Dr. Lisa Tranel
Associate Professor of Geology
Office
FSA Felmley Hall Of Science Annex 432
Office Hours
Fall 2025: Tuesdays and Thursdays 2-3pm, Wednesdays 10am-12pm
Office Phone
Email
- About
- Education
- Awards & Honors
- Selected Research
Current Courses
GEO 207.001 Natural Disasters
IDS 119.001 The Civically Engaged Scientist
GEO 380.001 Earth Surface Processes
GEO 380.002 Earth Surface Processes
GEO 480.001 Earth Surface Processes
GEO 480.002 Earth Surface Processes
GEO 499.001 Independent Research For The Master's Thesis
GEO 400.005 Independent Study
GEO 287.005 Independent Study - Geology
Teaching Interests & Areas
Geomorphology, Sedimentology, Natural Disasters, GIS
Research Interests & Areas
Examining the evolution of mountain landscapes and drainage basins as a result of interactions between tectonic, geomorphic and climatic processes. Reconstruction of erosional & tectonic histories in bedrock and sedimentary systems using tools including apatite (U-Th)/He thermochronometry & cosmogenic radionuclides. Spatial variation of erosion in the Teton Range, Wyoming
Ph D Geoscience
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA
MS Geology
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Urbana, IL
BA Geology
Lawrence University
Appleton, WI
Presidents Award
Association for Women Geoscientists
2021
Geosciences Outstanding Service Recognition Award
Virginia Tech
2010
Grants and Contracts
Spatial evaluation of stream erosion and knickpoint evolution using detrital minerals tracers
Lisa Tranel.
Illinois Geographical Society. January 2015 - May 2016
EVALUATION OF APATITE AGE DISTRIBUTIONS BETWEEN GRAVEL AND SAND SEDIMENTS IN GLACIAL AND FLUVIAL DEPOSITS
Lisa Tranel.
University Research Grant Program, College of Arts and Sciences. August 2014 - June 30 2015
Evaluation of knickpoint erosion using detrital apatite thermochronology
Lisa Tranel.
Early Career Researcher, British Society for Geomorphology. March 2014 - May 16 2015
Quantifying variable erosion rates of surface processes in the Teton Range
Lisa Tranel.
Association of American Geographers. May 2014 - June 2015
Using Cosmogenic Nuclides to Evaluate Uplift and Erosion of the Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico
Lisa Tranel.
Undergraduate New Investigator, American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund. September 1 2014 - September 30 2017
Apatite Quality and Bedrock Distribution in the Guadalupe and Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico
Lisa Tranel, Monica Mustain.
Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Research and Sponsored Programs. September 2013 - December 2013
Measuring rockwall retreat and mass wasting hazards in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Lisa Tranel.
College of Arts and Sciences. - 2011
Book, Chapter
The Association for Women Geoscientists: Forty years of successes, struggles, and sisterhood
Blair Schneider, Lisa Tranel, Mackenzie Cremeans.
(2018), Geological Society of America
Conference Proceeding
Modeling bedrock channel erodibility as a function of measurable rock properties and climate
Joel Johnson, Grace Guryan, Sam Anderson, Nicole Gasparini, Lisa Tranel, Arjun Heimsath.
Copernicus GmbH, 10.5194/icg2022-459
Journal Article
Controls on Longitudinal Stream Profile Evolution in Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Samuel Schoenmann, Lisa Tranel, Eric Peterson, Jonathan Boyd Thayn.
Annals of the American Association of Geographers, (2025), https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2025.2511941
Sediment transport and flood discharge in the Menominee River, Illinois, USA
Preston Konop, Lisa Tranel, Eric Peterson, Wondwosen Seyoum.
Geomorphica, 2 (1), (2025), 10.59236/geomorphica.v2i1.36
Evaluating escarpment evolution and bedrock erosion rates in the western Guadalupe Mountains, West Texas and New Mexico
Lisa Tranel, Audrey A Happel.
Geomorphology, (2020)
Geology and Aquifer Sensitivity of Quaternary Glacial Deposits Overlying a Portion of the Mahomet Buried Bedrock Valley Aquifer System
Andrew Watson, Eric Peterson, David Henry Malone, Lisa Tranel.
