Dr. Jason Hicks 
Wednesday, November 6th, 2024

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DR JASON F. HICKS, B.A. (Oxon), M.A., M.Sc., M.Phil., Ph.D., FGS

EDUCATION

Professional in Human Resources (PHR), 2010.

Ph.D., 1993, M.Phil., 1991, Geology, Yale University, New Haven, CT.

         M.Sc., 1990, Geology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA.

B.A., 1984, M.A., 1988, Geology, Oxford University, Oxford, England.
1975-1979, Harrow School, Harrow-on-the-hill, Middlesex, England.
1969-1974, Dorset House Prep. School, Bury, West Sussex, England.

MEMBERSHIPS AND ASSOCIATIONS

Fellow of the Geological Society of London (FGS)
The Explorer’s Club, New York (FN’15)

Yale Alumni Association
Oxford University Alumni Association
Yale Science and Engineering Association - YSEA

The Harrow Association
Leander Rowing Club, Henley-on-Thames
Henley Rowing Club (Steward’s Enclosure)
University Club, Denver
Aircraft Owners and Pilot’s Association – AOPA
Balloon Federation of America - BFA
Experimental/Vintage Aircraft Association – EAA/VAA
Alaska Airmen’s Association

Seaplane Pilots Association
American Radio Relay League - ARRL (W0HIC)
Denver Radio Club (DRC)

PROFESSIONAL  EXPERIENCE

LECTURER, ABERCROMBIE & KENT, Present Employment: Geology Lecturer, Zodiac Driver and Guide on cruises on the Explorer, Explorer II, Le Lyrial, Le Laparouse and Le Boreal (Ponant), around the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica (1998-2024), the British Isles (2002), Alaska (2008), the Arctic, Svalbard and Greenland (2014-2024), Northwest Passage (2018 to 2023), Australia (2019-2023), Indonesia (2023).

POLAR BEAR GUARD, ABERCROMBIE & KENT, certified armed bear guard: Arctic, Svalbard and Greenland (2014-2023), Northwest Passage (2018 to 2023).

COMMERCIAL TRUCK DRIVER, CDL Class A (9/2018), HAZMAT, doubles/triples, tanker. Truck driver, Class A, for SIM Transport, Commerce City, CO (10/2018 to 5/2019, 3/2020 to 6/2020, 2/2023 to 4/2023).

LECTURER, SEABOURN, Geology Lecturer, Zodiac Driver and Guide on board the Quest (2013-2017).

SECURITYHR, PRESIDENT, from 10/2009 to 3/2012. Online job application software, web site development and online application scoring algorithms.

CRUISEDRIVE, PRESIDENT, from 11/2002 to Present. Online marketing of UK-based limousine and transfer services for the airline arrival and cruise ship industries.

HANGAR 9, INC., PRESIDENT, from 10/1999 to Present, sole proprietorship, computer consultant, focusing on online computer systems, e-commerce, internet marketing and web site design and management.

DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY – RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, Research Associate, Department of Earth Sciences, from 8/1998 to Present. Sedimentology and chronostratigraphic research on the Western Interior Seaway and Tertiary deposits of the Denver Basin.

BACKGROUNDSUSA, IT MANAGER, from 11/2000 to Present. Managing online marketing, new business development, web site development, web site design and system programming management.

IT MANAGER, ONLINE MARKETING, Web design and online marketing director for WebMaster4Rent, Inc from 1/2000 to 2/2001.  Project manager under contract to EZDirectory.com an online professional directory based in Toronto, Canada. Managed a team of search engine specialists and promoted the site through the project rollout in 12/2000.

ONSITE ENVIRONMENTAL, Environmental Scientist, (HAZWOPER 40 hour), Denver, Colorado, October 1998 to February, 1999. Assigned to Layne Western at an EPA remediation site in east Denver. Assigned to Maxymillian, a contractor at the Inactive Aeronautical Site at the Lockheed-Martin complex in southwest Denver. Worked on a soil incinerator plant that was treating PCB's in soil extracted from an abandoned landfill and sludge lagoon.

SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY, Oceanographic Research, South Pacific, Tahiti to Marquesas Islands, summer 1998. Two month appointment as a Research Geologist on-board the R/V Melville, an oceanographic vessel from Scripps Institution. Part of a group project that is studying the magnetization of the seafloor on the flanks of the East Pacific Rise in the South Pacific.

COLORADO COLLEGE, Colorado Springs, CO, 1998. Adjunct Lecturer, teaching a two semester course in Introductory and Field Geology at the undergraduate level.

SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY, University of California, San Diego, CA, 1996-1998. Postgraduate Research Geologist, working on a number of chronstratigraphic studies focused on the isotopic calibration of the geomagnetic reversal time scale (GRTS).  Projects conducted in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, northern Pakistan, western Kenya, and in the foreland basin sediments of the Rocky Mountain Front in Montana and Wyoming.

UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAVEN, Department of Natural Sciences, New Haven, CT, 1996. Lecturer, teaching Environmental Geoscience course at the M.Sc. level.

YALE UNIVERSITY, Department of Geology and Geophysics, New Haven, CT, 1995. Associate Professor, teaching two semester course on Stratigraphy and Sedimentology (with field trips) at the undergraduate and graduate level, whilst on leave for the academic year from the Smithsonian.

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, Washington, DC, 1993-1995. Visiting Scientist; paleomagnetic and sedimentologic study of paleosol sequences in the Siwalik Group of northern Pakistan (Miocene-Pliocene); magnetostratigraphic analysis of the volcanic agglomerate and fluviolacustrine sequences of the Kanam, Homa and Kanjera Formations (Plio-Pleistocene) of western Kenya.  Field-oriented research projects.

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, ATHENS – Summer, 1994-1995. Professor, teaching geology to field camp students on a field course that traveled across Montana, Utah, and Colorado, and from California and Arizona to Colorado.

 YELLOWSTONE BIGHORN RESEARCH ASSOCIATION – Summer geology field camp based in Red Lodge, Montana, 1991-1995. Professor, teaching geology to field camp students in Montana and Wyoming.

ENVIROMED SERVICES INC., New Haven CT, 1992-1995. Laboratory technician, carrying out polarized light microscopy for asbestos detection and operating an atomic absorption spectrophotometer for lead analysis. Part-time employment while completing doctorate.

YALE UNIVERSITY, Department of Geology and Geophysics, New Haven, CT, 1988-1991. Teaching Assistant, Stratigraphy and Sedimentology, graduate and undergraduate courses, included labs and field trips.

HAWLEY RESEARCH GROUP, Anchorage, AK, 1987-1988. Consultant geologist, gold exploration, mine prospect near Mt Denali, Alaska. Summer operations: on-site core logging, mapping, grid surveying, soil sampling and laying claim lines. Winter operations: computer modeling of ore body reserves from primary downhole and assay data, modeling of open pit and underground mining options, economic modeling and financial projections. Computer training received in Vancouver, Canada.

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, Amherst, MA, 1984-1986. Research Assistant, laboratory technician, clay mineral, XRD analysis.

ANGLO-AMERICAN CORPORATION, South Africa,Summer internship 1984. New Mining Division (Exploration), Transvaal Base Metals Division, South Africa. Field-Geologist:  Mapping, trenching, soil sampling, access road construction, drill head supervision, core-logging on remote U/Cu prospect near Potgietersrus (Northern Transvaal).

ANGLO-AMERICAN CORPORATION, VAAL REEFS GOLD MINE,  #8 Shaft, Klerksdorp, O.F.S., South Africa. Summer internship, 1983. Mine-Geologist: Sedimentological research project, logging and mapping operational stope faces in the quartzite conglomerate of the gold-bearing reef deposits, 6200-6800 ft levels.

GEOLOGY RESEARCH AND FIELD WORK

Hell Creek Formation of North and South Dakota. Paleomagnetic studies of the Late Cretaceous and Tertiary Hell Creek Formation and K/T boundary interval, 1995-2005.

Amur Basin, Far East Russia, field geology chronostratigraphic project in collaboration with the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow. Part of a multi-disciplinary and multi-national group studying the Cretaceous-tertiary boundary interval in the Sino-Chinese border region of Far East Russia and northern China. July 2003.

