rasmussen, K.A. and Neumann, A.C., 1990, Comparative marine diagenetic overprints of submerged subaerial unconformities; Bight of Abaco, Bahamas, Abstracts, 13th International Sedimentological Congress of the International Association of Sedimentologists (IAS), Nottingham, England, p. 450.

Rasmussen, K.A. and Neumann, A.C., 1990, Transgressive modification of subaerial carbonate substrata; Bight of Abaco, Abstracts, Fifth Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, CCFL Bahamian Field Station.

Boardman, M.R., Neumann, A.C., and Rasmussen, K.A., 1989, Holocene sea level in the Bahamas, in: Mylroie, J.E. ed., Abstracts, Fourth Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas, CCFL Bahamian Field station, p. 4.

Rasmussen, K.A., Haddad, R.I., and Neumann, A.C., 1988, Stable isotopic record of organic carbon from an evolving carbonate lagoon: Little Bahama Bank, GSA Abstracts with Programs, Annual Meeting, Vol. 20, p. A70.

Rasmussen, K.A., and Neumann, A.C.,1988, Cycles and surfaces in the Quaternary of the Bahamas, Abstracts, SEPM Annual Mid-year Meeting, Columbus, Ohio, p. 43.

Wilber, R.J. , Rasmussen, K.A. and Neumann, A.C. 1986, Discontinuity surfaces within carbonate platforms: Styles of production and preservation and chronostratigraphic importance, SEPM Annual Mid-year Meeting Abstracts, Raleigh, NC, p. 117.

Rasmussen, K.A. and Neumann, A.C. 1986, Holocene overprints on Pleistocene paleokarst: Taphonomic gradients along lagoonal unconformities, SEPM Annual Mid-year Meeting Abstracts, Raleigh, NC, p. 93.

Rasmussen, K.A. and Brett, C.E. 1986, Biotic and physical controls on taphonomic bias in recent cavity vs. coral-undersurface encrusting communities, Fourth North American Paleontological Convention Abstracts, Boulder, CO, p. 57.

Rasmussen, K.A. and Neumann, A.C. 1985, Unconformities in the making: the Holocene/Pleistocene contact developing in Bahaman lagoons, SEPM Annual Mid-year Meeting Abstracts, Golden, CO, p. 74.

Rasmussen, K.A. and Brett, C.E. 1983, Taphonomy of Recent cryptic biotas: Bathymetric and successional biases and biotic "erasure", GSA Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 15, p. 666.

Johnson, D.A. and Rasmussen, K.A., 1982, Late Pleistocene deposition of bioclastic turbidites and contourites in the Brazil Basin, EOS, Trans. Amer. Geophys. Union, Vol. 63, p. 361.

(Return to top)