My research falls into fields that help shed light on lithospheric processes,vincluding and not limited to tectonic geomorphology, active tectonics, structural geology, basin analysis, geodynamics, biogeomorphology, and thermochronology. As larger geospatial datasets become available, geomorphology is taking a new role in understanding the coupling of the lithosphere and mantle. My research interests lie at that intersection. I like to integrate field based observations with predicted model-based results to construct a more robust understanding of the processes that govern construction of the Earth’s surface.
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Matthew Morriss was born in Dallas, Texas but quickly moved south to Austin, Texas. Experiences hiking through the Cretaceous Limestones of the Hill Country in Central Texas combined with an early introduction to Geology during High School at St. Stephen's Episcopal School into a fervor for learning more about the geologic and natural world wherever I am. Although truly, this process started with my collection of maps and numerous holes dug in my parents backyard. I attended Whitman College (2009 - 2013) and graduated Cum Laude with a BA in Geology. I wrote my Senior Thesis on glaciations in the Mongolia Hangay mountain range. This study combined Comsogenic Nuclide exposure dating on moraines with remote sensing and other paleo-climate proxies.
I arrived at the University of Oregon (F. 2015) after attending North Carolina State University for a Masters in Geology (2013 - 2015). My Masters project was funded by an EdMap proposal. I used Quaternary terraces along the Burnt River, Baker County Oregon to constrain river incision rates and eventually the rate of fault slip along a fault near Durkee, Oregon. I am excited to be working at the University of Oregon, collaborating in a multi-discipline; multi-investigator projects in N.E. Oregon.
2015 - ?2019?: PhD at the University Of Oregon
2013 -2015: MSc North Carolina State University
"Geomorphology of the Burnt River, eastern Oregon, USA: Topographic adjustments to tectonic and dynamic deformation"
2009 - 2013: B.A. Whitman College
"Paleoclimate implications of glacial sequences in Mongolia"