Patagonia, Chubut Province, Argentina, field project at Laguna del Hunco, collaborative project between DMNS and UPenn. Chronostratigraphic study of a multi-level leaf fossil locality of exceptional diversity, located in a volcanic-pyroclastic complex. Age determined by paleomagnetic analysis and isotopic dating to be 52 million years during the early Eocene climatic optimum. Publication, Science 2003.

Denver Basin Project, with the Denver Museum of Natural History and the USGS and state affiliates. Chronostratigraphic study of a 2300 ft continuous core drilled into the center of the Denver Basin, near Kiowa, Elbert County, Colorado. Part of a multi-disciplinary group studying the stratigraphy, paleontology and hydrology of that latest Cretaceous to Eocene part of the sedimentary section. Papers published in 2002 and 2003.

Oceanographic Research, two month voyage on-board the R/V Melville studying seafloor magnetization on the flanks of the East Pacific Rise in the South Pacific.

Chronostratigraphic study of the latest Cretaceous foreland basin sediments of Montana and Wyoming. ACS/PRF funded project headed by Lisa Tauxe (UCSD), isotopic dating of chrons 34 through 30 in collaboration with John Obradovich (USGS).

Paleomagnetic, stratigraphic and paleontologic study of the Late Cretaceous through Eocene (?) sediments of the intracratonic Nemegt Basin, Gobi desert, Mongolia. Project in collaboration with the Hayashibara Museum of Natural History, Osaka, Japan.

Paleomagnetic, stratigraphic and paleontologic study of the Kanjera, Kanam and Homa Formations (late Neogene to Holocene) exposed around Homa Bay, Lake Victoria, western Kenya.  Collaborative project, Smithsonian Department of Anthropology and UCLA. Field seasons in 1995-1999. One abstract, two publications.

Paleomagnetic and stratigraphic study of the latest Cretaceous and early Paleocene sediments of southeastern Montana.  In collaboration with E. Belt. Studying the relationship between the stratigraphic position and age of unconformities in the terrestrial sediments, and the timing of regional tectonism related to the Laramide orogeny.  Field season, 1995, one publication completed.

Paleomagnetic study of the Siwalik Group of northern Pakistan.  High resolution magnetostratigraphy and sedimentology of Miocene-aged, foreland basin, floodplain paleosol horizons. Smithsonian Research Scientist, four field seasons 1993 to 1996.

Stratigraphic, paleomagnetic and paleontologic study of the latest Cretaceous to basal Paleocene foreland basin sediments of Wyoming, Montana, North and South Dakota. Field areas located in the Crazy Mountains, Williston, Bighorn and Powder River Basins, and Jackson Hole.  Ph.D. field work, summers 1988-1993.

Arctic expedition to Strand Fiord (Axel Heiberg Island, Northwest Territories of Canada), to study the stratigraphy, paleontology, and magnetostratigraphy of the Eureka Sound Group (Late Cretaceous-Eocene). Summer, 1990.

Golden Zone gold mine prospect, on-site mine geologist, south-central Alaska. Field mapping, soil sampling, survey grids and claim boundaries, core logging and sample splitting for assay. Three-dimensional ore-body block modelling, site assessment, financial projections and mine planning. 1987-1988.

Geological field-mapping, stratigraphy of early Tertiary, fluvio-lacustrine units of the Fort Union Formation in the northern Bighorn Basin of Montana and Wyoming.  Master's degree field work, summers 1985-1987.

Geological field-mapping, surveying and trenching of the Proterozoic Wolkberg and Black Reef Groups of sediments on a U/Cu base metals prospect, Northern Transvaal, South Africa, summer 1984.

Mapping and logging of underground operational stope faces, 5600 to 6600 ft levels, Vaal Reefs Gold Mine #8 shaft, summer internship1983.

Field Mapping, structure and stratigraphy of the Cambrian foreland sequence, Strath Kinaird, Northwest Highlands of Scotland, undergraduate field project and thesis, spring 1983.

