Research

My research seeks to explain how the Earth's surface is influenced by changes in climate and human activities over diverse timescales. Nearly all of my studies involve directly measuring properties of the Earth's surface and trying to understand how those properties are created by climatic, geologic, and anthropogenic processes. My research group collects data using a very wide range of techniques, including sophisticated laser mapping systems, remotely sensed imagery, and less sophisticated but useful field methods that include traditional instrument surveys. The basic research questions I address can be posed in many different settings. As a result, my publications encompass a wide spectrum of surficial environments including glaciers, beaches, river channels, earthworks, in addition to publications that investigate changes in climatic processes such as temperature patterns and heat stress caused by landcover change.

Recent Manuscripts

Lowery et al. (in review) Late Pleistocene loess deposits of the western Delmarva, Peninsula. QSR.

O’Neal et al. (in review) A field-based model of the effects of landcover changes on daytime summer temperatures in alpine settings. Physical Geography.

O’Neal. M.A. (in press) Identifying lichenometrically datable, glacierized terrains: A case study in the Cascade Range of western North America. Geocarta International.

Pizzuto, J.E., M.A. O’Neal, and *S. Stotts. (in press) On the Retreat of Forested, Cohesive Riverbanks. Geomorphology

Roe, G. and M.A. O’Neal (2009) Roe, G. and M.A. O’Neal. The response of glaciers to intrinsic climate variability: observations and models of late Holocene variations in the Pacific Northwest. Journal of Glaciology.

O’Neal. M.A., B. Hanson, D. Leathers, and *A. Goldstein. (2009) Estimating Landcover-Induced Increases in Daytime Summer Temperatures Near Mt. Adams, WA. Physical Geography. Vol. 30, No. 2, pp. 1-14.

Pizzuto, J.E. and M. A. O’Neal (2009) Increased Mid-20th Century River Bank Erosion Rates Related to the Demise of Mill Dams, South River, Virginia. Geology Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 19-22.

*Rhoades, E., M. A. O’Neal, and J. Pizzuto. (2009) Quantifying bank erosion on the South River from 1937 to 2005, and its importance in assessing Hg contamination. Journal of Applied Geography.

*Pietro, L., M.A. O’Neal, and J. Puleo. (2008) Developing terrestrial-LIDAR-based digital elevation models for monitoring beach nourishment performance. Journal of Coastal Research.