About Dr. Michael McGlue: My research aims to answer questions related to environmental change and energy resources through field and ship-based examinations of the sedimentary rock record. I apply a broad range of techniques (high resolution seismic surveying, sequence stratigraphy, clastic sedimentology, organic/inorganic geochemistry, clay mineralogy, petrography, geochronology, and paleoecology) to better understand depositional processes, stratigraphic architecture, and paleoenvironments in continental rift and retroarc foreland basins.
Active research themes over the next few years will include: (1) Pliocene-Quaternary stratigraphic evolution of the southern Tanganyika rift (East Africa); (2) mudrock provenance and source-to-sink dynamics in continental basins; (3) hydrocarbon source rock kinetics, unconventional resource potential and porosity evolution in Mesozoic/Cenozoic shales; (4) stratigraphy, paleoclimatology, stable isotope hydrology of tropical wetlands (South America); and (5) limnogeology of the northern Philippines. I am also broadly interested in science education, outreach, and communication.
At UK, I anticipate developing coursework in stratigraphy, basin analysis, shale geology and geochemistry, and paleolimnology. Students enrolled in these courses will be able to take advantage of my new research facilities on the first floor of Slone, as well as laboratories and expertise elsewhere in EES and at the Kentucky Geological Survey. Pioneer Natural Resources has been instrumental in providing the endowment for my professorship; I look forward to helping strengthen ties between the EES community and Pioneer in the years to come.
Finally, I am always interested in speaking with undergraduate and graduate students whose interests include stratigraphy, sedimentary geochemistry, tropical paleoenvironments, and natural resources. I welcome inquiries from potential students regarding research opportunities in my lab. I will be arriving at UK in the fall - until then, I can be reached at michael.mcglue@uky.edu