GRANTS, SCHOLARSHIPS, FELLOWSHIPS, AWARDS

Denver Basin Project, NSF grant, principal investigator, Kirk Johnson, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, 1998 to 2002.

American Chemical Society/Petroleum Research Fund, research grant, 1996-1997.

Colorado Scientific Society, Steven Oriel Memorial Fund, research grant, 1992.

Geological Society of America, Outstanding Student Research Award, 1992.

Yale University Fellowships, Charlton Cooksey Dows (1992); John F. Enders (1992-1993); Institute for Biospheric Studies, 5th Year Dissertation Award, 1992.

Geological Society of America Research Grant, 1989, 1990, 1992.

Sigma Xi Grants-in-aid of Research, 1989, 1990.

Rocky Mountain Coal Geology Scholarship (grant), 1989.

National Science Foundation, Research Assistant Fellowship, 1984-1986.

Oxford Open Scholarship (Geology/Geography), 1980-1984.

Harrow Leaving Scholarship, 1980-1983.

Harrow School Churchill Prize for English, 1977.

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PUBLICATIONS

Abstracts:

Hicks, J. F., 1986,  A lacustrine delta lobe in the Paleocene Fort Union Formation,  Bighorn Basin, Montana:  (abs.) Abs. with Progs., Geol. Soc. Am., 99th Annual Meeting.

Hicks, J. F., 1989,  Stratigraphic and paleontologic analysis of a Late Cretaceous clastic dominated coastal margin:  The Meeteetse Formation of the Bighorn Basin, Montana and Wyoming:  (abs.)  Abs. with Progs., Geol. Soc. Am., National Annual Meeting.

Hicks, J. F. and Wray, C. W., 1991,  Crinoid paleocurrent orientations: morphologic and depositional controls: (abs.)  Abs. with Progs., Geol. Soc. Am., Northeastern Section.

Hicks, J. F., Tauxe, L., Obradovich, J. D., 1991, The magnetostratigraphy of the Pierre Shale (Campanian/Maastrichtian) at the Red Bird Section in Eastern Wyoming:  (abs.)  Abstracts with Programs, Geological Society of America, National Annual Meeting.

Hickey, L. J., Hicks, J. F., Johnson, K. J., 1991, High resolution stratigraphy and sedimentology of the Eureka Sound Group (Late Cretaceous-Eocene) at Strand Fiord, Axel Heiburg Island, N.W.T., Canada:  (abs.)  Abs. with Progs., Geol. Soc. Am., National Annual Meeting.

Hicks, J.F., Obradovich, J.D. and Tauxe, L., 1992, Radiometric calibration of the magnetic polarity sequence of the Campanian and Maastrichtian: the Pierre Shale, Red Bird, Wyoming:  (abs.) Mesozoic of the Western Interior, 1992 SEPM Meeting, Fort Collins, CO.

Hicks, J.F. and Tauxe, L., 1992, Magnetostratigraphic correlation of the terrestrial Meeteetse Formation with the marine Pierre Shale at Red Bird:  (abs.) Mesozoic of the Western Interior, 1992 SEPM Meeting, Fort Collins, CO.

Belt E.S. and Hicks, J.F., 1994,  Identifying unconformities in terrestrial strata: Lance Fm. (Maastrichtian) and Fort Union Formation (Paleocene): (abs.) GSA Abstracts with Programs, Rocky Mountain Section, Durango, Colorado, p. 3.

Hicks, J.F., and Obradovich, J.D., 1995, Isotopic Age Calibration of the GRTS from C33n to C31n: Late Cretaceous Pierre Shale, Red Bird Section, Wyoming, USA: (abs.) GSA Abstracts with Programs, vol. 27, no. 6, p. A174.

Hicks, J., and Brinkman, D., 1997, Preliminary paleomagnetic results from the Cretaceous of the Eastern Gobi, Mongolia: (abs.) Abstract of Report Meeting, Mongolia-Japan Joint Paleontological Expedition, Mongolian Paleontological Center, Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia, p. 12

Plummer, T., Ditchfield, P., Bishop, L., and Hicks, J.F, 1997, Research on Plio-Pleistocene hominid activities at Kanjera South, Kenya: (abs.) Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 32, no. 4, p. A16.

