Martha Eppes

  I am a Professor of Earth Sciences here at UNC Charlotte. My research interests center on surface processes, soils, weathering and landscape evolution on Earth. I have a particular interest in mechanical weathering. See this 18 min video for an overview of some of that work. I study both stress-loading processes like thermal cycling (Eppes et al., 2016); as well as how the mechanics of subcritical cracking – the type of cracking that likely drives all weathering – translates into measurable weathering (Eppes and Keanini, 2017; Aldred et al., 2015) and geomorphic phenomena like rock erosion, river incision or exfoliation (e.g. Shobe et al., 2017; Eppes et al., 2018; Collins et al., 2018). I also have a strong interest in the late Quaternary geology of the southern San Juan mountains and Piedmont of the southeastern United States. My students and I use soils to map and date surficial deposits like alluvial fans and terraces; and put the results in the context of climate change on Earth.

 I am currently conducting research in Antarctica (see figure from my trip), the Piedmont of South and North Carolina, the Blue Ridge of Virginia, granite domes of California and the Eastern United States and the alpine environments of the San Juan Mountains of Colorado (see below).

I am always looking for good students for any of these graduate degree programs:  MS in Earth Sciences; PhD in Geography; and PhD in INES – a joint program with Civil Engineering. TA positions are currently available.

UNC Charlotte has openings for a Postdoctoral Researcher (2 year appointment – Application Deadline Nov 1, 2021) for U.S. Citizen applicants from women and other underrepresented groups.

I encourage you to email me if you are interested in any position. 

If you are interested in working on problems related to my research for any of the above positions, please fee free to email or call.  

  Photo right: Students collecting weathering data for outcrops in Shenandoah National Park, VA. Cosmogenic Radionuclide analyses by Dr. Gregory S. Hancock at William and Mary College provide erosion rates for different rock types in the field area. Our work seeks to understand how the fracture mechanics properties of these rocks influence their erosion, and thus the long-term landscape evolution of the classic Valley and Ridge landscape of central Virginia. In press in Geology. 

  Charlotte, NC is home the rest of the time . I spend my free time these days with my kids enjoying my garden.