Geosciences Professor Jill Marshall Featured in Latest Short Talks from the Hill

University Relations

Jill Marshall

The January episode of Short Talks from the Hill features Jill Marshall, an assistant professor of geosciences. She characterizes herself as both a geomorphologist and a Critical Zone Scientist.

What's a geomorphologist? Where's the Critical Zone? Marshall explains.

She also discusses a recent grant she and her collaborators received from The National Science Foundation to study the effects of climate change on Arctic watersheds in the Aklavik Range of Canada. The purpose of this grant is to quantify accelerating changes in the production, transport and deposition of sediment.

One thing that interests Marshall is the process by which mountains become sediment.

"So one thing I study is the mechanics of how trees, when they're inserted into rock near the surface of the earth, how they damage that rock — open it up with cracks and eventually turn it into disaggregated rock or sediment," she says in the podcast. "And so every day that tree is tapping on the rock, and it turns out those little, little tiny taps, given enough time, can actually begin to change the porosity — how much void space there is in those rocks."

To listen to Marshall discuss her work, click the link above or go to Arkansas Research, the home of science and research news at the University of Arkansas.

Short Talks from the Hill highlights research and scholarly work at the University of Arkansas. Each segment features a university researcher discussing their work. Previous podcasts can be found at the link above or by visiting arkansasresearch.uark.edu.

Thank you for listening!

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