JAMES SANDUSKY ABER Professor of Geology Roe R. Cross Distinguished Professor Earth Science Department Emporia State University

Address Information

620-341-5981, E-mail: jaber@emporia.edu

Research areas in Kansas include the glaciated region (northeast), Flint Hills (east-central), Osage Cuestas (southeast), and Cheyenne Bottoms (central). Evolution of Great Plains drainage systems is a special interest. He has also conducted field investigations in Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado, New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. He has worked at NASA centers: Johnson, Goddard, and Stennis.

Aber has extensive international experience in North America and Europe. He has conducted field research and lived in several other countries, including: Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and most recently Slovakia. Primary subjects of research in these countries are glacial and Quaternary geology, geomorphology, as well as structural geology and tectonics.

Aber has special interest and expertise in glaciotectonics—structural deformation of the crust brought about by glaciation. He has investigated glaciotectonic landforms and structures in many parts of North America and Europe. He maintains an on-line glaciotectonic bibliography and was co-president of the international work group on geospatial analysis of glaciated environments (1995-2003)—GAGE. He recently published a book titled Glaciotectonism with Polish coauthor Andrzej Ber (Elsevier 2007).

Aber's recent work has dealt with applications of remotely sensed and GIS data for geologic and geomorphic problems. Of particular interest are Landsat imagery, space-shuttle photography, and small-format aerial photography—see SFAP. He is also co-director of the campus-wide program in GeoSpatial Analysis—see GSA.

Résumé for James S. Aber

Degrees

• B.S. in Geology, State Univ. of New York at Binghamton, 1974.
  
• M.S. in Geology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 1976.
  
• Ph.D. in Geology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 1978.

Current courses

GO 326 Plate/Global Tectonics	ES 331 Ice Age Environments
ES 341 Wetland Environments	ES 351 Introduction to Geospatial Analysis
GO 521 History of Geology	ES 546 Field Geomorphology
ES 551 Computer Mapping Systems	ES 555 Small-Format Aerial Photography
ES 767 Advanced Tectonics	ES 771 Remote Sensing
ES 775 Advanced Image Processing	ES 739/875 Research Problem/Thesis

Major awards

• Fulbright-Hays Student Award: Postdoc research, Dept. General Geology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, Jan.-August, 1979.

• ESU Faculty Exchange: Department of Geography, University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, July-December, 1984.

• Marshall Award/ESU sabbatical: Department of Geology, University of Bergen, Norway, February-July, 1987.

• Fulbright Scholar Award/ESU sabbatical: Institute of Geology, University of Warsaw, Poland, July-December, 1993.

• Roe R. Cross Distinguished Professor: Emporia State University, 1994-95.

• President's award for research and creativity: Emporia State University, 1996-97.

• National Research Council: Twinning Program with Estonia, 1998-2000.

• Technology Award: Emporia State University, 1999.

• ESU Faculty Exchange: Institute of Geology, University of Tartu, Estonia, Aug.-Dec. 2000.

• AAAS/NSF 2005 Visualization Challenge: winner in the photography category—see certificate.

• National Scholarship Programme of the Slovak Republic: Technical University of Košice, Slovakia. July-August, 2007.

Professional service and organizations

• International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA).
  
• Kansas Academy of Science, past president and past editor.
  
• Geological Society of America; Sigma Xi; Geological Society of Denmark.
  
• History of Earth Sciences Society; Suoseura, the Finnish Peatland Society.
  
• Emporia State Research Studies, co-editor—see ESRS.

Grants

Selected article, book and map publications

• Aber, J.S. 1979. Glacial conglomerates of the Appalachian Plateau, New York. Quaternary Research 11, p. 185-196.

• Aber, J.S. 1979. Kineto-stratigraphy at Hvideklint, Møn, Denmark and its regional significance. Geological Society Denmark, Bulletin 28, p. 81-93.

• Aber, J.S. 1980. Nature and origin of exotic-rich drift in the Appalachian Plateau. American Journal of Science 280, p. 363-384.

• Aber, J.S. 1985. The nature of glaciotectonism. Geologie en Mijnbouw 64, p. 389-395.

• Aber, J.S. 1988. Ice-shoved hills of Saskatchewan compared with Mississippi delta mudlumps—Implications for glaciotectonic models. In Croot, D.G. (ed.), Glaciotectonics: forms and processes, p. 1-9. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam.

• Aber, J.S. and Aarseth, I. 1988. Glaciotectonic structure and genesis of the Herdla Moraines, western Norway. Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift 68, p. 99-106.

• Aber, J.S. and Lundqvist, J. 1988. Glaciotectonic structures in central Sweden and their significance for glacial theory. Géographique Physique et Quaternaire 42/3, p. 315-323.

• Aber, J.S., Croot, D.G. and Fenton, M.M. 1989. Glaciotectonic landforms and structures. Glaciology and Quaternary Geology Series, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, the Netherlands, 200 p.

