Douglas Faulkner, Ph.D.
Contact Information
101 Roosevelt Avenue
Eau Claire, WI 54701
Biography
As a broadly trained physical geographer, I teach a wide range of courses in both physical and environmental geography. At the introductory level, I teach GEOG 104 - Planet Earth: The Physical Environment and GEOG 178 - Planet Earth: Conservation of the Environment. My present upper-level courses include GEOG 363 - Watershed Analysis, GEOG 364 - Fluvial Processes and Landforms, and (in rotation with other Geography faculty) GEOG 368 - Geography Field Seminar.
In addition to classroom teaching, I am strongly committed to the university's mission of student/faculty research collaboration. In recognition of my work with undergraduate researchers, I received UWEC's award for Excellence in Mentoring in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity in 2017. In 2022, I received the national Undergraduate Research Mentor Award from the Geosciences Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research.
The main focus of my current collaborative research with students is the fluvial geomorphology of the Lower Chippewa River Valley in west-central Wisconsin, a fascinating and unique region that was designated a State Natural Area by the Governor and the Natural Resources Board of Wisconsin in 2001. One of my collaborative research projects aims to reconstruct channel changes that have occurred along the Lower Chippewa over the past century and to identify the factors that control why certain reaches of the river have been more morphologically dynamic than others. Another project seeks to reconstruct the Late Quaternary geomorphic history (both fluvial and eolian) of the Lower Chippewa valley. This latter project, ongoing since 2006, led to a paper published in 2016 in the journal Geomorphology, which, in 2019, won the G.K. Gilbert Award for Excellence in Geomorphological Research from the Geomorphology Specialy Group of the American Association of Geographers.
Education
- Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison (Geography)
- M.S., University of Wisconsin-Madison (Geography)
- M.S., University of Wisconsin-Madison (Water Resources Management)
- B.A., Oxford University (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics)
- B.A., University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Geography)
Teaching and Research Interests
- Recent channel change of the Lower Chippewa River
- Late Quaternary geomorphic history of the Lower Chippewa River valley
- Holocene fluvial history of the central Great Plains
- Human impacts on fluvial systems
- Fluvial adjustments to environmental change
- Watershed sediment delivery
- Floodplain sedimentation
Published Research
Faulkner, D.J., Rawling, J.E. III, and Larson, P.H. 2023. Quaternary geology and geomorphology of the Eau Claire region. In Lodge, R.W.D. (Ed.), Institute on Lake Superior Geology Proceedings, 69th Annual Meeting, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Part 2 – Field Trip Guidebooks. v.69, part 2, p.72-86.
Schaetzl, R.J., Running, G.L., Larson, P.H., Rittenour, T.M., Yansa, C.H., and Faulkner, D.J. 2022. Luminescence dating of sand wedges constrains the Late Wisconsin (MIS-2) permafrost interval in the Upper Midwest, USA. Boreas 51: 385-401.
Schaetzl, R.J., Larson, P.H., Faulkner, D.J., Running, G.L., Jol, H.M., and Rittenour, T.M. 2018. Eolian sand and loess deposits indicate west-northwest paleowinds during the Late Pleistocene in western Wisconsin, USA. Quaternary Research 89: 769-785.
Faulkner, D.J., Larson, P.H., Jol, H.M., Running, G.L., Loope, H.M. and Goble, R.J. 2016. Autogenic incision and terrace formation resulting from abrupt late-glacial base-level fall, Lower Chippewa River, Wisconsin, USA. Geomorphology 266: 75-95.
Larson, P.H., Dorn, R.I., Faulkner, D.J., and Friend, D.A. 2015. Toe-cut terraces: a review and proposed criteria to differentiate from traditional fluvial terraces. Progress in Physical Geography 39: 417-439.
Faulkner, D.J. 2002. Holocene history of changing sediment yields from small watersheds in the central Great Plains of southwest Nebraska. Physical Geography 23: 343-365.
Faulkner, D.J. 1998. Spatially variable historical alluviation and channel incision in west-central Wisconsin. Annals, Association of American Geographers 88: 666-685.
Faulkner, D.J. 1996. Brush Creek: urban menace or asset? In: F.A. Schoolmaster, ed., Papers and Proceeding of the Applied Geography Conferences 19: 307-316.
Faulkner, D.J., and McIntyre, S.C. 1996. Persisting sediment yields and sediment delivery changes. The Water Resources Bulletin 32: 817-829.
Honors And Recognition
2022: Undergraduate Research Mentor Award, Council on Undergraduate Research, Geosciences Division
2019: G.K. Gilbert Award for Excellence in Geomorphological Research (AAG Geomorphology Specialty Group)
2017: Excellence in Mentoring in Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire