In the Path of Nature

Paul F. Ciesielski, Ph.D.

Dr. Paul F. Ciesielski received his bachelors of science degree in geology from University of Louisville in Kentucky in 1971 He received his M.S. in 1974 and his Ph.D. in geology from Florida State University in 1978. After a post-doctorate position at the Institute of Polar Studies at Ohio State University, he taught briefly at the University of Georgia.

Dr. Ciesielski moved to Gainesville in 1983, where he joined the faculty of the Department of Geological Sciences of the University of Florida. Positions he has held at the University of Florida include Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Associate Chair. His research interests include paleontology-micropaleontology, marine geology, and paleo-oceanography. Dr. Ciesielski has taught a wide variety of undergraduate courses in geology and oceanography, including Exploring the Geological Sciences, Age of Dinosaurs, Physical Geology, Evolution of Earth and Life, Paleontology, Geological Field Methods, and Introduction to Oceanography.

Dr. Ciesielski offers two off-campus courses in the four-corners region of the Southwest. The first is Geology Summer Field Camp, a geology summer field camp in northern New Mexico where field procedures and techniques are applied to the solution of geologic problems and construction of geologic maps. The other course, Geology and National Parks of the SW, focuses on parklands of the U.S. Southwest with excursions to national parks in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona. This latter course integrates geology with the cultural aspects and present-day environmental concerns of these areas.

Dr. Ciesielski has traveled extensively in association with his research, including dozens of countries and all continents. His marine research has taken him to the Arctic, Antarctic, South Pacific, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Indian Ocean.