MICHAEL GREGG LOSO
Associate Professor of Earth Sciences
Alaska Pacific University • 4101 University Drive • Anchorage AK 99508
907.564.8263 • mloso@alaskapacific.edu
EDUCATION
PhD Earth Sciences University of California, Santa Cruz (2004)
MS Botany, Field Naturalist Program University of Vermont (1996)
BA Environmental Studies University of California, Santa Barbara (1990)
PUBLICATIONS
In prep Sass, L.C., O’Neel, S., MacGregor, J.A., Loso, M.G., and Price, S.F. Ice geometry and motion associated with enhanced thinning in the accumulation zone of Eklutna Glacier, Alaska. For submission to Journal of Glaciology.
In review Arendt, A., Larsen, C., Loso, M.G., Murphy, N., and Rich, J. Alaskan National Park glaciers-status and trends: Third progress report. Submitted to Natural Resource Data Series.
in review Sass, L.C., Loso, M.G., O’Neel, S., and Larsen, C.F. Surface mass balance and enhanced thinning of the accumulation zone at Eklutna Glacier, Alaska. Submitted to Journal of Glaciology.
2012 Goodwin, K., Loso, M.G., and Braun, M. Glacial transport of human waste and survival of fecal bacteria on Mt. McKinley’s Kahiltna Glacier, Denali National Park, Alaska. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research. 44(4): 432-445.
2012 Arendt, A., Larsen, C., Loso, M.G., Murphy, N., and Rich, J. Alaskan National Park glaciers-status and trends: Second progress report. Natural Resource Data Series NPS/AKR/NRDS-2012/404. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado.
2012 Arendt, A., Larsen, C., Loso, M.G., Murphy, N., and Rich, J. Alaskan National Park glaciers-status and trends: First progress report. Natural Resource Data Series NPS/AKR/NRDS-2012/403. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado.
2012 Diedrich, K.E. and Loso, M.G. Transient impacts of Little Ice Age glacier expansion on sedimentation processes at glacier-dammed Iceberg Lake, southcentral Alaska. Journal of Paleolimnology. doi:10.1007/s10933-012-9614-5.
2009 Kaufman, D.S., Schneider, D.P., McKay, N.P., Ammann, C.M., Bradley, R.S., Briffa K.R., Miller, G.H., Otto-Bliesner, B.L., Overpeck, J.T., Vinther, B.M., Arctic Lakes 2k Project Members (Abbott, M., Axford, Y., Bird, B., Birks, H.J.B., Bjune, A.E., Briner, J., Cook, T., Chipman, M., Francus, P., Gajewski, K., Geirsdóttir, Á., Hu, F.S., Kutchko, B., Lamoureux, S., Loso, M.G., MacDonald, G., Peros, M., Porinchu, D., Schiff, C., Seppä, H., Thomas, E.). Recent warming reverses long-term Arctic cooling. Science 325(5945): 1236-1239.
2009 Loso, M.G. Summer temperatures during the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age inferred from varved proglacial lake sediments in southcentral Alaska. Journal of Paleolimnology. doi:10.1007/s10933-008-9264-9.
2007 Loso, M.G., Anderson, R.S., Doak, D.F., and Anderson, S.P. A disappearing lake reveals the Little Ice Age history of climate and glacier response in the massive icefields of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Alaska Park Science. 6(1): 30-35.
2006 Loso, M.G., Anderson, R.S., Anderson, S.P., and Reimer, P.J. A 1500 year, high resolution reconstruction of Little Ice Age climate and glacial response from varved Iceberg Lake, southcentral Alaska. Quaternary Research, 66: 12-24, doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2005.11.007.
2005 Loso, M.G. and Doak, D. F. The biology behind lichenometric calibration curves. Oecologia, 146: 168-174, doi:10.1007/s00442-005-0265-3.
2005 Riihimaki, C.A., MacGregor, K.R., Anderson, R.S., Anderson, S.P., and Loso, M.G. Sediment evacuation and glacial erosion rates at a small alpine glacier. JGR Earth Surface, 110, doi:10.1029/2004jf000189.
2005 Loso, M.G. A McCarthy Creek Forest Resource Inventory. National Park Service Resource Technical Report: NPS/AR/NRTR-2005-52.
2005 Loso, M.G. (Banjo). Moose!! Staying Safe Around Urban Moose: Alaska Department of Fish & Game; soundtrack for educational video.
