Derek Gibson

Derek Gibson

Assistant Professor
derek.gibson@siu.edu
Parkinson Lab 303
Environmental Resources and Policy, Geology

My research as a sedimentologist and paleoclimatologist primarily focuses on the sedimentary record of lacustrine environments. Specifically, I use sediments and their stratigraphic relationships in lake basins to reconstruct how and why Earth’s climate and hydroclimate have changed in the past, how those changes impact local-scale hydrology and the availability of freshwater resources, and how society can better plan for and mitigate near-future climate and hydroclimate extremes. To investigate these topics, I combine sedimentological, geochemical, and isotopic proxies from sediment cores collected from various environmental settings around the world.

Education

  • BSc., Geology; Ball State University, Muncie, IN - 2016
  • PhD., Earth Sciences; Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN - 2022

Research Interests:

I am an interdisciplinary geologist, with a primary research focus on paleoclimatology, geomorphology, and sedimentology. I am particularly interested in how humans impact - and are impacted by - the environment. My current research projects include using oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios in sediment cores to reconstruct past precipitation patterns in western Central America, and using floodplain sediment records to determine how the frequency and magnitude of floods in the Midwestern U.S. are impacted by climate and land-use changes.

Awards and Honors:

Request for sediment coring tower-winch system: Improving flood frequency investigations and increasing accessibility in the geosciences; Vice Chancellor for Research Request for funds to purchase, upgrade, or repair major research equipment and facilities; 2025; $16,400; Derek Gibson, Jonathan Remo

What can’t we do with lasers?!: Request for Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) Analyzer; Vice Chancellor for Research Request for funds to purchase, upgrade, or repair major research equipment and facilities; 2025; $39,702; Chris Stantis, Matthew Greer, Derek Gibson

Reconstructing late Holocene hydroclimatic variability in western Central America using multi-proxy analyses of lacustrine sediments; National Science Foundation; 2022; $180,000; Derek Gibson

Publications:

2025 

  • Obrist-Farner, J., Maurer, J., Gibson, D.K., McEnaney, T., Eckert, A., Kenney, W.F., Beeson, J., Wattrus, N., Stangeland, Q. and Reyes, F., 2025. Paleoseismic evidence of directivity for the 1976 Mw 7.5 Motagua earthquake, Guatemala. Geology, 53(11), pp.971-976. 

2024 

  • Gibson, D.K., Obrist-Farner, J., Correa-Metrio, A., Rodriguez-Abaunza, A., Castañeda-Posadas, C., 2024. Geochemical evidence of drying during the 4.2 ka event in sediment cores from the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 655, p.112527. 
  • Bird, B.W., Steinman, B.A., Escobar, J., Correa‐Metrio, A., Holper, K., Gibson, D.K., Mark, S. and Fonseca, H., 2024. Synchronous tropical Andean hydroclimate variability during the last millennium. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 129(13), p.e2023JD040255. 
  • Gibson, D.K., Bird, B.W., Finney, B.P. and Steinman, B.A., 2024. Holocene insolation and sea surface temperature influences on the polar front jet stream and precipitation in the midcontinental United States. Quaternary Science Reviews, 340, p.108865. 
  • Gibson, D.K., Obrist-Farner, J., Birkett, B.A., Curtis, J.H., Berke, M.A., Douglas, P.M., Rice, P.M. and Maurer, J., 2024. The influence of tropical Atlantic sea-surface temperatures and the North Atlantic Subtropical High during the Maya Droughts. The Holocene, 34(2), pp.212-223. 

2023 

  • Wright, M. N., Bird, B.W., Gibson, D.K., Pollard, H.J., Escobar, J., Barr, R.C. (2023). Fluvial responses to late Holocene hydroclimate variability in the midcontinental United States. Quaternary Science Reviews, 301, 107939. 
  • Obrist-Farner, J., Eckert, A., Douglas, P., Perez, L., Correa-Metrio, A., Konecky, B., Brenner, M., Zimmerman, S., Kutterolf, S., Maurer, J., Noren, A., Myrbo, A., Harms, U., Berke, M., Lachniet, M., Steinman, B., Gibson, D., and the LIBRE scientific team. (2023). Workshop report for the Lake Izabal Basin Research Endeavor (LIBRE) continental scientific drilling project. Scientific Drilling, 32. 

2022 

  • Gibson, D. K., Bird, B. W., Pollard, H. J., Nealy, C. A., Barr, R. C., Escobar, J. (2022). Using sediment accumulation rates in floodplain paleochannel lakes to reconstruct climate-flood relationships on the lower Ohio River. Quaternary Science Reviews, 298, 107852. 

2019 

  • Gibson, D. K., Bird, B.W., Wattrus, N.J., Escobar, J., Ahmed, M., Fonseca, H., Velasco, F., Polissar, P.J. (2019). Characterizing late Quaternary lake-level variability in Lago de Tota, Colombian Andes, with CHIRP seismic stratigraphy. Journal of Paleolimnology. Vol. 62, Number 4.