Ryan C. Ewing
Professor and Robert R. Berg Professor in Geology
Texas A&M Presidential Impact Fellow
Research
Ryan’s research aims to understand the evolution of landscapes and the sedimentary record through physical processes operating at the surface-atmosphere interface of Earth, Mars and Titan (a moon of Saturn). His current research themes include (1) development of patterns in wind-blown landscapes and bedform self-organization in the rock record, (2) the role of wind-blown systems at critical climatic and biologic transitions in Earth’s history, (3) Biosignatures in eolian systems, (4) hydrodynamics for provenance studies, (5) science operations in fluvial-eolian planetary analog environments, (6) geotechnical site characterization for in-space construction and engineering. Ryan uses fieldwork, remote sensing, laboratory experiments, numerical modeling, and radiogenic and stable isotope geochemistry to explore his science goals. He has active field work in Texas, New Mexico, Utah, South Australia, and Iceland.Selected Publications
*Swann, C., Sherman, D. J., & Ewing, R. C. (2019). Experimentally‐derived thresholds for windblown sand on Mars. Geophysical Research Letters.
*Phillips, J. D., Ewing, R. C., Bowling, R., Weymer, B. A., Barrineau, P., Nittrouer, J. A., & Everett, M. E. (2019). Low-angle eolian deposits formed by protodune migration, and insights into slipface development at White Sands Dune Field, New Mexico. Aeolian Research, 36, 9-26.
Myrow, P.M., Lamb, M.P. and Ewing, R.C., 2018. Rapid sea level rise in the aftermath of a Neoproterozoic snowball Earth. Science, 360(6389), pp.649-651.
Michel, S., Avouac, J. P., Ayoub, F., Ewing, R. C., Vriend, N., & Heggy, E. (2018). Comparing dune migration measured from remote sensing with sand flux prediction based on weather data and model, a test case in Qatar. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 497, 12-21.
Ewing, R. C., Lapotre, M. G. A., Lewis, K. W., Day, M., Stein, N., Rubin, D. M., Sullivan, R., Banham, S., Lamb, M.P., Bridges, N.T. & Gupta, S. (2017). Sedimentary processes of the Bagnold Dunes: Implications for the eolian rock record of Mars. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 122(12), 2544-2573.
Hunt, B., Robinson, D. M., Weislogel, A. L., & Ewing, R. C. (2017). Sediment source regions and paleotransport of the Upper Jurassic Norphlet Formation, eastern Gulf of Mexico. AAPG Bulletin, 101(9), 1519-1542.
Lapotre, M. G. A., Ewing, R. C., Lamb, M. P., Fischer, W. W., Grotzinger, J. P., Rubin, D. M., D.M., Lewis,K.W., *Ballard, M., Day, M., Gupta, S.G., Banham, S.G., Bridges, N.T., DesMarais, D.J., Fraeman, A.A., Grant, J.A., Herkenhoff, K.E., Ming, D.W., Mischna, M.A., Rice, M.S., Sumner, D.A., Vasavada, A.R., & Yingst, R.A. (2016). Large wind ripples on Mars: A record of atmospheric evolution. Science, 353(6294), 55-58.
*Indicates in Ewing Aeolian Lab at Texas A&M
Education
PhD – University of Texas at Austin
MS – University of Texas at Austin
BA - The Colorado College
