RESEARCH INTERESTS:

r. Gill joined the faculty in Fall 2004 after six years at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.  His primary research interests are in atmosphere-lithosphere interaction-particularly aeolian (wind-related) processes (wind erosion, blowing sand and dust storms) and atmospheric aerosols of geological origin; and their roles in biogeochemical cycling and environmental change. Gill's research uses aspects of geomorphology, sedimentology, geochemistry, remote sensing, wind engineering and meteorology to study the generation, transport, deposition, and management of aeolian sediments and aerosols, as well as to investigate the interactions and cycling of materials between the atmosphere, lithosphere and biosphere, at all spatial scales. Tom Gill is the co-author of the Bibliography of Aeolian Research on the Internet. 

Dr. Gill's research interests also include the environmental geochemistry, source appointment and biogeochemistry of trace elements; the geomorphology, sedimentology, and geochemistry of saline lakes and playas; earth system science, especially the relationship between landforms, climate/weather, and ecosystems; mesoscale meteorology and air pollution meteorology;  the application of X-ray spectrometric techniques in earth science; natural resource management in arid and semiarid lands; and earth science aspects of homeland security.

• Rothman, Gabriel, 2004 (Chair, M.S., Atmospheric Science, Texas Tech), Saharan Air Layer Interaction with Hurricane Claudette (2003).
• Evans, Felecia, 2004 (M.S., Atmospheric Science, Texas Tech), Visualization of Tornado Track Prediction with GIS-Based Computer Software.
• Winn, Russell, 2003 (Chair, M.S., Geology, Texas Tech), Stable Isotope Geochemistry of Aeolian Dust from Owens Lake, California.
• Vancuren, Richard (Tony), 2002 (Ph.D., Geography, UC Davis), Asian Aerosols in North America: Frequency and Intensity of Transpacific Transport, Chemical Composition, and Mass Concentrations.

• Quiroz, Brissa (Chair, Ph.D., Environmental Science & Engineering, UTEP)- Health effects of air pollution
• Rojo, Analila (Chair, Ph.D.,Environmental Science & Engineering, UTEP)- Particle size fractionation of heavy metals in dust
• Ruiz, Alfredo (Chair, Ph.D., Geology, UTEP)- Geology of aeolian processes in Chihuahua
• Emmert, Sonny (Chair, M.S., Environmental Science, UTEP)- Biogeochemistry of precipitation
• Rivera, Nancy (Chair, M.S., Environmental Science, UTEP)- Remote sensing of dust plume initiation
• Ramos, Jorge (Undergraduate student, Environmental Science, UTEP)- Biogeochemistry of precipitation
  

• Neu, Roene (Ph.D.,Geology, UTEP)
• Nzewunwah, Chima (Ph.D., Geology, UTEP)
• Shi, Ye (Ph.D., Environmental Science & Engineering, UTEP)
• Rose, Jessica (M.S., Geology, UTEP)
• Villegas, Yvette (M.S., Geology, UTEP)

• Principal Investigator (US Dept. of Energy): Potential  Fractionation of Heavy Metals in Wind Resuspension of Contaminated Soils
• Principal Investigator (US Dept. of Defense): Modeling Airborne Transport of Hazards Using Advanced Atmospheric Monitoring Systems and Numerical Techniques
• Co- Principal Investigator (US Dept. of Commerce): Windstorm Mitigation Initiative
• Principal Investigator (Texas Advanced Research Projects): Geochemical Fractionation of Dust at the Surface of a Wind-Eroding Playa
• Project Manager (California Air Resources Board): Generation, Characterization and Transport of Owens (Dry) Lake Dusts
• Project Manager (California State Lands Commission): Mitigation of Windblown Dusts and Reclamation of Public Trust Values, Owens Lake, California: Partial Mitigation of PM10 Episodes Through Control of Saltating Particles and Reduction of Wind Shear
• Project Manager (California Department of Health): Particulate Transport at Toxic Waste Facilities in California.

