Longform C.V.

Education__________________________________________________________________________________

PhD in Geoscience – University of Wisconsin at Madison Department of Geoscience

Expected summer 2025

Pre-Last Glacial Maximum climate as recorded in midcontinent and coastal speleothems

Advisor: Dr. Andrea Dutton and Dr. Shaun Marcott GPA: 4.0

Using high-resolution oxygen isotope measurements and precise U/Th chronologies from speleothems in Wisconsin, USA and Quintana Roo, Mexico


M.S. in Geoscience – University of Wisconsin at Madison Department of Geoscience May 2017

Thesis: 10Be surface exposure ages on the Pleistocene history of Petermann glacier, Washingtonland, Greenland

Advisor: Dr. Shaun Marcott GPA: 4.0

Used 10Be surface exposure dating techniques to investigate the sensitivity of the northwestern ice margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet to climatic variations throughout the Holocene.


B.A. in Geoscience, B.A. in English – University of Wisconsin at Madison, May 2013

Undergraduate Honors Thesis: 10Be surface exposure ages on the late-Pleistocene and Holocene history of Linnébreen on Svalbard

Advisor: Dr. Anders Carlson GPA: 3.75

I used 10Be surface exposure ages and glacial stratigraphy to look at ocean, atmosphere, and ice interaction in southern Svalbard.


Relevant Work Experience____________________________________________________________________

Lecturer, Fall 2021

-Geo140: Geohazards


Pandemic parent of 3, Spring 2020 to present

-Flexibility, logistics, creativity, empathy, communication, and basic nursing skills

-Toddler and twins


Foundation Geologist, August 2017-August 2020

Hess Corporation

-Petroleum geology (exploration and production)

-Projects have included interpretation of well log, core, and seismic data

-Attended several short courses including: Petrel, Esri, Subsurface Mapping, introduction to Geophysics, core description, petrophysics

-Field courses: Guadalupe Mountains, Southern Utah, La Jolla California (all sed/strat focused)


Research Assistant, August 2016-May 2017

University of Wisconsin-Madison

-Processed samples for Be isolation, regularly handled dangerous chemicals safely

-Co-managed lab: procedure development, completed inventories, cleaning, and stocking, scheduled sample processing

-Mentored and trained undergraduate students working for the lab

-Developed outreach for Wisconsin Institute for Discovery and UW-Madison Geology Museum

-Arctic fieldwork sampling glacial erratics for exposure dating


Teaching Assistant, August 2015-May 2016, May 2021-present

University of Wisconsin-Madison

-Geo110: Evolution and Extinction, an introductory geology and evolutionary biology course

-Geo105: Introduction to Oceanography

-Geo420: Glacial geology


Field worker and co-leader, August 2013 and 2014

-Assisted in paleontological fieldwork in the Triassic and Jurassic rocks of Wyoming

-Assisted in the planning, execution, and safety as co-lead in year 2


Samples Coordinator, August 2013 - May 2015

Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey

-Managed the accession and examination of subsurface samples/well logs, acted as a data resource for industries and researchers.

-Assisted in the management of Mt. Horeb Core Repository

-Supervised 2 undergraduate student workers

-Prepared outreach collections and sample sets, represented WGNHS outreach events

-Assisted in drilling various cores on a wireline coring drill rig for the USGS-funded “STATEMAP” project, including the completion of the initial core descriptions.


Geochemical labwork, June 2012-May 2013

University of Wisconsin-Madison

-Prepared samples for cosmogenic radionuclide exposure dating


Student Worker, 2009 - 2013, collaborations and tour guiding are ongoing

University of Wisconsin Geology Museum

-Gave tours (to over 7,000 people), coordinated the tour program, designed on and off-campus outreach events

-Identified specimens for museum patrons, aided in curation of collection materials, co-lead museum fieldwork in Wyoming, July 2013, 2014

-Assisted on several collections projects including the GUMO carbonates collection


First Author Publications________________________________________________________________________________


Reusche, Melissa M. “Past Ice, Future Ice.” The Science Breaker, 23 Jan. 2019, https://doi.org/10.25250/thescbr.brk177

Reusche, Melissa M., et al. "Early to Late Holocene Surface Exposure Ages From Two Marine‐Terminating Outlet Glaciers in Northwest Greenland." Geophysical Research Letters 45.14 (2018): 7028-7039. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL078266

Reusche, Melissa, et al. "10Be surface exposure ages on the late-Pleistocene and Holocene history of Linnébreen on Svalbard." Quaternary Science Reviews 89 (2014): 5-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.01.017

Select Awards and Honors____________________________________________________________________


Graduated with Distinctive Scholastic Achievement

Marvel Ings Award for Excellence in Geoscience Education, 2013

Mack C. Lake Outstanding Senior Scholarship, 2011, 2012, 2013

Lowell R. Laudon Outstanding Junior Scholarship, 2010


Service______________________________________________________________________


Outreach: see Outreach page for a list of past work

Graduate student ombud: included conducting the 2nd Graduate Student Climate Survey

D&I Committee: secured funding for department Field Gear Library

Panelist: being a woman in science, after a screening of Picture a Scientist

Active member of the WI Student Parent Organization


Skills and Competencies______________________________________________________________________


Familiar software: Microsoft suite, Adobe suite, Petrel, Spotfire, ArcGIS, RokDoc, Paradigm

Languages: Minor spanish

Other: forklift operation/pallet jack usage, pallet shipping preparation, basic core description and sampling methods, rock saw operation, core drilling procedures, remote and polar fieldwork.