Rate My Professor Ashlee Dere

Professor Ashlee Dere is a Professor of Geology in the Geography/Geology Department at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She earned a B.S. in Earth Sciences with minors in Geology, Soil Science, Sustainable Environments, and French from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 2005, summa cum laude, where she was an NCAA Division I student-athlete in cross-country and track. Dere completed a French Language Certificate from Université Paul Cézanne Aix-Marseille III in Aix-en-Provence, France in 2006, an M.S. in Soil Science from The Pennsylvania State University in 2009, and a Ph.D. in Geosciences from The Pennsylvania State University in 2014, with a dissertation on shale weathering across a latitudinal climosequence. She joined the University of Nebraska at Omaha as Assistant Professor of Geology in 2014. Dere teaches Physical Geology (GEOL 1170), Process Geomorphology (GEOL 4260), Soil Genesis (GEOG 4330), and special topics courses involving field experiences (GEOL 2500), emphasizing active learning, field research, and environmental citizenship.

Dere's research examines fundamental controls on soil formation via chemical and physical processes, particularly in the Critical Zone from tree canopy to aquifers, including soil production versus erosion balances, land use change impacts, soil restoration through amendments, and improved soil measurement techniques to predict future soil and landscape changes for resource management. Key publications include 'Solute Fluxes Through Restored Prairie and Intensively Managed Critical Zones in Nebraska and Iowa' (Frontiers in Earth Science, 2019), 'Mineralogical Transformations and Soil Development in Shale Across a Latitudinal Climosequence' (Soil Science Society of America Journal, 2016), 'Climate Dependence of Feldspar Weathering Along a Latitudinal Gradient' (Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2013), and 'Designing a Suite of Measurements to Understand the Critical Zone' (Earth Surface Dynamics, 2016). She has received awards such as the Peter Deines Memorial Lecture 1st place (Penn State, 2014), multiple best oral presentation awards at conferences including Goldschmidt Conference (2012) and Soil Science Society meetings, the Hiroshi and Koya Ohmoto Graduate Fellowship (2010), and grants from NSF, NASA Nebraska Space Grant, and university research committees. Dere has held roles including Chair of the Soils and Soil Processes Division of the Geological Society of America.