Hicks, J.F., and Fleming, R. Farley, 1999, Geochronology of the upper Cretaceous and Tertiary synorogenic sediments of the Denver Basin: implications for bedrock aquifer geometry: Abstract, Geological Society of America, National Meeting, Denver Colorado, October, 1999.

Hicks, J.F., Johnson, K.R., Tauxe, L., Obradovich, J.D., and Clark, D., 1999, Geochronology of the Hell Creek Formation of southwestern North Dakota: a multidisciplinary approach using biostratigraphy, isotopic dating, geochemical analysis and magnetostratigraphy: Abstract, Geological Society of America, National Meeting, Denver Colorado, October, 1999.

Hicks, J.F., and Obradovich, J.D., 1999, A review of the isotopic calibration points for the geomagnetic polarity time scale, in the interval 83 to 33 Ma. (C34N to C13N): Abstract, Geological Society of America, National Meeting, Denver Colorado, October, 1999.

Hicks, J.F., Watabe, M., Fastovsky, D.E., Johnson, K.R., and Nichols, D.J., 1999, Magnetostratigraphic correlation of Late Cretaceous dinosaur-bearing localities, Nemegt Basin, Gobi Desert, Mongolia: Abstract, Geological Society of America, National Meeting, Denver Colorado, October, 1999.

Hicks, J.F., and Obradovich, J.D., 2001, Magnetostratigraphy of the Late Cretaceous to Early Paleogene in the Denver Basin, Colorado: Abstract, International Meeting, Climate and Biota of the Early Paleogene, Powell, Wyoming, USA.

Watabe, M., Suzuki, S., Hicks, J.F., Ash, A.W., Tsogtbaatar, Kh., Barsbold, R., and Nichols, D.J., 2001, Birds feathers, insects and plant fossils from Lower cretaceous lacustrine beds in the central Gobi Desert, Mongolia: Abstract, Society of Vertebrate Paleontologists, annual meeting, Bozeman, Montana.

Hicks, J.F., and Watabe, M., 2001, Magnetostratigraphic correlation of late Cretaceous dinosaur-bearing localities in the Nemegt and Ulan Nuur Basins, Gobi Desert, Mongolia: Abstract, Geological Society of America, National Meeting, Boston Massachusetts.

Ash, A.W., Hicks, J.F., Nichols, D.J., and Watabe, M., 2001, Preliminary investigation of a diverse Lower Cretaceous insect fauna from Abdrant Nuru, Ulan Nuur Basin, Gobi Desert, Mongolia: Abstract, Geological Society of America, National Meeting, Boston Massachusetts.

Plummer, T., Ferraro, J., Braun, D., Ditchfield, P., Bishop, L., Hounsell, S., Hicks, J., and Maina, D., 2002, Late Pliocene Oldowan hominin activities and paleoecology at Kanjera South, Kenya: Abstract, Conference of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists, Tucson, Arizona.

Barclay, R.S., Johnson, K.R., Nichols, D., Betterton, W.J., and Hicks, J.F., 2002, Interpreting early Paleocene plant diversity patterns within the tightly constrained West Bijou Creek K-T boundary section, Denver basin, Colorado: Geological Society of America, Rocky Mountain Section, Cedar City, Utah, Abstracts with Programs, vol. 33, No. 4.

Wilf, P., Ruben, C.N., Hicks, J.F., Johnson, K.R., Wing, S.L., Obradovich, J.D., 2002, Green River antipode: Paleoclimatic significance of a diverse macroflora from the early Eocene climatic optimum in southern South America: Abstract, Geological Society of America, National Meeting, Denver, Colorado.

Papers:

Yuretich R. F., and Hicks, J. F., 1986, Sedimentology and facies relationships of the Belfry Member, Fort Union Formation,  northern Bighorn Basin:  in Geology of the Beartooth Uplift and Adjacent Basins, Montana Geological Association, YBRA 50th Anniversary Edition.

