THANK YOU FOR VISITING
ME!
A little about me? My name is Phillip Larson (you can call me Phil!) and I'm a geo-dad (6-year and 3-year old boys), geographer, geologist, outdoors fanatic, mac and cheese/pizza enthusiast, coffee addict and snob, miserable and tortured Minnesota sports fan (though I do cheer for Arizona teams, too - which honestly isn't much better...), comic and sci-fi nerd ("in brightest day, in blackest night..."), and public lands advocate. I have always loved camping, hiking, fishing, and exploring the natural world - and now I do that with my family. I prefer outdoors to indoors unless it is horribly humid. My favorite places include: the Colorado Plateau - primarily in northern Arizona and southern Utah (e.g. Zion, Grand Canyon, Arches, Paria Canyon), Iceland (all of it!), the Lake Superior basin, the big island/Hawai'i, the Pacific Northwest USA, and the Scottish Highlands. If you want to talk about any of these things, my door is always open for a friendly conversation!
In my professional life, I am a Full Professor and founder and Co-Director of the AGES (Archeology, Geography, Earth Science)(now EARTH Systems Laboratory) at Minnesota State University in Mankato, MN. In addition, I am a graduate faculty member at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Co-Faculty leader of the MNiMORPH research group with my friend and colleague, Dr. Andy Wickert. If you would like to work with me, we have a M.S. program at Minnesota State and M.S. and Ph.D. program at the University of Minnesota in Earth and Environmental Sciences. If you are interested in working with me as a graduate student, please send me an email (phillip.larson@mnsu.edu).
My career revolves around taking part in scientific research with incredible geoscientists - including students, professionals, and faculty around the world. My goals as a scientist and professor are to explore and investigate the landscapes of our planet with an inquisitive eye aimed at understanding process, form, and rates of change on the earth's surface. Understanding how natural processes and phenomenon interact with anthropogenic factors and environmental/climatic change is crucial to this endeavor. How do human activities and/or change in the environment/climate dictate how surficial systems like rivers, glaciers, sand dunes, and landslides function? What is the impact of that change on human populations today? How can natural change to these systems through deeper time help us understand modern change and its impacts? This is what I try to focus on in my work and this often ties directly to immediate pressing concerns in communities I try to serve.Thus, my work commonly dovetails with research threads in climate change, land-use, and natural hazards. I also do a lot of work and have interest in water resources, including past and present evolution of drainage basins and river systems in response to both human and climatic change. Ultimately, it boils down to a passion for understanding the natural world and our place in it. That passion leads me to want to educate and share my excitement about our planet with all of you! For years to come, I hope to teach and learn from a multitude of students as they become the new scientists that shape our understanding of the world and to continue to collaborate with incredible colleagues who can help me continue to grow and learn for the remainder of my career!
With that said, THANK YOU for stopping by my website. Please feel free to explore my C.V., research group website, teaching page, and reach out if you want to know more or talk about anything you have read here! Have a nice day!
A little about me? My name is Phillip Larson (you can call me Phil!) and I'm a geo-dad (6-year and 3-year old boys), geographer, geologist, outdoors fanatic, mac and cheese/pizza enthusiast, coffee addict and snob, miserable and tortured Minnesota sports fan (though I do cheer for Arizona teams, too - which honestly isn't much better...), comic and sci-fi nerd ("in brightest day, in blackest night..."), and public lands advocate. I have always loved camping, hiking, fishing, and exploring the natural world - and now I do that with my family. I prefer outdoors to indoors unless it is horribly humid. My favorite places include: the Colorado Plateau - primarily in northern Arizona and southern Utah (e.g. Zion, Grand Canyon, Arches, Paria Canyon), Iceland (all of it!), the Lake Superior basin, the big island/Hawai'i, the Pacific Northwest USA, and the Scottish Highlands. If you want to talk about any of these things, my door is always open for a friendly conversation!
In my professional life, I am a Full Professor and founder and Co-Director of the AGES (Archeology, Geography, Earth Science)(now EARTH Systems Laboratory) at Minnesota State University in Mankato, MN. In addition, I am a graduate faculty member at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Co-Faculty leader of the MNiMORPH research group with my friend and colleague, Dr. Andy Wickert. If you would like to work with me, we have a M.S. program at Minnesota State and M.S. and Ph.D. program at the University of Minnesota in Earth and Environmental Sciences. If you are interested in working with me as a graduate student, please send me an email (phillip.larson@mnsu.edu).
My career revolves around taking part in scientific research with incredible geoscientists - including students, professionals, and faculty around the world. My goals as a scientist and professor are to explore and investigate the landscapes of our planet with an inquisitive eye aimed at understanding process, form, and rates of change on the earth's surface. Understanding how natural processes and phenomenon interact with anthropogenic factors and environmental/climatic change is crucial to this endeavor. How do human activities and/or change in the environment/climate dictate how surficial systems like rivers, glaciers, sand dunes, and landslides function? What is the impact of that change on human populations today? How can natural change to these systems through deeper time help us understand modern change and its impacts? This is what I try to focus on in my work and this often ties directly to immediate pressing concerns in communities I try to serve.Thus, my work commonly dovetails with research threads in climate change, land-use, and natural hazards. I also do a lot of work and have interest in water resources, including past and present evolution of drainage basins and river systems in response to both human and climatic change. Ultimately, it boils down to a passion for understanding the natural world and our place in it. That passion leads me to want to educate and share my excitement about our planet with all of you! For years to come, I hope to teach and learn from a multitude of students as they become the new scientists that shape our understanding of the world and to continue to collaborate with incredible colleagues who can help me continue to grow and learn for the remainder of my career!
With that said, THANK YOU for stopping by my website. Please feel free to explore my C.V., research group website, teaching page, and reach out if you want to know more or talk about anything you have read here! Have a nice day!
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Phillip
H. Larson, PhD
Professor
Co-Director,
EARTH
Systems Laboratory
Minnesota
State University, Mankato
Graduate
Faculty
University
of Minnesota, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Email:
phillip.larson@mnsu.edu
Office:
5073892617
Website
(Personal): https://www.philliphlarson.com
Website
(Research Group): https://mnimorph.science/
(Colorado River,
northeast Utah; Victoria Glacier, Alberta)
“The problem with ... Iceland is that you’re basically confronted by a new soul-enriching, breath-taking, life-affirming natural sight every five goddamn minutes. It’s totally exhausting.” - S. Markley