Hydrology, 7 (4), 18, (2020), 10.3390/hydrology7040069
Hillslope coupled stream morphology, flow conditions, and their effects on detrital sedimentology in Garnet Canyon, Teton Range, Wyoming
Lisa Tranel.
Geoscience Frontiers, (2018)
Rock Mass Strength Controls on Erosion in the Teton Range, Wyoming
Lisa Tranel.
Wyoming Geological Association, 72, (2018)
Analysis of cosmogenic nuclides in amalgamated talus fan pebbles to study alpine erosion in the Teton Range, Wyoming
Lisa Tranel, Meredith L. Strow.
Geosphere, (2017), 10.1130/GES01297.1
Onset timing and slip history of the Teton fault: A multidisciplinary re-evaluation
Summer Brown, Ryan Thigpen, James Spotila, William Krugh, Lisa Tranel, Devon Orme.
Tectonics, (2017)
Porosity controls on secondary recovery at the Loudon field, south-central Illinois
John S. Wagle, David Henry Malone, Eric Peterson, Lisa Tranel.
Interpretation, 4 (1), 1-13, (2016)
Quantifying variable erosion rates to understand the coupling of surface processes in the Teton Range, Wyoming
Lisa Tranel, James A Spotila, Steven A Binnie, Stewart P.H.T Freeman.
Geomorphology, 228, 409-420, (2015)
Age and Provenance of Eocene Volcanic Rocks and Hominy Peak, Northern Teton Range, WY: Implications for the Emplacement of the Heart Mountain Slide
David Henry Malone, John P. Craddock, Lisa Tranel, Monica R. Mustain.
The Mountain Geologist, 51 (4), 295-319, (2014)
Spatial variation of erosion in a small, glaciated basin in the Teton Range, Wyoming
Lisa Tranel, J A Spotila, M J Kowalewski, C M Waller.
Basin Research, 23, 571-590, (2011)
Other
Visualizing Stream Bank Erosion with 3D Models and Sediment Analysis
Lisa Tranel.
QUBES Educational Resources, (2026), doi:10.25334/4FGR-HH92
Teacher’s Guide to the Rocks and Resources of the Starved Rock State Park and Wedron Areas, Illinois
Robert Stanley Nelson, Lisa Tranel, David Henry Malone.
Teacher’s Guide to the Rocks and Resources of the Starved Rock State Park and Wedron Areas, Illinois, Illinois Association of Aggregate Producers Teachers’ Workshop: Rocks, Minerals, and Mining in Today’s Society, (2016)
Presentations
Assessing Glacial Mass Change and its Impact on Water Resources in Parts of the Himalayas using Satellite Remote Sensing
Panta Kriti, Wondwosen Seyoum, Lisa Tranel, Jonathan Boyd Thayn.
Geological Society of America Annual Conference, San Antonio, Texas, October, 2025
Assessing the impacts of chloride concentration on nitrate loss in sediment using column studies
Zainab Suleiman, Eric Peterson, Lisa Tranel, Jonathan Boyd Thayn.
GSA 2025 Joint Northeastern/North-Central Section Meeting, Erie, PA, March 30, 2025
Guadalupe Mountains Erosion: Tracing the Origin and Evolution of Stream Channel Sediments
Aaron Jacob, Lisa Tranel, Ella Xu.
GSA 2025 Joint Northeastern/North-Central Section Meeting, Erie, PA, March 30, 2025
Analysis of anthropogenic and runoff erosion into sandstone canyon walls using repeat structure-from-motion
Lisa Tranel, Monique Rutte.
American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, December 14, 2018
40 Years of Recruitment and Retention of Women in the Geosciences: A Perspective from the Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG)
Blair Schneider, Lisa Tranel, Mackenzie Cremeans, Lauren Zeeck.
Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Indianapolis, IN, November, 2018
Post-glacial erosion of sandstone canyons in Central Illinois
Lisa Tranel, Monique Rutte, Jeremy A. Neundorff.
Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Indianapolis, IN, November, 2018
Photogrammetric and schmidt hammer analyses to understand erosion of the St. Peter Sandstone in La Salle County, Illinois
Monique Rutte, Lisa Tranel.
Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, October 25, 2017
Erosion influenced by climate, rock strength, and tectonic history in the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas and Southeast New Mexico
Lisa Tranel, Audrey A. Happel, Samuel S. Schoenmann.
FACET II Feedbacks Among Climate, Erosion, and Tectonics, Corvalis, OR, July 24, 2017
Spatial patterns of catchment erosion on the Rio Grande Rift margin, Guadalupe Mountains, Texas and New Mexico
Lisa Tranel, Kirsten Schaefer, Tyler J. Rothschild, Audrey A. Happel.
American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, December 16, 2016
Investigating recently active faults based on the geomorphology of ephemeral channels in the Guadalupe and Brokeoff Mountains, West Texas and Southeastern New Mexico.
Christine Salinas, Lisa Tranel.
Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, September 27, 2016
Evaluating fault line escarpment exposure in the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas and New Mexico
Audrey A. Happel, Lisa Tranel, Jeremy A Neundorff, Kacey L Garber, Kirsten N Schaefer, Jeremy T Babin, Chad Cremer.
Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, September 26, 2016
Evaluating relationships between rock strength and landscape evolution in the southern Guadalupe Mountains, Texas
Samuel Schoenmann, Lisa Tranel, Kacey L Garber, Jeremy A Neundorff, Kirsten N Schaefer.
Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, September 26, 2016
Stream morphology and sediment transport in Garnet Canyon, Teton Range, Wyoming
Lisa Tranel.
Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, September 25, 2016
The effects of glacial and fluvial transport on detrital apatite minerals
Dakota Csanda, Lisa Tranel.
Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, September 25, 2016
Spatial Evaluation of Stream Erosion and Knickpoint Evolution using Detrital Mineral Tracers and Rock Strength
Lisa Tranel, Kacey Garber.
Illinois Geographical Society Annual Meeting, Northfield, IL, April 30, 2016
Stories of Erosion from Sediments and Isotopes in Garnet Canyon
Lisa Tranel.
GGGeo Colloquium Series, Normal, IL, March 25, 2016
Investigating recently active faults using geomorphic analyses of ephemeral channels in the Guadalupe Mountains, West Texas and New Mexico
Christine Salinas, Lisa Tranel.
Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, November 4, 2015
Evaluation of apatite age distributions between gravel and sand sediments in glacial and fluvial deposits
Dakota Csanda, Lisa Tranel.
Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, November 3, 2015
Using rock strength analysis to determine the spatial distribution of erosion and evolution of knickpoints in a stream channel within the Sacramento Mountains, NM.
Kacey Garber, Lisa Tranel, Tyler Rothschild.
Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, November 3, 2015
Using cosmogenic nuclides from amalgamated talus cobbles to assess alpine erosion in the Teton Range
Lisa Tranel.
American Geophysical Union, Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, December 19, 2014
SPATIAL VARIABILITY OF EXHUMATION ALONG THE EASTERN MARGIN OF THE RIO GRANDE RIFT
Lauren L. Hoffman, Lisa Tranel.
Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, October 29, 2013
TRANSPORT OF DETRITAL SEDIMENTS IN LOW-GRADIENT STREAM SECTIONS IN THE TETON MOUNTAIN RANGE AND THE GUADALUPE AND SACRAMENTO MOUNTAINS
Emily E. Zawacki, Amber J. Ritchie, Lauren L. Hoffman, Lisa Tranel.
Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, October 29, 2013
QUANTIFYING ALPINE VALLEY WALL EROSION RATES USING COSMOGENIC NUCLIDES AND VOLUMETRIC ESTIMATES OF TALUS DEPOSITS, TETON RANGE, WYOMING
Lisa Tranel, Brad S. Swanson, Meredith L. Strow, Roger A. Bannister.
Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, October 27, 2013
Incorporating Service Learning in a Geographic Information Systems Class
Lisa Tranel.
ESRI Education User Conference, San Diego, California, July 6, 2013
Evaluation of lithologic controls on ridge erosion rates in the Teton Range, Wyoming
Lisa Tranel.
American Geophysical Union, Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, December 10, 2012