Dr. Robert R. Herrick
Phone: 907-474-6445
Fax: 907-474-7290
email: rherrick@gi.alaska.edu
Geophysical Institute
University of Alaska Fairbanks
903 Koyukuk Dr., P.O. Box 757320
Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-7320
Links
My publications
Stereo Matching Tool software
Venus crater
database
Venus
slide set
"Bridging the Gap
II: Effects of Target Properties on the Impact Cratering Process",
September, 2007
Proceedings from
"Bridging the Gap" workshop on impact cratering, 2003
The planetary science course I taught at
Rice
GEOS 492/692 - Fundamentals of Planetary
Remote Sensing
GEOS 294, The Solar System,
Spring 2006
My web journal from the move to
Alaska
Pictures from my life in Alaska
A PDF of my full vita as of July, 2008
Professional Background
Education
Ph.D. Geophysics, Southern Methodist University, 1993
M.S. Geophysics, University of Houston, 1988
B.S. Geophysics, Texas A & M, 1985
B.S. Physics, Texas A & M, 1985
Employment
July, 2004 - present: Research Associate Professor,
Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska - Fairbanks
1993 - 2004: Staff Scientist at the Lunar and Planetary
Institute (LPI), Houston
1989 - 1992: Teaching and research assistant at SMU, Dallas
1985 - 1988: Senior Geophysicist at Exxon, Houston
Primary Research Interests
Large scale tectonic and volcanic history of the terrestrial planets.
To date most of my work in this area has focused on the planet
Venus, but I have recently started looking at Mars quite a bit. I
like to combine imagery,
topography, and geoid data to try and understand the big picture of how
interior processes shape the surface now and over time.
Impact craters occur continuously in time and in a
spatially random manner. How they are altered by subsequent
volcanic and tectonic processes provides insight into the geologic
history of a planet, and this has been another of my areas of research.
Impact cratering. Impact craters occur throughout
the solar system; for most solid bodies cratering is the dominant
geologic process. Many aspects of the mechanics of the cratering
process are poorly understood, in part because a large impact on a
solid body has never been observed. One of my research areas is
to compare and contrast impact craters on the various planets and
moons, essentially using them to study the effects of different surface
gravities, target properties, and the presence or absence of an
atmosphere.
I also have an interest in impact structures on
Earth. These structures provide unique insights about the
cratering process that cannot be gained by observing planetary craters
from orbit. I enjoy opportunities to see these structures in
person and on a few occasions have conducted geologic and geophysical
field studies of them.
I have put on the web a Venus crater
database that includes images and morphometric properties of
all the impact craters on Venus.
I co-convened a workshop on impact cratering with Betty Pierazzo in
February, 2003. Results from that workshop can be found here.
Betty, Gordon Osinski, and I co-convened a follow-up workshop in
September, 2007, and the web site for that workshop is here.
For a list of my publications, click
here.
Educational and Public Outreach
I strongly feel that every scientist should spend some effort
communicating their work to the general public and working to improve
general science literacy (the citizenry does pay our salaries, after
all). I personally find outreach to be a challenging and
rewarding task. Over the years I was very involved in the
planning and development of LPI's outreach program, and I was manager
of the E/PO department for a year. I have
guest-lectured about the planets to a wide variety of groups and age
ranges, and sometimes the youngest people ask the most insightful
questions. Other outreach activities include conducting and
participating in teacher workshops, teaching a university course on the
planets, and developing a number of outreach products (posters, CDs,
etc.).
A Venus
slide set is available that I produced with Maribeth
Price. The full resolution images are available at the link.
Occasionally I teach a course at UAF. Materials from a
graduate course on planetary remote sensing are here,
and materials from an undergraduate course on the solar system are here.
I have also taught courses on the solar system as adjunct faculty at
University of Houston - Clear Lake, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de
Mexico (UNAM), and Rice. Materials from the
sophomore-level course on the solar system
that I taught at Rice can be found here.
In the course of my research I developed some software for viewing
stereo pairs and selecting match points. The software works with
IDL and is available here.
Hobbies
Sports are my primary hobby. I was a swimmer in high school and
swam at Masters (old people) meets for several years. Swimming is
the only sport I'm really good at, but I'll play almost anything and
get into a new sport every few years or so. Over the years I have
participated
competitively at some level in triathlons, running (ran the marathon
once), cycling, swimming, softball, tennis, volleyball, soccer,
sculling,
kayaking, bowling, and racquetball. I also like hiking, snow
skiing, snowboarding, and anything that can be done in or on the
water. Some pictures from some of the stuff I have done in Alaska
can be found here.
To make the move from Houston to Alaska a little more interesting I
decided to ride up by bicycle. The trip took 79 days. I
took a laptop with me and posted a journal on the web while I was
riding up. If you'd like to check that out, go here.
Last updated July 28, 2008