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Kelly Best Lazar

Kelly LazarAssistant Professor
Department of Engineering and Science Education
Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences
341 Brackett Hall
M08 Holtzendorff Hall
864.656.9812
E-mail: klazar@clemson.edu

Postdoctoral Fellow, Clemson University, 2016-2018
Ph.D., The Ohio State University, 2014, Geological Sciences
M.S., East Carolina University, 2010, Geological Sciences
B.S., North Carolina State University, 2007, Geology

Classes | Publications 

Faculty Overview

Dr. Lazar’s research interests are spread across sedimentology, coastal geology, and geoscience education. Her broad geoscience research investigates Quaternary environmental change, primarily using sedimentological, micropaleontological, and chronostratigraphic techniques. Current projects utilize the sediment record to reconstruct paleo-hurricane histories and identify modern ocean acidification in the Caribbean. Her education research focuses on broadening participation in geoscience, and she leverages her fieldwork to provide students with opportunities to learn geoscience in the field.

Class Information

For current syllabi, please search the Clemson University Syllabus Repository.

GEOL 1010 Physical Geology
GEOL 4110 Sustainability at the Intersection of Human and Natural Systems (Study Abroad course, Caribbean)
ESED 8210 Teaching Undergraduate Science

Selected Publications

Lazar, K.B. and Moysey, S.M., 2020. Enabling student self-guided field expeditions in geoscience with the GeoXploration Platform for mobile apps. Applied Computing and Geosciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acags.2020.100028.

Moysey, S.M. and Lazar, K.B., 2019. Guidelines for using Virtual Reality as a Tool for Field-Based Learning in the Earth Sciences, In: S. Macdonald and R. Lansiquot, Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Virtual Place-Based Learning, Palgrave Macmillan.

Dipre, G., Polyak, L., Kuznetsov, A., Oti, E., Ortiz, J., Brachfeld, S., Xuan, C., Lazar, K., and Cook, A. Plio-Pleisocene sedimentary record from the Northwind Ridge: first insight into paleoclimatic evolution of the western Arctic Ocean for the last >5 Ma., 2018. Arktos. 

Lazar, K.B., Moysey, S.M., Brame, S., Coulson, A., Lee, C., and Wagner, J., 2018. Breaking out of the traditional lecture hall: Geocaching as a tool for experiential learning in large geology service courses. Journal of Geoscience Education DOI:10.1080/10899995.2018.1453191.

Rashid, H., Piper, D.J.W., Lazar, K.B., McDonald, K., and Saint-Ange, F., 2017. The Holocene Labrador Current: changing linkages to atmospheric and oceanographic forcing factors. Paleoceanography DOI: 10.1002/2016PA003051.

Lazar, K.B. and Polyak, L., 2016. Pleistocene benthic foraminifers in the Arctic Ocean: implications for sea-ice and circulation history. Marine Micropaleontology 126: 19–30.

Lazar, K.B., Polyak, L., and Dipre, G., 2016. Reexamination of the creation of Cassidulina neoteretis (Foraminifera) and its use as a Pleistocene biostratigraphic marker in the western Arctic Ocean. Journal of Foraminiferal Research 46: 115–123.

Lazar, K.B., Mallinson, D.J., and Culver, S.J., 2016. Foraminifera and Late Quaternary evolution of the Croatan Beach Ridge Complex, Bogue Sound, and Bogue Banks, NC. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 174: 49–64.

Polyak, L., Best, K.M., Crawford, K.A., Council, E.A., and St-Onge, G., 2013. Quaternary history of sea ice in the western Arctic Ocean based on foraminifera. Quaternary Science Reviews 79: 145–156.

Rashid, H., Otieno, F.O., Best, K.M., and C. K. Shum, 2013. Analysis of Paleoclimate Records for Understanding the Tropical Hydrologic Cycle in Abrupt Climate Change. Climate Vulnerability: Understanding and Addressing Threats to Essential Resources. Elsevier Inc., Academic Press, 127–139 pp.  [ISBN: 9780123847034]