2004 Loso, M.G. Late Holocene climate and glacier response reconstructed using stratigraphy and lichenometry at Iceberg Lake, Alaska. Ph.D. Dissertation.
2004 Loso, M.G., Anderson, R.S., and Anderson, S.P. Post-Little Ice Age record of coarse and fine clastic sedimentation in an Alaskan proglacial lake. Geology, 32: 1065-1068.
2004 Anderson, R.S., Anderson, S.P., MacGregor, K.R., Waddington, E.D., O’Neel, S., Riihimaki, C.A., and Loso, M.G. Strong feedbacks between hydrology and sliding of a small alpine glacier. JGR Earth Surface, 109, doi:10.1029/2004JF000120.
2003 Doak, D.F., and Loso, M.G. Effects of grizzly bear digging on alpine plant community structure. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 35(4): 421-428.
1999 Loso, M.G. Vegetation history of the Kennecott townsite, in Kennecott National Historic Landmark Cultural Landscape Report: US Department of Interior National Park Service, Washington DC.
1999 Loso, M.G. “Playing God on Denali.” pp. 58-67 in The Best of Rock and Ice Magazine—an Anthology. Seattle, WA: The Mountaineers Books.
1999 Loso, M.G. Partnership Management Strategy, Kennicott National Historic Landmark. Report prepared for Friends of Kennicott and the National Park Service, Kennicott AK.
1999 South Carolina Educational Television. Industry in the Wilderness. Video & internet-based high school science curriculum (co-writer and talent). Columbia, SC.
1998 Loso, M.G. Productivity, population structure, and subsistence use of a white spruce forest in the Kennicott Valley, Alaska. Mountain Research and Development, 18: 285-308.
1998 Loso, M.G. An interpretive air tour of the Wrangell Mountains. Leaflet prepared for Wrangell Mountain Air charter flight service, McCarthy, AK.
1998 Loso, M.G. Playing God on Denali. Rock and Ice (May).
1998 Loso, M.G., Schwartz, H.K., Wright, S.F. and Bierman, P.R. Composition, morphology, and genesis of a moraine-like feature in the Miller Brook Valley, Vermont. Northeastern Geology and Environmental Sciences, 20: 1-10.
1997 Loso, M.G. The Gray. Appalachia (June).
1996 Loso, M.G. The Fate of Our Forests. Wrangell-St. Elias News (September). Kennicott AK.
1995-96 Loso, M.G. (Editor). The FNewsletter.
1995 Loso, M.G., Stevens, M., Rubin, J., Tetreault, M., and Plummer, M. Natural Resource & Ecological Assessment for the McConnell Pond Sustainable Forestry Project, VT. Report to The Conservation Fund, Arlington VA.
1995 Loso, M.G. and Plummer, M. Eagle Mountain, VT: Conservation Opportunities and Management Recommendations. Report to The Lake Champlain Land Trust, Burlington VT.
1994 Loso, M.G. Comparing Human & Natural Disturbances to Doug Fir Communities on Shadow Mountain.” Report to Bridger-Teton National Forest, Jackson WY.
1994 Loso, M.G. Pulmonary edema, ascending too fast. In Williamson, J. (ed.) Accidents in North American Mountaineering, Golden CO: American Alpine Club, 20.
1990 Loso, M.G. The Habitat Needs of the California Condor. Undergraduate thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara.
1990 Chytilo, M. and Loso, M.G., 1990: Comments of Casmalians Against Pollution on the RCRA Part B permit application. Report to the US Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, Washington DC.
PRESENTATIONS
2011 Loso, M.G., Larsen, C.F., Arendt, A., Murphy, N., and Rich, J. Status and trends of Alaska NPS glaciers: workplan and early results. Poster presented at the National Park Service Southwest Alaska Network meeting, Anchorage Alaska, November 2-4.
2011 Larquier, A.M., Loso, M.G., and Sass, L. Glacial influences on water resources of the Eklutna Basin, Alaska. Talk presented at the American Water Resources Association meeting, Fairbanks Alaska, April 5-6.
2011 Goodwin, K., Loso, M.G., and Adema, G. Managing human waste on Mt McKinley: How tough are bacteria? Poster submitted to the George Wright Society Conference on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites, New Orleans LA, March 14-18.
2011 Sass, L., Loso, M.G., O’Neel, S., MacGregor, J., and Price, S. Eklutna Glacier, Alaska: an overdeepened alpine glacier with an unstable response to climate change. Abstract submitted to the 18th INQUA Conference, Bern Switzerland, July 20-27.
