Name Syverson, Kent
Title/Department professor, geology and environmental science
Phone 715-836-3676
Email syverskm@uwec.edu
Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/kent-syverson-26144652/
Topic areas Glacial history of Wisconsin, glacial geology of the Chippewa Moraine Ice Age National Scientific Reserve Unit, geology of western Wisconsin, eruption of Mount St. Helens, frac sand mining in Wisconsin, adventures associated with conducting glacial geology research in the wilderness of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve (Alaska). Keywords: glacial geology, Wisconsin geology, frac sand, Alaska, Glacier Bay, wilderness research, Mt. St. Helens, volcano, volcanic eruption.
Notes Syverson has conducted glacial geology research with UW-Eau Claire undergraduate students in Maine and Wisconsin, including projects along Wisconsin’s Ice Age Trail in the Blue Hills, the Chippewa Moraine and Straight Lake State Park. He also mapped the glacial geology of Chippewa County for the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey (Syverson, 2007). Syverson is the author of the book “Adventures in Glacier Bay” (2020, Amazon). The book chronicles his Ph.D. research in Glacier Bay, Alaska, as part of the National Geographic Society’s Burroughs Glacier Expedition. In 1989-90, he spent two summers living 50 miles from the nearest human outpost in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Syverson, who was then a young graduate student, made numerous mistakes and learned many things through hardships in the wilderness. In a presentation, he tells his favorite (and humorous) adventure story, talks about living “off the grid” in the Alaskan wilderness, briefly discusses some of his research in Glacier Bay and reflects on life lessons learned in the backcountry.