DR. MARK JOSEPH ABOLINS
Professor
CONTACT
AND CONNECT:
E-mail: Mark.Abolins@mtsu.edu
LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mark-abolins/3a/a94/a22
Phone: (615) 494-7986
Fax: (615) 898-5592
Address:
Department of Geosciences
Middle
Tennessee State University
Davis
Science Bldg, Room 217
MTSU Box 9
Murfreesboro, TN 37132
Web Address: www.mtsu.edu/~mabolins/abolins.htm
EDUCATION:
A.B. (Geology and Integrative Biology)
with Distinction, 1992, University of California, Berkeley
M.S.
in Geology, 1996, California Institute of Technology
Ph.D. in Geology, 1999, California Institute of Technology
HONORS AND AWARDS:
1992
Phi Beta Kappa.
1992
Earle C. Anthony Graduate Fellowship (Caltech).
1993
NSF Graduate Fellowship.
1997
Richard H. Jahns Graduate Assistant Teaching Award (Caltech).
1998
NSF Post-doctoral Fellowship in STEM Education. (I declined this award because
MTSU offered me a tenure-track position.)
APPOINTMENT:
Assistant,
Associate, and Full Professor, 1998-present, Department of Geosciences, Middle
Tennessee State University
COURSES TAUGHT:
I
currently teach an academic year Field Methods in Geology course, an
undergraduate/graduate Structural Geology course, an Education Abroad
Switzerland and Alpine Italy course, and an on-line Geoscience of Caves course.
I also teach a general education Introduction to Earth Science course.
RESEARCH AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL
ACTIVITIES:
PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
(* undergraduate co-author)
Abolins,
M., and Ogden, A., 2023, Sinkhole flooding above a shallow bedrock aquitard in
a rapidly-urbanizing community, central Tennessee, USA: Geomorphology, v. 425,
108586, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169555X23000065?via%3Dihub
.
Abolins,
M., Bush, R.*, Han, A.*, and Ogden, A., 2018, Mesoscale faults, macroscale
folds, and inferred basement structures, Nashville dome, central Tennessee, in
Engel, A.S., and Hatcher, R.D., Jr., eds., Geology at Every Scale: Field
Excursions for the 2018 GSA Southeastern Section Meeting in Knoxville,
Tennessee: Geological Society of America Field Guide 50, p. 95–119, https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/books/book/2075/chapter/114336849/Mesoscale-faults-macroscale-folds-and-inferred
(accessed 4/6/21).
Abolins, M., Young, S.*, Camacho, J.*,
Trexler, M.*, Ward, A.*, Cooley, M.*, and Ogden, A., 2015, A road guide to the
Harpeth River and Stones River fault zones on the northwest flank of the
Nashville dome, central Tennessee, in Holmes,
A.E., ed., Diverse Excursions in the Southeast: Paleozoic to Present:
Geological Society of America Field Guide 39, p. 1–20, doi:10.1130/2015.0039(01).
Abolins, M., 2014, Undergraduates
discovering folds in “flat” strata: An unusual undergraduate geology field
methods course: Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 62, p. 264–277, doi:10.5408/12-371.1.
Abolins, M., 2004, A
Student-centered Regional Planning Group Activity for Non-science Majors,
Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 52, p. 472-480.
Wernicke, B. P., J. L.
Davis, R. A. Bennett, P. Elosegui, M. J. Abolins, R.
J. Brady, M. A. House, N. A. Niemi and J. K. Snow, 1998, Anomalous strain
accumulation in the Yucca Mountain area, Nevada, Science, v. 279, no. 5359, p.
2096-2100.
Bennett, R.A., B.P.
Wernicke, J.L. Davis, P. Elosegui, J.K. Snow, M.J.
Abolins, M.A. House, G.L. Stirewalt, and D.A. Ferrill, 1997, Global Positioning System
constraints on fault slip rates in the Death Valley region, California and
Nevada,
Geophysical Research Letters, v. 24, p. 3073-3076.
Abolins, M., 1997,
Introducing volcanic hazards with free digital data, Journal of Geoscience
Education, v. 45, p. 211-215.
BOOK CHAPTERS
Abolins, M., 2022, Archival Airborne
Visible/infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) Image of Faults in a Mixed
Carbonate-Clastic Succession, Northwestern Spring Mountains, Nevada, USA, in Misra, A.A., and Mukherjee, S., eds.: Atlas of Structural
Geological and Geomorphological Interpretation of Remote Sensing Images.
Oxford: Wiley, p. 177-184, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781119813392.ch17
.
Abolins, M., 2019, Techniques for the
field measurement and analysis of the orientation of gently-dipping strata, in
Billi, A., and Fagereng, A., eds.: Problems and Solutions in Structural Geology and
Tectonics. Developments in Structural Geology and Tectonics, v. 5. Cambridge:
Elsevier, p. 25-41, https://www.sciencedirect.com/bookseries/developments-in-structural-geology-and-tectonics/vol/5/suppl/C
.
Abolins, M., 2019, Geographic Information
Systems in an Undergraduate Structural Geology Course: a Pilot Project at
Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN, in Mukherjee, S., ed.:
Teaching Methodologies in Structural Geology and Tectonics. Singapore: Springer Nature, p. 201-219, https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789811327803.