Hicks, J.F., Obradovich, J.D., and Tauxe, L., 1995, A new calibration point for the Late Cretaceous time scale: The 40Ar/39Ar isotopic age of the C33r/C33n Geomagnetic Reversal from the Judith River Formation, Elk Basin, Wyoming, U.S.A.:  Journal of Geology, v. 103, p. 243-256.

Harris, J.D., Johnson, K.R., Hicks, J.F., and Tauxe, L., 1996, Four-toed therapod footprints and a paleomagnetic age from the Whetstone Falls Member of the Harebell Formation (Upper Cretaceous: Maastrichtian), northwestern Wyoming:  Cretaceous Research, v. 17, p.381-401.

Belt, E.S., Hicks, J.F., and Murphy, D.A., 1997, A pre-Lancian regional unconformity and its relationship to Hell Creek paleogeography in southeastern Montana:  Contributions to Geology, University of Wyoming, vol. 31, no. 2, p. 1-26.

Hicks, J.F., Obradovich, J.D., and Tauxe, L., 1999, The chronostratigraphy of the Late Cretaceous Red Bird section of the Pierre Shale, Wyoming:  Cretaceous Research, vol. 20, p. 1-27.

Plummer, T., Bishop, L.J., Ditchfield, P., and Hicks, J., 1999, Research on late Pliocene Oldowan Sites at Kanjera South, Kenya: Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 36, p.151-170.

Ditchfield, P., Hicks, J.F., Plummer, and T., Bishop, L.J., 1999, Current research on the Plio-Pleistocene Deposits North of Homa Mountain, southwestern Kenya: Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 36, p.123-150.

Hicks, J.F., Brinkman, D.L., Nichols, D.J., and Watabe, M., 1999, Paleomagnetic and palynological analysis of the Khukhtek and Bayn Shireh Formations (Aptian to Lower Campanian ?) of the Eastern Gobi Desert, Mongolia: Cretaceous Research, vol. 20, p. 829-850.

Raynolds, R.G.H., Johnson, K.R., Arnold, L.R., Farnham, T.M., Fleming, R.F., Hicks, J.F., Kelley, S.A., Lapey, L.A., Nichols, D.J., Obradovich, J.D., and Wilson, M.D., 2001, The Kiowa Core, a Continuous Drill Core Through the Denver Basin Bedrock Aquifers at Kiowa, Elbert County, Colorado: USGS, Open-File Report 01-185, 25 pp.

Hicks, J.F., Johnson, K.R., Obradovich, J.D., Tauxe, L., and Clark, D., 2002, Magnetostratigraphy and geochronology of the Hell Creek and basal Fort Union Formations of southwestern North Dakota and a recalibration of the age of the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary: In J. Hartman, K. R. Johnson and D. J. Nichols, eds. The Hell Creek Formation and the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary in the Northern Great Plains: An Integrated Continental Record of the End of the Cretaceous. Geological Society of America Special Paper 361, Boulder, Colorado, p. 35-55.

Hicks, J.F., Johnson, K.R., Obradovich, J.D., Miggins, D.P., and Tauxe, L., 2003, Magnetostratigraphy of the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) to Early Eocene Strata of the Denver Basin, Colorado, USA: Rocky Mountain Geology, v. 38, no. 1, p. 1-22.

Frost, S.R., Plummer, T.W., Bishop, L.C., Ditchfield, P.W., Ferraro, J.V., Hicks, J. 2003. Partial cranium of Cercopithecoides kimeui Leakey, 1982 from Rawi Gully, southwestern Kenya. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 122: 191-199.

Wilf, P., N.R. Cúneo, K.R. Johnson, J.F. Hicks, S.L. Wing, J.D. Obradovich, 2003, High plant diversity in Eocene South America: Evidence from Patagonia. Science, v. 300, p. 122-125 (in Reports).

Behrensmeyer, A.K., Quade, Jay., Cerling, T.E., Kappelman, J., Khan, I., Copeland, P., Roe, L., Hicks, J.F., Stubblefield, P., Willis, B., Latorre, C., 2007, The structure and rate of late Miocene expansion of C4 plants: evidence from lateral variation in stable isotopes in paleosols of the Siwalik Group, northern Pakistan: Geological Society of America Bulletin 119, p.1486-1505.