Gerald T. Rustic

Gerald T. Rustic is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geology within the School of Earth & Environment at Rowan University. He serves as Principal Investigator of the Rowan Oceanographic and Paleoceangraphic Investigation Center (TROPIC), leading NSF-funded research on historical climate variability with focus on El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) dynamics across geological timescales.

His educational background includes:

• Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Sciences, City University of New York (2015)
• M.Phil. in Earth and Environmental Sciences, City University of New York (2013)
• M.S. in Environmental Science, Rutgers University (2011)
• B.S. in Biology and Geology, University of Rochester (1995)
• Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University (2015-2017)

Dr. Rustic's research employs geochemical proxies including foraminifera isotopic analysis and alkenone biomarkers to reconstruct past ocean conditions. His current NSF-funded projects investigate ENSO spatial variability during the Last Glacial Maximum (20-25kya), Eastern Tropical Pacific hydrology from LGM to MIS5e, and Holocene climate patterns across the last 10,000 years. His work bridges paleoceanographic methods with contemporary climate change understanding through laboratory analysis of sediment cores and microfossil assemblages.

As an active educator, he teaches GEOL01.131 Earth in Transition, GEOL01.133 Climate Catastrophes and Civilizations, GEOL01.230 Paleoclimatology, GEOL01.250 Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions, and GEOL01.435 The Ice Ages. His TROPIC laboratory houses a ThermoScientific iCAP 6500 ICP-OES facility with full sediment processing capabilities, currently mentoring two undergraduate and two graduate researchers in paleoclimate investigations.