Education

2019 Ph.D. Geological Sciences Department of Geological Sciences; The University of Texas at Austin; Jackson School of Geosciences

2014 B.S. Geology/Engineering Geology Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences; University of California, Los Angeles

2011 Geology Transfer Credentials Moorpark Community College

Professional Experience

2023-       Assistant Professor- University of California, San Diego

2020-2023      Assistant Professor- University of Nevada-Las Vegas

2019                Postdoctoral Researcher- Utah State University

2014 -  2019    Teaching Assistant/ Associate Instructor- The University of Texas at Austin

2012 - 2014     Laboratory Technician Luminescence Dating and Research Laboratory - UCLA

Chloë Weeks (PhD exp 2027)

B.S. Bryn Mawr College

M.S. University of Idaho

PhD Thesis: Phanerozoic polyphase deformation recorded in exotic Grenville basement of Argentina

Weeks, C., Odlum, M., L., Mackaman-Lofland., C., Ortiz G., Fosdick, J.C., and Capaldi, T.N. (2023) Exhumation history of the Sierra Pie de Palo uplift and implications for tectonic drivers of broken foreland basin evolution, Argentina. Geological Society of America Connects, Pittsburg, PA.

M.S. Thesis (University of Idaho) Post-Laramide Exhumation and Topography in the Madison and Gallatin Ranges of Southwest Montana from Apatite (U-Th)/He Thermochronometry

Weeks, C., Stanley, J.R. and Tremblay, M.M., (2026) Post-Laramide Extension and Erosion in the Madison and Gallatin Ranges of Southwest Montana from Apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He Thermochronometry. Lithosphere.

Briana Pearson (PhD exp 2030)

B.S. University of California Los Angeles

PhD Thesis: Sedimentary Record of Forearc Evolution in Central Chile

Joseph Brooks-Kahn (MS 2026)

B.S. University of california san diego

MS Thesis: Fault rock geo-thermochronology records Miocene to Pleistocene deformation in the Eastern Precordillera Argentina

Brooks-Kahn, J., Weeks, C., Odlum, M.L., Mackaman-Lofland, C., Ortiz, G., Capaldi, T.N. (2025) Coupled Hematite and Apatite (U-Th)/He Geo-thermochronology Records Miocene to Pleistocene Deformation in the Eastern Precordillera, Argentina. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX.    

Siena Hemminger (BS exp 2026)

Undergrad Research: Detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology of modern river and beach sands of Orange County, southern CA

Kim, E., Capaldi, T.N., Heminger, S., Cabral, Y. (2026) Tracking sediment mixing of Southern California rivers in the San Pedro and Oceanside littoral cells. Geological Society of America Cordillera Section Meeting, Loreto, MX.

Evan Kim (BS exp 2028)

Undergrad Research: Detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology of modern river and beach sands of San Diego County, southern CA

Kim, E., Capaldi, T.N., Heminger, S., Cabral, Y. (2026) Tracking sediment mixing of Southern California rivers in the San Pedro and Oceanside littoral cells. Geological Society of America Cordillera Section Meeting, Loreto, MX.

Opal Capodlum

Post dog Researcher

James Duncan (MS 2022)

B.S. Boise State University

MS Thesis: The Antler Orogeny recorded in detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology and geochemistry, southern Nevada

Now Production Geologist at Nevada Gold

Duncan, J.T., Capaldi, T.N., Wells, M.L., Odlum, M.L., DeFelice, C. (2022) The Antler Orogeny recorded in detrital multi-mineral U-Pb geochronology, southern Nevada. Geological Society of America Cordillera and Rocky Mountain Section Joint Meeting, Las Vegas, NV.

Duncan, J.T., Capaldi, T.N., Wells, M.L., Odlum, M.L., DeFelice, C. (2022) The Antler Orogeny recorded in detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology, southern Nevada. Geological Society of Nevada Symposium, Sparks, NV.

Zoey Plonka (MS 2022)

B.S. University of Michigan

MS Thesis: Along strike tectonic evolution of the Neogene Bermejo foreland basin and Eastern Precordillera thrust front, Argentina (30-32ºS)

Now Research Scientist at the Arizona Geological Survey

Plonka, Z.C., Capaldi, T.N., Odlum, M.L., Ortiz, G., Mackaman-Lofland, C., Alvarado, P. (2023) Along strike tectonic evolution of the Neogene Bermejo foreland basin and eastern Precordillera thrust front, Argentina (30-32ºs). Journal of South American Earth Sciences, v. 129, 104521.

Plonka, Z.C., Capaldi, T.N., Odlum, M.L., Ortiz, G., Alvarado, P. (2022) Tracking the Neogene tectonic evolution of the active Andean thrust front using the foreland basin record and detrital geo-/thermochronology, western Argentina (28–30ºS). Geological Society of America Cordillera and Rocky Mountain Section Joint Meeting, Las Vegas, NV.

Plonka, Z.C., Capaldi, T.N., Odlum, M.L., Ortiz, G., Alvarado, P. (2021) Resolving along-strike Andean thrust front evolution using the foreland basin record in the flat slab region of Argentina. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Portland, OR.

Ian Gillette (MS 2024)

B.S. Weber State University

MS Thesis: Stratigraphic response to Paleogene-Miocene tectonic mode switch in Cordilleran hinterland: A case study in the Bear Lake Plateau, UT-ID-WY

Gillette, I., Capaldi, T.N., Ritenour, T.M., Di Fiori, R., Anderson, R.B., and Pederson, J.L. (2024) Stratigraphic response to Cenozoic extension in the Cordilleran Hinterland: A case study from the Northeast Basin and Range, Idaho-Utah-Wyoming. Geological Society of America Cordillera and Rocky Mountain Section Joint Meeting, Spokane, WA.

Conner Callaway (BS 2023)

Undergrad Research: Depositional environment and sediment provenance of Tertiary-Cretaceous conglomerates of the Kingman Arch

Now Geologist at Nevada Gold

Odinaka Okwueze (BS 2025)

Undergrad Research: Multi-mineral geochronology from Iceland modern river sands

Now Geologist at Nevada Gold

Okwueze, O., Konrad, K., Capaldi, T., 2025, New Developments in Incremental Heating Detrital 40Ar/39Ar Lithic (DARL) Geochronology using Iceland River Sand. Geochronology.

Okwueze, O., Konrad, K., Capaldi, T.N. (2023) New detrital methodology for mafic terrains: Single basalt grain incremental 40Ar/39Ar age determinations. Geological Society of America Connects, Pittsburg, PA.