(907) 474-6663  

buck [dot] sharpton [at] alaska [dot] edu

Affiliations
Geographic Information Network of Alaska
Department of Geology Geophysics
Lunar and Planetary Institute

After serving for five year's as UAF's Vice Chancellor of Research, Dr. Sharpton recently returned to his former research interests in planetary science. His planetary research focuses on two broad objectives:

• understanding the role that impact cratering has played in shaping Earth's geological and biological history;
• unraveling the geological histories of the solid planetary bodies in the Solar System.

Buck employs a spectrum of techniques in his work including satellite remote sensing, fieldwork, geophysical methods, petrographic microscopy, and digital mapping.  Some of the impact features he has studied and written about include the KT Chicxulub structure in Yucatan, the Manicougan, Sudbury, Haughton Dome, and Slate Islands structures in Canada, Marquez Dome in Texas, and El'gygytgyn in Siberia.   His planetary interests center around Venus and especially why Earth and Venus evolved to be so different. 

Dr. Sharpton was recently appointed as chairperson of the US Arctic Research Commission by President Obama and hold a part-time appointment with the NASA-funded Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, TX.

Images: Landsat color composites of Manicouagan Crater, Quebec, Canada (left) and Haughton Crater, Devon Island, Canada (right.)