Glacial Geology and Geochronology Research Group

Welcome to the Glacial Geology and Geochronology Research Group at the University of Maine!  Use the links below to learn more about our ongoing research.

Research

We are working on projects in western Maine/northern New Hampshire, Scotland, Greenland, Mongolia, New Zealand, South America, and Antarctica.

view research
Data

Photo Gallery

Follow the links to view photos from our research projects around the world!

Antarctica
Greenland
south america

Learn about the researchers and students in our group!

People

NEWS

Anticipated Graduate Student Opening

We announce an anticipated graduate student (MS student) opening for Fall 2026. This student will be involved with mapping (remotely – no field work) alpine glacier deposits in the Transantarctic Mountains and comparing these to records of ice-sheet extent. Some exposure-age dating of existing samples will be involved. Applicants should have a strong attention to detail, ideally some experience in GIS, and be comfortable working with hazardous chemicals in a laboratory setting. We’re looking for a team player to join our active research group. Student support is anticipated to be on an RA during the first year and TA during the second.
Interested students should contact Dr. Brenda Hall (BrendaH@maine.edu) with a CV and statement of interest no later than Jan. 31.

 Check out these new papers from our research group!

Hall, B., Putnam, A., Lowell, T., Denton, G., Russell, J., Soteres, R., Spoth-Ascencao, M., Miles, M., Thomas, S., Moreno, P., Schwartz, R., and Schaefer, J., 2026. Rapid thinning of the Cordillera Darwin icefield at the onset of Termination I. Quaternary Science Reviews 109754.

Kelly, M., Lowell, T., Hall, B., Levy, L., Smith, C., Salamido, K., Schwartz, R., and Howley, J., 2025. Relative summer temperature changes from glacial fluctuations in the Scoresby Sund region, central East Greenland, during late-glacial time. Quaternary Science Reviews 367, 109531.

Whittaker, T., Hall, B., Hendy, C., and Henderson, G., 2025. Isotope analyses of marl sediments from an Antarctic lake reveal large-scale hydrologic changes over the last glacial-interglacial cycle. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology 40, e2024PA005070.

Former PhD student Dr. Maraina Miles (May 2025) has accepted a visiting faculty position at Berea College, Kentucky. Congratulations, Maraina!


Dr. Meghan Spoth (PhD May 2025) is starting a multi-year postdoc at Syracuse University with Dr. Tripti Bhattacharya. Best of luck with your new position!

Sera Thomas successfully defended her MS thesis and graduated in May. Her work provides new details on the Antarctic Cold Reversal in southern South America. Congratulations!

We recently published a paper on the deglaciation of eastern North America during Heinrich Stadial 1. Check it out!
Hall, B.L., Lowell, T.V., Bromley, G.R.M., Putnam, A.E., and Allen, K., 2025. Rapid deglaciation of eastern Maine, northeastern North America, during Heinrich Stadial 1. Quaternary Science Reviews 363, 109444.

Archived News

  • TV interviews and articles about Maraina Miles’ photo exhibit from a research expedition to Tierra del Fuego: The 207 tv interview: https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/207/ice-age-climate-change-maraina-miles-chile-geology/97-f134d8af-71f3-43fd-8c6d-1f75264dde5b. UMaine News: https://umaine.edu/news/blog/2024/06/25/graduate-student-documents-chilean-research-voyage-with-photography/
  • New paper out: “History of the Antarctic Ice Sheet in the McMurdo Sound region at and since the Last Glacial Maximum: Evidence from Miers Valley” https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108787
  • Congratulations to Meghan Spoth for receiving the 2024 Limnogeology Division Kerry Kelts Award from the GSA Limnogeology Division!
  • New paper out “Tracking the southern hemisphere westerlies during and since the last glacial maximum with multiproxy lake record s from the Falkland Island s (52 °S )” in Quaternary Science Reviews: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108135
  • Congratulations to Scott Braddock for a successful PhD defense!
  • New paper out on the interactions between local glaciers and the adjacent grounded Ross Sea ice in the Royal Society Range, Antarctica:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108591
  • April, 2024: Dr. Aaron Putnam, graduate students Tricia Hall, Katie Westbrook, and Zander Roman returned from months of fieldwork in the Southern Alps of New Zealand where they collected samples from boulders for cosmogenic surface exposure age dating.
  • April, 2024: Dr. Brenda Hall, graduate students Sera Thomas, Meghan Spoth and Maraina Miles just returned from a second season in Tierra del Fuego, Chile, along with colleagues from the University of Cincinnati and the Universidad de Magallanes and a science journalism student from Northwestern University. They collected sediment cores from bogs and samples from boulders for cosmogenic exposure age dating.
  • Congratulations to Peter Strand for a successful PhD defense!
  • Congratulations to PhD student Scott Braddock who received outstanding graduate student award and PhD student Peter Strand who received the outstanding graduate research award in the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture.
  • Brenda Hall, graduate students Meghan Spoth and Maraina Miles and undergraduate Eva Griffiths spent a month on a sailboat in the Beagle Channel, southern Chile, along with colleagues from the University of Cincinnati and the Universidad de Magallanes and a science journalism student from Northwestern University. They were collecting data to help answer questions about the cause of the last ice-age termination. Stay tuned for a larger report on the field season soon!
  • Former student Tess Walther, along with Brenda Hall, George Denton, and Chris Hendy (University of Waikato, NZ) just had a paper accepted in Quaternary Science Advances concerning Antarctic glacial history. This paper stems from Tess’s MS degree. Congratulations Tess!
  • Current student PhD Meghan Spoth, along with Brenda Hall and colleagues at the University of Cincinnati and the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute just had a paper accepted in Quaternary Science Reviews concerning shifts in the southern hemisphere westerlies since the last ice age. Nice job Meghan!
  • New paper out, led by collaborators at NUI Galway, including graduate student Adrienne Foreman and UM alum Gordon Bromley. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.110901

University of Maine Cosmogenic Isotope Laboratory

For K-12 teachers

Members of our research group regularly answer questions from K-12
students, and as technology permits, correspond with students from the
field. Interested teachers should contact Dr. Brenda Hall
(BrendaH@maine.edu) for more information.