• Aber, J.S. 1991. The glaciation of northeastern Kansas. Boreas 20, p. 297-314.

• Aber, J.S. 1992. Chert gravel, drainage development, and sinkholes in the Walnut basin, south-central Kansas. Kansas Academy Science, Transactions 95, p. 109-121.

• Aber, J.S. (editor) 1993. Glaciotectonics and mapping glacial deposits. Canadian Plains Research Center, Canadian Plains Proceedings 25 (vol. 1), 310 p. Regina, Canada.

• Aber, J.S., Ross, J.A. and Lee, S.P. 1994. Geological map of Butler County, Kansas. Kansas Geological Survey, Map M-30, scale 1:50,000.

• Aber, J.S., Bluemle, J.P., Brigham-Grette, J., Dredge, L.A., Sauchyn, D.J. and Ackerman, D.L. 1995. Glaciotectonic map of North America, scale 1:6,500,000. Geological Society of America, Maps and Charts Series, MCH079.

• Aber, J.S. and Ruszczynska-Szenajch, H. 1997. Glaciotectonic origin of Elblag Upland, northern Poland, and glacial dynamics in the southern Baltic region. Sedimentary Geology 111, p. 119-134.

• Aber, J.S. 1997. Chert gravel and Neogene drainage in east-central Kansas. Kansas Geological Survey, Current Research in Earth Sciences, Bulletin 240, part 3. See full article.

• Aber, J.S. 1999. Pre-Illinoian glacial geomorphology and dynamics in the central United States, west of the Mississippi. In Mickelson, D.M. and Attig, J.W. (eds.), Glacial processes past and present. Geological Society America, Special Paper 337, p. 113-119.

• Aber, J.S., Wallace, J. and Nowak, M.C. 2002. Response of forest to climatic events and human management at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Kansas Geological Survey, Current Research in Earth Sciences, Bulletin 248, part 1. See full article.

• Aber, J.S., Aaviksoo, K, Karofeld, E. and Aber, S.W. 2002. Patterns in Estonian bogs as depicted in color kite aerial photographs. Suo 53, p. 1-15.

• Aber, J.S. and Apolzer, K. 2004. Pre-Wisconsinan glacial database and ice limits in the central United States. In, Ehlers, J. and Gibbard, P.L (eds.), Quaternary Glaciations - Extent and Chronology, Part II: North America. Developments in Quaternary Science, Vol. 2b. Elsevier, Amsterdam, p. 83-88.

• Pavri F. and Aber, J.S. 2004. Characterizing wetland landscapes: A spatiotemporal analysis of remotely sensed data at Cheyenne Bottoms, Kansas. Physical Geography 25/1, p. 86-104.

• Aber, J.S., Eberts, D. and Aber, S.W. 2005. Applications of kite aerial photography: Biocontrol of saltcedar (Tamarix) in the western United States. Kansas Academy of Science, Transactions 108, p. 63-66.

• Aber, J.S., Aber, S.W., Pavri, F. Volkova, E. and Penner, R.L. 2006. Small-format aerial photography for assessing change in wetland vegetation, Cheyenne Bottoms, Kansas. Kansas Academy of Science, Transactions 109, p. 47-57.

• Aber, J.S. and Ber, A. 2007. Glaciotectonism. Developments in Quaternary Science 6, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 246 p.

• Aber, J.S. and Aber, S.W. 2009. Kansas physiographic provinces: Bird's-eye views. Kansas Geological Survey, Educational Series 17, 76 p. Go to KGS.

• Aber, J.S., Aber, S.W., Buster, L., Jensen, W.E. and Sleezer, R.O. 2009. Challenge of infrared kite aerial photography: A digital update. Kansas Academy of Science, Transactions 112, p. 31-39.

• Aber, J.S., Marzolff, I. and Ries, J.B. 2010. Small-format aerial photography: Principles, techniques and geoscience applications. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 268 p. See book details.

• Evans, K.R., and Aber, J.S. (eds.) 2010. From Precambrian rift volcanoes to the Mississippian shelf margin: Geological field excursions in the Ozark Mountains. Geological Society of America, Field Guide 17, 158 p.

• Owens, L., Aber, J.S. and Aber, S.W. 2011. Remote sensing half-century record of environmental changes at Cheyenne Bottoms, Kansas. Emporia State Research Studies 47/1, p. 1-10. See full article.

• Aber, J.S., Pavri, F. and Aber, S.W. 2012. Wetland environments: A global perspective. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, United Kingdom, 421 p. See book details.

Other activities

• Lewis and Clark bicentennial.
  
• Gardening, landscaping.
  
• Leaded stained-glass design and construction.
  
• Chess coaching and playing—see ECS.

Earth Science homepage. Last update: April 2013.