2010 Welker, J., Rogers, M., Cohn, B., Arp, C., Loso, M.G., Cable, J., Munk, L., Bogan, D., Sullivan, P. Olsson, P., and Gracz, M. The Alaska Water Isotopes Network (AKWIN). Poster presented at the 7th International Conference on Applications of Stable Isotope Techniques to Ecological Studies, Fairbanks AK, August 9-13.
2010 Loso, M.G., Goodwin, K. Trajectory and fate of crevassed human waste on Denali’s Kahiltna Glacier. Talk presented at the Exit Strategies Conference, Golden Colorado, July 29-30.
2010 Larquier, A.M., Loso, M.G., Sass, L., MacGregor, J., and Larsen, C.F. Glacial influences on water resources of the Eklutna Basin, Alaska. Poster presented at the American Water Resources Association meeting, Anchorage Alaska, March 31- April 2.
2010 Sass, L., Loso, M.G., O’Neel, S., MacGregor, J.A., Catania, G.A., and Larsen, C.F. Dynamic controls on Eklutna Glacier mass loss. Talk presented at the American Water Resources Association meeting, Anchorage Alaska, March 31-April 2.
2009 Loso, M.G., Anderson, R.S., and Doak, D.F. Can pocket gopher burrowing explain the long-term evolution of uplifted marine terrace scarps? Eos Trans. AGU, 90(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract EP31B-0597.
2009 Sass, L., O’Neel, S., Loso, M.G., MacGregor, J.A., Catania, G.A., and Larsen, C.F. Contributions of climate and dynamics to mass wastage and accumulation zone thinning of Eklutna Glacier, Alaska. Eos Trans. AGU, 90(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract C32A-04.
2008 Wolfe, D., Loso, M.G., and Dial, R. Characterization and remote evaluation of previously known and new glacier-dammed lakes across Alaska, USA, from 1971 to 2000. Abstract submitted to the EGU General Assembly, Vienna Austria, April 15-20.
2007 Loso, M.G., Anderson, R.S., Anderson, S.P., and Reimer, P.J. Sediments exposed by drainage of a collapsing glacier-dammed lake show that contemporary summer temperatures and glacier retreat exceed the Medieval Warm Period in southern Alaska. Eos Trans. AGU, 88(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract PP44A-01.
2007 DeRuwe, A., Wallace, K., Berg, E., McDonnell, K., and Loso, M.G. Late Quaternary tephra fall stratigraphy from 25 sedge-Sphagnum peat cores recovered from the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. Eos Trans. AGU, 88(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract V13C-1489.
2007 Loso, M.G. Gone but not forgotten: The fate of crevassed human waste on the Kahiltna Glacier. Invited talk presented to the National Park Service, Denali National Park AK, September 28.
2007 Loso, M.G. In defense of cold winter. Invited speaker at the Sierra Club Earth Day Festival, Anchorage AK, April 22.
2007 Wolfe, D., Loso, M.G., Dial, R., and Geck, J. 30 years of change in impounded water resources: comparing inventories and basins of glacier-dammed lakes of Alaska. Talk presented at the American Water Resources Association Alaska Section, Fairbanks AK, April 5.
2006 Loso, M.G. Late Holocene climate and glacier response reconstructed using stratigraphy and lichenometry at Iceberg Lake, Alaska. Talk presented at the US Geological Survey Brownbag Series, Anchorage AK, November 9.
2006 Loso, M.G. A 1500-year record of temperature and glacial response from varved Iceberg Lake. Talk presented at the Alaska Park Science Symposium, Denali National Park AK, September 12.
2006 Loso, M.G. Watching snow melt: An ode for the cold. Invited keynote speaker at the 6th Annual Alaska Natural History Symposium, Palmer AK, April 22.
2004 Anderson, R.S., Anderson, S.P., MacGregor, K.R., Waddington, E.D., O’Neel, S., Riihimaki, C.A., and Loso, M.G. Sliding and the growth and decay of cavities beneath an alpine glacier: results from Bench Glacier, Alaska. Talk and abstract submitted to the 34th Annual International Arctic Workshop, Boulder CO, March 11-13.
2004 Loso, M.G., Anderson, R.S., and Anderson, S.P. Post Little Ice Age record of fine and coarse clastic sedimentation in an Alaskan proglacial lake. Talk and abstract submitted to the 34th Annual International Arctic Workshop, Boulder CO, March 11-13.