• Gill, T.E., and Shao, Y., eds., 2004. Modeling of wind erosion and aeolian processes. Environmental Modeling and Software 19(2): 91- 215.
• Acosta-Martinez, V., Zobeck, T.M., Gill, T.E., and Kennedy, A.C., 2003. Enzyme activities and microbial community structure in semiarid agricultural soils. Biology and Fertility of Soils 38: 216-227.
• Gill, T.E., Cahill, T.A., Copeland, S.A., and White, B.R., 2003. Sand fences for control of wind erosion and dust emission at Owens Lake, CA: 1. Full-scale testing, field deployment, and evaluation of effectiveness. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Wind Engineering, Lubbock, TX, June 2003, vol. 2, pp. 2773- 2780.
• Prospero, J.M., Ginoux, P., Torres, O., Nicholson, S.E., and Gill, T.E., 2002. Environmental characterization of global sources of atmospheric soil dust identified with the NIMBUS-7 TOMS absorbing aerosol product. Reviews of Geophysics 40: 2-01 - 2-31 (doi:10.1029/2000RG000095).
• Gill, T.E., Gillette, D.A., Niemeyer, T., and Winn, R.T., 2002. Elemental geochemistry of wind-erodible playa sediments, Owens Lake, California. Nuclear Instruments and MethodsB189: 209- 213.
• Husar, R.B., et al. (including Gill, T.E.,), 2001. The Asian dust events of April 1998. Journal of Geophysical Research 106D: 18317- 18330.
• Gill, T.E., Chang, C.B., Doggett, A.L., and Peterson, R.E., 2001. Mesoscale processes and transport of substances in the urban atmospheric boundary layer. Proceedings of BACIMO 2001 (Battlefield Atmospheric and Cloud Impacts on Military Operations) Conference, Fort Collins, Colorado, July 2001, USA Department of Defense Publication ARL-SR-01126, 15 pp.
• Gill, T.E., Reynolds, R.L., and Zobeck, T.M., 2000. Measurements of current and historic settled dusts in west Texas. Proceedings of the 93rd Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA) Annual Conference and Exhibition, AWMA Publication VIP-97 (ISBN 0-923204-34-2), Paper No. 0175, 15 pp.
• Gill, T.E., Westphal, D.L., Stephens, G., and Peterson, R.E., 2000. Integrated assessment of regional dust transport from west Texas and New Mexico, spring 1999. Preprints of the 11th Joint Conference on Applications of Air Pollution Meteorology with the Air and Waste Management Association, American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA, pp. 370- 375.
• Zobeck, T.M., Gill, T.E., and Popham, T.M., 1999. A two-parameter Weibull function to describe airborne dust particle size distributions. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 24(10): 943-955.
• Gillette, D.A., Fryrear, D.W., Gill, T.E., Ley, T., Cahill, T.A., and Gearhart, E.A., 1997. Relation of vertical flux of PM10 to total aeolian horizontal mass flux at Owens Lake. Journal of Geophysical Research 102D: 26009- 26015.
• Perry, K.D., Cahill, T.A., Eldred, R.A., Dutcher, D.D., and Gill, T.E., 1997. Long-range transport of Saharan dust to the eastern United States. Journal of Geophysical Research 102D: 13225-13238.
• Cahill, T.A., Carroll, J.J., Campbell, D., and Gill, T.E., 1996. Air quality. In: Status of the Sierra Nevada. U.S. Geological Survey Digital Data Series Publication DDS-043, Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project, Final Report to Congress, vol. II. Centers for Water and Wildland Resources, University of California, Davis, Wildlands Resource Center Report 37 (vol. II, chapter 48), pp. 1227- 1261.
• Cahill, T.A., Gill, T.E., Reid, J.S., Gearhart, E.A., and Gillette, D.A., 1996. Saltating particles, playa crusts and dust aerosols at Owens (dry) Lake, California. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 21: 621- 639.
• Gill, T.E., 1996. Eolian sediments generated by anthropogenic disturbance of playas: human impacts on the geomorphic system and geomorphic impacts on the human system. Geomorphology 17: 207- 228.
• Gill, T.E. and Cahill, T.A., 1992. Drying saline lake beds: a regionally-significant PM10 source. In: Chow, J.C., and Ono, D.M., eds., PM10 Standards And Nontraditional Particulate Source Controls. Air & Waste Management Association Transactions Series 22: 440-454.
• Gill, T.E., Tanada, T.N., Cahill, T.A., Taylor, D., and Matsuura, H., 1989. Air quality on Hawaii Island during a Kilauea eruption. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Air and Waste Management Association, Anaheim, CA, June 1989, Paper #89-66A.04, 15pp.
• Gill, T.E., Kusko, B.H., Higgins, C.G., Cahill, T.A., and Howard, S., 1988.  Site variation in provenance studies: the Carrara Marble example. In: Farqhar, R.N.,  Hancock, R.G.V., and Pavlish, L.A., eds., Archaeometry '88: Proceedings of the 26th International Archaeometry Symposium, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 211- 219.