No two places on Earth have the same geological history recorded in the rocks now exposed at the surface. And, the more geology a geoscientist learns, the better the individual is to understand the Earth Systems processes that operated in the past and are relevant models for the future.
Professor Gastaldo is a paleontologist and sedimentologist whose focus is on terrestrial ecosystems ranging from: the earliest colonization of land by plants in the Devonian; through the Carboniferous, during which time our largest coal reserves accumulated under glacial and interglacial conditions akin to today; to the effects of Mass Extinction on ecosystems at the Permian-Triassic Boundary; and with the processes responsible for preservation of fossil assemblages from the earliest stratigraphic records into the Neogene using actualistic studies in modern environments.
Understanding Deep Time, critical events in Earth’s history is paramount to future policy developed by society, at large. Transfer of this knowledge, and the models that explain what happened in the past and how they can be applied to the future, is essential for an educated public’s decisions on policy. Professor Gastaldo incorporates such concepts not only in the college courses he teaches, but also in the educational materials he has developed at the national level.