This page provides information about former ESS faculty members including retired and emeritus faculty who are no longer active in the department, as well as those who have moved on other positions, and those we have lost.
This page is gradually being updated. Contributions are greatly appreciated: Contact Us.
Liz Nesbitt
Dr. Elizabeth Nesbitt was Curator of Paleontology at the Burke Museum, with a half time teaching appointment in ESS. She retired in 2022, but remains active in education and outreach as well as research at the Burke. Much of her research involved the effects of changing climate on marine faunas, from large vertebrates to invertebrates and microscopic forms. She has worked extensively with Burke colleagues on measuring the health of Puget Sound through examination of the foraminifera in bottom sediments. She was involved with the creation of numerous exhibits at the Burke Museum, emphasizing communicating science to all ages. For example, she curated “Cruising the Fossil Freeway”, an exhibit that featured the science of Kirk Johnson (now leading the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History) and the art of Ray Troll that introduced the huge variety of American fossils through interactive stations and games.
A newly discovered species of whale — found preserved in ancient rock on the Oregon coast — was named after Liz: Maiabalaena nesbittae: lived during the Oligocene, about 33 million years ago.
Robert Winglee
Robert Winglee was professor in the Geophysics Program since 1991, and continued in ESS when Geophysics merged with Geological Sciences. He served as chair of ESS from 2005 to 2015 and played a major role overseeing the renovation of Johnson Hall. He was a space physicist and self-described “rocket man” who designed and built experiment spacecraft. Robert ran the acclaimed successful Washington/NASA Space Grant until his untimely death in 2020. Space Grant is now managed by UW’s Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics.
Minze Stuiver
Minze Stuiver was hired by the Quaternary Research Center in the 1960s, and was a member of the Geological Sciences and then ESS until his retirement in 1998. Stuiver was a pioneer in radiocarbon measurements, and for two decades was the single most highly-cited researcher in all of geosciences. He worked extensively on the carbon cycle, and co-developed the GISP2 oxygen isotope time series from central Greenland, at the time the most important and best-dated ice core on the planet.