Associate Professor, Paleoclimate & Sedimentology
Year Started at JMU: 2019
lukenswe@jmu.edu
Contact Info
Website
Research Description
I develop and apply methods for reading climate signals from Earth history. Most of my research involves fossil soils (paleosols), fossil wood, and sedimentary systems. From these archives, I reconstruct the climate setting and environmental conditions from past landscapes—from the last ecosystems prior to the dinosaur-killing K-Pg impact, to the context of early apes in eastern Africa. My collaborators and I are constantly improving our methods, which involves statistical modeling and studying modern landscapes.
Courses
- Geol 115L: Earth Systems and Climate Change Lab
- Geol 489: Quantitative Techniques in Geology
- Geol 291: Writing and Communicating in the Geosciences
- Geol 390: Lab Techniques
Education
- PhD in Geology, 2017, Baylor University
- MS in Geology, 2013, Temple University
- BS in Geology, 2009, Temple University
Select Publications
- Lukens, W.E., Peppe, D.J., Uno, K.T., Beverly, E.J., Martinez, G., Fox, D.L., Oginga, K., Miller, E., and Acosta, R.P., 2026: Terrestrial paleoenvironments and paleoclimate during the Miocene climate optimum at Buluk, East Turkana, Kenya, GSA Bulletin, https://doi.org/10.1130/B38610.1.
- Lukens, W.E., Peppe, D.J., Deino, A.L., Loughney, K., Oginga, K., Flynn, A.G., Tesfay, K., and Miller, E., 2026: Geochronology and sedimentology of the Buluk fossil site, East Turkana, Kenya: Hominoid fossil–bearing strata within the Miocene climate optimum, GSA Bulletin, https://doi.org/10.1130/B38609.1.
- Peppe, D.J., et al., 2023: Oldest evidence of significant C4 grasses and habitat heterogeneity in eastern Africa, Science, vol. 380, issue 6641, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abq2834.
- MacLatchy, L. et al., 2023: The evolution of hominoid locomotor versatility: Evidence from Moroto, a 21 Ma site in Uganda, Science, vol. 380, issue 6641, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abq2835.