H. Curtis Monger

Image of Curtis Monger

Education:

  • Ph.D.: Agronomy (Soil Genesis and Classification), New Mexico State University.(1990)
  • M.S.: Geology, University of Tennessee.(1986)
  • B.S.: Plant and Soil Science, University of Tennessee.(1981)

Professional Appointments:

  • 2004-2015: Professor of Pedology and Environmental Science, Dept. of Plant & Environmental Sci.
  • 1998-2004: Associate Professor of Pedology, Dept. of Agronomy & Horticulture
  • 1992-1998: Assistant Professor of Pedology, Dept. of Agronomy & Horticulture
  • 1990-1992: Project Leader, Soil-Geomorphology Project, Fort Bliss, Texas.
  • 1981-1982: Soil Scientists, USDA-Soil Conservation Service, Chester Co, Tenn.

Research Interests: Coupled geomorphic-biotic change; Links between desert soils and the global carbon cycle; Paleoclimate; Geoarchaology My research focuses on the terrestrial responses to climate changes in the Chihuahuan Desert as recorded in soils and their isotopic signatures. Many desert soils in southern New Mexico, for example, contain a continuous accumulation of soil carbonate and thus contain avaluable isotopic record of climatic fluctuation during the recent geologic past. Much of my research is of soil strata and landscape evolution on the Fort Bliss Military Reservation in southern New Mexico and western Texas. This study is being conducted for archaeologists in the Environmental Management Office at Fort Bliss who are in charge of locating and preserving archaeology sites. Similar global change studies are being conducted by myself and graduate students at the Jornada LTER site and the Big Bend National Park.

I am responsible for teaching Soils and Land Use, Soil Morphology and Classification, and Soil Genesis, and, on occasion, Introductory Soils. I also coach the soil judging team. In teaching I emphasize that soils are the result of large-scale geologic processes and try to get students to think of soils as seen from aerial photographs and satellite imagery, where, for example, the flood plain soils of the Rio Grande can be distinguished form adjacent soils. In this way, one can understand how soil types vary among physiographic regions and how land use can impact regions differently.

Professional Activities and Honors (last 6 years):

Current Associate Editor, Arid Land Research and Management 2003 National Science Foundation, Geology and Paleontology Panel 2000-2002 National Cooperative Soil Survey Research Needs Committee Co-Chair 2002 Distinguished Research Award, College of Agriculture & Home Economics, NMSU 2000 Roush Award for Teaching Excellence, New Mexico State University 1999 Distinguished Teaching Award, College of Agriculture & Home Economics, NMSU

Research Support:

  • $4,920,000 from National Science Foundation to D.P. Peters, B. Bestelmeyer, K.M. Havstad, J.E. Herrick, H.C. Monger for Jornada Basin LTER Program (2006-2012)
  • $12,600 from NSF-EPSCoR/Los Alamos National Lab to M.H. Ebinger and H.C. Monger to study Soil Carbon Measurements with Laser Technology.(2003).
  • $1,089 from T&E to M. Duniway, J.E. Herrick, and H.C. Monger for to study "Grassland recovery and role of soil-vegetation feedbacks" (2002-2003).
  • $623,600 from EPA to H.C. Monger, J.T. Harrington, D.P. Peters, and J.E. Herrick to support the project "Carbon Sequestration Potential of Southwestern Rangelands" (2001 to 2003).
  • $142,500 from USDA-NRI to H.C. Monger and J.E. Herrick to study "CO2 emissions from the dissolution of soil carbonate as a contributor to greenhouse gases" (2000-2003).
  • $4,300,000 from National Science Foundation to L.F. Huenneke, K.M. Havstad, H.C. Monger and D.P. Peters for Jornada LTER Program (2000-2006)
  • $75,000 from International Arid Lands Consortium to H.C. Monger and S.A. Khresat to study "Atmospheric CO2 sequestration by soil CaCO3 in Jordan and New Mexico" (1999-2002).
  • $2,500 from T&E to G.A. Michaud and H.C. Monger for project entitled "Identifying and modeling erosion on White Sands Missile Range using GIS" (1999-2000).
  • $75,000 from International Arid Lands Consortium to H.C. Monger and G.J. Kidron to study "Microbiotic Crusts: Their nature and establishment in Israel and New Mexico" (1997-1999).
  • $79,865 from USDA-NRI to H.C. Monger to study "Holocene grassland dynamics based on soil carbonate C-13 values, Chihuahuan Desert" (1996-1998).
  • $79,865 from USDA-NRI to H.C. Monger to study "Holocene grassland dynamics based on soil carbonate C-13 values, Chihuahuan Desert" (1996 to 1998).
  • $10,000 from USDA-NRCS to H.C. Monger to study "Global change between the southern High Plains and Chihuahuan Desert" (1996).
  • $60,000 from USDA-NRCS to H.C. Monger and J.B. Gleason to make videos on Desert Geomorphology (1995-1998).
  • $3,780,000 from National Science Foundation to W.H. Schlesinger, A. Abrahams, D. Gillette, V. Gutschick, K. Havstad, P. Herman, L. Huenneke, D. Lightfoot, C. Monger, J. Reynolds, R. Virginia for Jornada LTER Program (1994 to 2000).
  • $4,200 from Nevada Nuclear Waste Project Office to H.C. Monger to study "Calcite-silica deposits at Yucca Mountain, Nevada" (1994).
  • $4,745 from US Bureau of Reclamation to H.C. Monger to study "Geomorphic overview of the Mesilla and El Paso Valleys" (1994).
  • $79,340 from US Department of Defense to H.C. Monger to study "Geomorphology of Fort Bliss, Texas" (1993-1994).
  • $50,000 from US Geological Survey to J. Keaton, J. Barnes, and H.C. Monger to study "Paleoseismic evaluation of the East Franklin Mountains Fault Zone, El Paso, Texas" (1994-1995).
  • $36,688 from New Mexico Department of Agriculture to B. Creel, T. Sammis, Z. Samani, and H.C. Monger to study "Assessing vulnerability of groundwater aquifers in New Mexico to contamination from pesticide" (1994 to 1995).
  • $174,000 from US Department of Defense to H.C. Monger to study "Soil-Geomorphology-Paleoclimate of Fort Bliss, Texas" (1990-1992).

Thesis Advisors:

Richard Arnseth, Geology, University of Tennessee. Thesis Title: "Geochemical and mineralogical properties of Copper Ridge and Chepultepec regolith at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Reservation, West Chestnut Ridge Site." LeRoy Daugherty, Pedology, New Mexico State Univ. Thesis Title: "Mineralogical transformation in a New Mexico Aridisol: pedogenic palygorskite, mineral dissolution, and microbial-related calcite."