2004 Loso, M.G. Fire and ice (and beetles): a case study of climatic controls on stand structure in an upland white spruce forest, Kennicott Valley, AK. Talk presented at the Changing Alaskan Forest Ecosystems Conference, Homer AK, Feb. 24-26.
2003 Loso, M.G., and Doak, D.F. Lichenometry’s black box: demographic characteristics of Rhizocarpon geographicum and Pseudophebe pubescens derived from whole population size-frequency distributions. AGU, 84(46), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract H51E-1134.
2003 Loso, M.G., Anderson, R.S., and Anderson, S.P. High-resolution reconstructions of Little Ice Age climate, glacial response, and paraglacial sedimentation from glacier-dammed Iceberg Lake, southcentral Alaska. Poster and abstract presentated at the GSA Annual Meeting, Seattle WA, Nov. 2-5.
2003 Riihimaki, C.A., MacGregor, K.R., Anderson, R.S., Anderson, S.P., Loso, M.G. Interpretation of fine and coarse sediment yield from Bench Glacier, Alaska. AGU, 84(46), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract H52A-1165.
2002 Anderson, R.S., Perg, L.A., Adams, P.N., Loso, M.G., Rosenbloom, N., and Menking, K.M. Evolution of a tectonically active coastline: Lessons from Santa Cruz, California. Talk presented at the Rocky Mt. Section Meeting, AAPG, Laramie WY.
2002 Loso, M.G., Anderson, R.S., Anderson, S.P. High resolution neoglacial record of glacial sediment yield exposed in an outburst-drained proglacial lakebed. Poster and abstract presented at the American Quaternary Association Annual Meeting, Anchorage AK, Aug. 9-11.
2001 Loso, M.G., Anderson, R.S., Anderson, S.P., Stock, G. and Helms, R. High resolution neoglacial record of glacial sediment yield exposed in an outburst-drained proglacial lakebed. EOS Trans. AGU, 82(47), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract IP51B-08.
1997 Wright, S.F., Loso, M.G., and Schwartz, H.K. Ice-contact environment in the Miller Brook Valley, Northern Vermont. GSA Northeastern Section Abstracts with programs, 29: 90-91.
1996 Loso, M.G. What the miners left: Disturbance History & Stand Structure in the Kennicott Valley, AK. Abstract and talk presented at the Copper Basin Forests Conference, Anchorage AK, Sept. 10 1996.
1995 Loso, M.G. Chickering Fen: Pollen Analysis and Vegetational History. Abstract and talk presented at the Vermont Wetland Association Annual Meeting, Burlington VT, Feb. 10 1995.
HONORS, GRANTS, AND AWARDS
2011Most Cited Article Award, 2005 – 2010, from Quaternary Research for “A 1500 year record of temperature and glacial response inferred from varved Iceberg Lake, southcentral Alaska.”
2010Faculty Merit Award for Research, Scholarship, and Creativity, Alaska Pacific University
2009-13North and West Alaska Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit Award for “Understanding glacial environments of Denali National Park through collaborative, student-led research” ($177K)
2010-12National Science Foundation ARCSS Award for “Collaborative research: Nonlinearities in the Arctic climate system during the Holocene” ($80K)
2009-12National Institutes for Water Resources Award for “The diminishing role of glacier runoff into Eklutna Lake: potential impacts on hydropower and water supply for the Municipality of Anchorage” ($33K)
2008-12Municipal Light and Power contract (through the Municipality of Anchorage) for “Eklutna Glacier Research” ($92K)
2008-11Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility contract for “Eklutna Stream Research” ($6K plus in-kind)
2011Municipal Light and Power grant for “Undergraduate research at Bering Glacier, Alaska” ($5K)
2007-09National Institutes for Water Resources Award for “Geomorphic constraints on the configuration, magnitude, and timing of Quaternary megafloods from glacier-dammed Lake Atna, Alaska” ($37K)
2007“Cleaner Commuter Award”, Alaska Pacific University
2007“Discover Denali” Research Fellowship Program Award for “Trajectory and fate of human waste on the Kahiltna Glacier” ($5K)
2007EPSCoR Small College Research Program Award for “Long-term monitoring of climate/mass-balance relationships on Eagle Glacier, southcentral Alaska” ($5K)
2005National Park Service NRAC Technical Report Grant ($2K)
2001-04National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship ($85K)
2003University Collaborative Research Program Grant (Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) – Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for “High resolution reconstructions of Little Ice Age climate, glacial response, and paraglacial sedimentation verified by independent AMS 14C dating” ($6K)
2003Geological Society of America Research Grant for “High-resolution reconstruction of Little Ice Age climate, glacial response, and paraglacial sedimentation from Iceberg Lake, AK” ($2K)
2002Center for Study and Imaging of the Dynamic Earth (CSIDE) Research Grant – University of California Santa Cruz for “High-resolution reconstruction of Little Ice Age climate, glacial response, and paraglacial sedimentation from Iceberg Lake, AK” ($2K)
