Dr. Scott Mensing
University of Nevada, Reno/Mail Stop 0154
Department of Geography, Mackay Science Hall
Reno, NV 89557-0154
(775)784-6346
Fax:(775) 784-1058
Email: smensing@unr.edu
- Curriculum Vitae [PDF]
Research Statement
Dr. Mensing is a biogeographer and paleoecologist. He has extensive
experience reconstructing Quaternary environments in the Great Basin
and California . His primary research tools are pollen and charcoal analysis
and he maintains the department palynology laboratory. He also has experience
with tree ring analysis and woodrat middens. He enjoys field work and is always
anxious to explore new corners in the intermountain west.
Research Areas of Interest
Reconstructing vegetation and climate change, Quaternary paleoecology, fire history, the invasion of exotic species, early agriculture.
Professional Preparation
University of California, Berkeley - Landscape Architecture A.B. 1977
University of California, Berkeley - Geography M.A. 1988
University of California, Berkeley - Geography Ph.D. 1993
Courses Taught
Geog 103 Geography of the World's Environment
Geog 314 Field Methods
Geog 437, 637 Geography of Past Environments
Geog 473, 673 Arid Lands
Geog 701s - Graduate seminar in Biogeography and Paleoecology
Selected Publications
Mensing, S. A., Smith, J., Allan, M., Norman, K. B. 2008. Extended drought in the Great Basin western North America in the last two millennia reconstructed from pollen records. Quaternary International 188. p79-89.
Mensing, S. A. 2005. The History of Oak Woodlands in California, Part I: The paleoecologic record. The California Geographer 45, 1-38; (2006) Part II: The Native American and historic period. 46, 1-31.
Mensing, S., Livingston, S., and Barker, P. 2006. Long-term fire history in Great Basin sagebrush reconstructed from macroscopic charcoal in spring sediments, Newark Valley, Nevada. Western North American Naturalist. 66, 64-77.
Mensing, S., Benson, L., Kashgarian, M, and Lund, S. 2004. A Holocene pollen record of persistent droughts from Pyramid Lake, Nevada, USA. Quaternary Research 62, 29-38.
Benson, L, Burdett, J., Kashgarian, M., Lund, S., and Mensing, S. (1997). Nearly synchronous climate change in the Northern Hemisphere during the last glacial termination. Nature 388, 263-265.