OTHER SELECT PUBLICATIONS
Deng, M., L. Di, M. Abolins,
H. Gong and G. Zhou, 2006, Making Differences: Uses of GeoBrain
in Classroom Teaching of Earth System and Geospatial Information Sciences at
Higher Education Institutes Worldwide, in
Proceedings, Ninth Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Conference, https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5d86/586233ec1cfe1f1f08148328641f7186c3e9.pdf
Abolins, M., R. L. Oskin,
A.R. Prave, C.L. Summa, and F.A. Corsetti,
2000, Neoproterozoic
glacial record in the Death Valley region, California and Nevada,
Geological Society of America Field Guide, v. 2, p. 319-335.
SELECT RECENT PRESENTATIONS
(* undergraduate co-author)
Abolins, M., 2018,
Relationship between the orientation of the Nashville Rift in central Tennessee
and the orientation of macroscale folds in post-rift Paleozoic strata: evidence
for rift fault reactivation: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 50, No. 6, ISSN 0016-7592, doi: 10.1130/abs/2018AM-324897, https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2018AM/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/324897
(accessed 4/6/21).
Abolins, M., 2018, Learning
with ArcGIS within an undergraduate structural geology course at Middle
Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Geological Society of
America Abstracts with
Programs, v. 50, No. 6,
ISSN 0016-7592, doi: 10.1130/abs/2018AM-324863, https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2018AM/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/324863.
Abolins, M., Bush, R., Han, A., and Ogden, A., 2018, Inferred reactivation of basement structures within the Nashville Dome, central Tennessee: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 50, No. 3, ISSN 0016-7592, doi: 10.1130/abs/2018SE-313116, https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2018SE/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/313116 .
Abolins, M., and Levandowski, J., 2017, Uplift of the Nashville dome,
central Tennessee by inversion of the previously-undescribed Nashville rift:
Geological Society of America Abstracts
with Programs, v. 49, doi: 10.1130/abs/2017AM-307585, https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2017AM/webprogram/Paper307585.html.
Abolins, M., 2016, Using
the spatial analysis of a structure contour map to compare fold hinge and fault
orientations within the Harpeth River fault zone, a cratonic
fault and fold zone in central Tennessee: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 48, doi:
10.1130/abs/2016AM-287942, https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2016AM/webprogram/Paper287942.html
(accessed 3/22/17).
Abolins,
M., 2016, On-line educator professional development for the alumni of a summer
undergraduate pre-service STEM teacher science research experience: Geological
Society of America Abstracts with
Programs, v. 48, doi: 10.1130/abs/2016AM-287606, https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2016AM/webprogram/Paper287606.html
(accessed 3/22/17).
Birkofer, J., and Abolins, M., 2016, Educators
collaborate on-line to develop an education module aligned with a high school
science next generation science standard: Geological
Society of America Abstracts
with Programs, v. 48, doi:
10.1130/abs/2016AM-287144, https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2016AM/webprogram/Paper287144.html
(accessed 3/22/17).
Deal,
D.*, and Abolins, M., 2016,
Collaborative development of a karst curriculum aligned with the next
generation science standards: Geological
Society of America Abstracts with
Programs, v. 48, doi:
10.1130/abs/2016AM-287536, https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2016AM/webprogram/Paper287536.html
(accessed 3/22/17).
Abolins,
M., and Ogden, A., 2016, Groundwater
Flow within the Western Limb of the Stones River Syncline, Rutherford County, Central,
Tennessee: Proceedings of the
2016 Tennessee Water Resources Symposium, p. 1C-13-1C-21, https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/12ed7af3-57dc-468c-af58-da8360f35f16/downloads/Proceedings2016.pdf?ver=1617384962238 (accessed 4/6/21).
Abolins, M., Young, S.*, Camacho, C.*,
Trexler, M.*, Ward, A.*, Han, A.*, Flores, J.*, and Cooley, M.*, 2015, Inferred
Paleozoic reactivation of Precambrian basement faults within a cratonic flexural bulge, Nashville dome, central Tennessee,
Geological Society of America Abstracts, https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2015AM/webprogram/Paper270507.html
(accessed 9/4/15).
Abolins, M., 2015, Relationship between
an intensive nine-week undergraduate pre-service teacher science research
experience and lesson plans and career plans, Geological Society of America
Abstracts, https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2015AM/webprogram/Paper270390.html
(accessed 9/4/15).
Bomar, B.*, Evans, I.*, and Abolins, M.,
Impact of a 2014 nine-week intensive undergraduate research experience on a
pre-service teacher’s active learning practices at the Salvation Army’s Summer
2015 Day Camp in Nashville, TN, Geological Society of America Abstracts, https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2015AM/webprogram/Paper270056.html
(accessed 9/4/15).
Abolins, M., 2014, The first year of the
National Science Foundation Geosciences Directorate’s first pre-service teacher
Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), Geological Society of America
Abstracts, https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2014AM/webprogram/Paper250295.html
(accessed 4/6/21).
Camacho, J.*, Young, S.*, and Abolins,
M., 2014, Pre-service teachers involvement in nine-week structural geology
research experience, Geological Society of America Abstracts, https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2014AM/webprogram/Paper249664.html
(accessed 9/4/15).
OTHER PRESENTATIONS
(* undergraduate co-author)
Abolins, M., and Estep, T.*, 2006,
Validation of previously-mapped lineaments in and near part of the New Madrid
Seismic Zone, Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee with free data from global image
archives, Geological Society of America Abstracts, https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2006AM/webprogram/Paper116354.html
(accessed 4/20/21).
McMillin, T.L.*, and Abolins, M.J.,
1999, The expression of floods on visible/infrared satellite images of the
Obion River, northwestern Tennessee, Geological Society of America Abstracts
with Programs, v. 31, n. 7, p. 270.