Dr. Scott Werts
Assistant Professor of Geology
Department of Chemistry, Physics and Geology
Winthrop University
Rock Hill, SC. 29733
(803) 323-4930
Office: Sims 213A
Labs: Sims 210 and 110
Picture: At Guadalupe Mountains National Park near the remnants of an underwater landslide near the base of the largest coral reef to have ever existed (250 million years ago in Western Texas)
Research Interests
My research interests lie primarily in the fields of geobiology and paleoclimatology. Geobiology is the study of earth/life interactions. Because soil is the main interface between biology and geology in the terrestrial realm, I have a keen interest in researching this thin skin of the Earth. My main research tool in these investigations is the use of stable isotope geochemistry, most frequently carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and deuterium. Some of my current projects involve evaluating the effect of varying parent material on soil formation in central New Mexico, carbon sequestration in the various soils of the Carolina piedmont and the effects of fire events on carbon in the mineral horizons of common soils. Currently, students in my lab are working on paleoclimate investigations through stable isotope analysis of peat deposits in South Carolina and the changing geochemical signature of endomycorrhizal fungal spores at high temperatures as a possible proxy as a post-fire thermometer.
Education
Johns Hopkins University, PhD. Geobiology
Johns Hopkins University, MA. Geobiology
Penn State University, BS. Geology
Students
Current: John Yankech, Mark White
Past: Matthew Milligan
Courses I Teach
Physical Geology: GEOL 110
Physical Geology Lab: GEOL 113
Earth and Space Systems: GEOL 250
Earth and Space Systems Lab: GEOL 251
Fundamentals of Geochemistry: GEOL 335
Hydrogeology: GEOL 340
Research
Fire Effects on Endomycorrhizal Fungal Spores
Paleoclimate Studies through Stable Isotope Analysis of Peat Deposits, SC
Lithosequence at Mountainair, New Mexico
Carbon cycling in eastern piedmont soils
A Brief Vita