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Alessandro Zanazzi

Faculty Member

Dr. Alessandro Zanazzi

Biography

I am originally from Verona (Italy), a beautiful city located at the foot of the Alps. My family owns a small apartment near Madonna di Campiglio, in the Italian Dolomites. As a kid, I liked to go to Madonna di Campiglio as often as possible to hike, to ski, and to climb on our beautiful “via ferratas”. The time spent in the Dolomites sparked my passion for nature and for the Earth sciences. I therefore attended the University of Padua as a geology major and graduated in 2002. I then came to the US and got a MSc from Iowa State University and a PhD from the University of South Carolina. After a post-doc at Yale University and a two-year period as a visiting professor at Eastern Connecticut State University, I came to UVU in the fall of 2011. Here I teach various courses in geology, geochemistry, and weather and climate. For my research, I apply stable isotope techniques to reconstruct past climates in continental interiors. In my free time, I love to spend time outdoor running, hiking, backpacking, climbing, mountain biking, and skiing.

Education

Certificate, Pennsylvania State University, 2022

Major: Weather Forecasting

Certificate, University of South Carolina, 2009

Major: Applied Statistics

PhD, University of South Carolina, 2008

Major: Geology

MS, Iowa State University, 2004

Major: Geology

BS/MS ("Laurea"), University of Padua, 2002

Major: Geology

Teaching

METO 3100

Climate and the Earth System, Spring 2025

METO 1060

Fundamentals of Weather Forecasting, Spring 2025

METO 1010

Introduction to Meteorology, Spring 2025

METO 1010

Introduction to Meteorology, Spring 2025

GEO 489R

Student Research, Spring 2025

Presentations

Marchant, Sarah (Presenter & Author), Zanazzi, Alessandro (Co-Author), Ranney, McKenzie (Co-Author), Annual GSA Meeting, "Stable Isotope Paleoecology of the Mammoth from Silver Creek Junction (Utah, USA). Abstracts with Programs", Geological Society of America, Anaheim, CA. (September 23, 2024)

Scholarly/Creative Works

Zanazzi, Alessandro , Fletcher, Andrew , Peretto, Carlo , Thun Hohenstein, Ursula , (2022) "Middle Pleistocene Paleoclimate and Paleoenvironment of Central Italy and their Relationship with Hominin Migrations and Evolution" (vol. 619). Quaternary International. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2022.01.011
Zanazzi, Alessandro , Wang, Weihong , Peterson, Hannah , Emerman, Steven , (2020) "Using Stable Isotopes to Determine theWater Balance of Utah Lake (Utah, USA)" . Hydrology.
Mora, German , Zanazzi, Alessandro , (2017) "Hydrogen Isotope Ratios of Moss Cellulose and Source Water in Wetlands of Lake Superior, United States Reveal their Potential for Quantitative Paleoclimatic Reconstructions" (vol. 468). Chemical Geology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2017.08.017
Zanazzi, Alessandro , Judd, Emily , Fletcher, Andrew , Bryant, Harold , Kohn, Matthew , (2015) "Eocene-Oligocene Latitudinal Climate Gradients in North America inferred from Stable Isotope Ratios in Perissodactyl Tooth Enamel" (vol. 417). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.10.024

Awards

Weather Challenge

Wx Challenge

1st place nationally for weather forecasting at Baltimore, MD.

Dean's Award of Excellence

College of Science - April, 2019

Faculty Senate Faculty Excellence Award

Utah Valley University

Presidential Fellowship

Utah Valley University

Exceptional Reviewer

Geological Society of America

Taber Award for Outstanding Ph.D. Research

University of South Carolina