2001NSF Small Grant For Exploratory Research for “Iceberg Lake: A high resolution glacial record exposed in an outburst-drained proglacial lakebed” ($35K)
2000Chancellors Fellowship – University of California Santa Cruz ($36K)
1998National Park Service Cooperative Management Grant for “White spruce productivity and population structure in the Kennicott Valley, Alaska: landscape patterns and subsistence harvest” ($2K)
1997The Dirty Sock Award (Best Student Geomorphology Paper) – University of Vermont
1996University of Vermont Graduate Student Summer Research Fellowship for “Effects of human and natural disturbance on spruce forest dynamics in the Kennicott Valley, southcentral Alaska” ($2K)
1994-96Mellon Fellowship – University of Vermont ($44K)
1990 Summa Cum Laude (Graduation with Highest Honors) – University of California Santa Barbara
1990 Distinction in the Major (for an outstanding undergraduate thesis) – University of California Santa Barbara
1988-90 Dean's List (all terms) – University of California Santa Barbara
1986-88 Dean's List (all terms) – Honors Program, San Diego State University
1986 National Merit Finalist
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Associate Professor Alaska Pacific University, Department of Environmental Science
June 2010 – Present
Director, Master of Science in Environmental Science Program Alaska Pacific University
June 2008 – Present
Assistant Professor Alaska Pacific University, Department of Environmental Science
August 2005 – May 2010
Senior Scientist and Principal Loso Land Services
May 2005 – Present
Senior Scientist HDR Incorporated
March 2005 – August 2006
Professional Ecologist Wrangell – St. Elias National Park
May - Oct. 2004
Teaching Assistant University of California, Santa Cruz
December 2003 - May 2004
Executive Director The Wrangell Mountains Center
June 1996 – September 2000
Alaska Wildlands Studies Program Director San Francisco State University
June 1996 – September 2000
Planning Consultant Friends of Kennicott
June 1998 - June 1999
Consulting Botanist Wrangell - St. Elias National Park
June - Oct. 1996; Sept. 1998 - June 1999
Ecology Assistant The Nature Conservancy, Community Ecology Group
Feb. - May 1997
Forester North State Forestry
Feb. - May 1997
Research Associate US Geological Survey Biological Resources Division
Aug. - Oct. 1996
SCA Plant Ecologist Wrangell - St. Elias National Park
June - Oct. 1996; Sept. 1998 - June 1999
Teaching Fellow University of Vermont, Botany Department
Jan. - June 1996
Consulting Botanist Various Clients
Oct. - Dec. 1994, May - Sept. 1995
Field Instructor The Teton Science School
Aug. 1993 - Aug. 1994
SCA Mountaineering Ranger Denali National Park
Mar. - Sept. 1993, June 1994
Instructor and Guide The American Alpine Institute
May - September 1992
MEMBERSHIPS, SKILLS, AND ACTIVITIES
President, Board of Directors The Wrangell Mountains Center President 2006-2010
Technical Representative, North and West Alaska Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit Alaska Pacific University, 2008 – present
Meeting Convener and Principal Organizer Wrangell-St. Elias Research Summit, McCarthy Alaska, July 6-7, 2009
Member
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•American Geophysical Union
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•Geological Society of America
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•American Quaternary Association
Field Safety and Leadership Skills
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•Wilderness First Responder, CPR C, and Aviation Safety certifications: current
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•16 years certified at WFR level or higher, including 2 years Wilderness EMT
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•20 years in outdoor education, including >100 weeks of wilderness leadership.
Banjo
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•Whistle Pig (2010-present)
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•The Pilot Cracker Playboys (2006-2010)
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•Black Satchel (2005)
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•The Tailor Maids (2004)
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•Midget Ridge (2003)
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•Jimmy Chickenpants (2002)
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•Steel Cut Goat (2002)
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•The Barn Burners (2001)
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•Old Hat (1999 – 2000)
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•White Spruce Wagoneers (1995 – 1998)
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•Whiskey Crate Warriors (1994)
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•Holy Shelter Swamp (1991-1993)
