Tel.  001(559) 278-2395
Fax. 001(559) 278-5980 
E-mail: frakah@csufresno.edu 

Office:  Science II 114

Links: EES Department, University Homepage

ADMINISTRATION
Dr. Harmsen currently serves as Associate Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics. She continues to supervise graduate students in the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, publish research and submit grants.

TEACHING

Dr. Harmsen has taught courses in Sedimentology, Basin Analysis, Petroleum Geology and Paleontology. Field trips are an integral component of these courses and range from shipboard cruises to study ocean sediments and geophysical profiles to analyzing ancient strata in the mountains and deserts of California. Dr. Harmsen founded the South Pacific Semester, an international semester abroad program based in New Zealand and Australia. Students spend much time in the field visiting active volcanoes, glaciers and coral reefs. Dr. Harmsen served on the Governing Board of Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML) for 23 years and spent a year as the Visiting Scientist there. MLML functions as an extension of the Fresno State campus and numerous courses in marine sciences are available to students.

RESEARCH

Dr. Harmsen recently started the Institute for Climate Change, Oceans and Atmosphere in the College of Science and Mathematics. The goal of the Institute is to foster interdisciplinary research in climate change, oceanography and atmospheric science, as well as such closely related fields as sustainable development and energy policy. Dr. Harmsen and fellow researchers recently completed a comprehensive report for the City of Fresno entitled “Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Climate Change in Fresno, California.” See http://www.csufresno.edu/icoa/projects/fresnoclimate.shtml

Dr. Harmsen and Dr. Hasson (Chemistry) have a large federal grant from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to study atmospheric pollution in the Fresno area with a focus on ozone. Dr. Harmsen has a second grant from the National Parks Service to conduct benthic marine habitat mapping to aid in understanding conservation and exploitation of marine resources. She recently completed a NOAA grant on similar research and has several MS students working on this project.

Prior work included the study of the geomorphology, hydrology and riparian condition of the Kings River Experimental Watershed (KREW). The grant supported three graduate students. The study focused on characterization of watershed geomorphology that was focused on assessment of channel morphology and condition. Analysis of transport capacity, sediment supply, and channel history provide for a more detailed diagnosis of channel condition and guide determination of major processes controlling channel morphology and habitat structure throughout the channel network. A sediment budget was determined that included a quantitative description of sediment production rates, transport, storage, and output by the different processes in the drainage system.

Dr. Harmsen has also received multiple grants from Caltrans to provide a database and maps of paleontological resources in central California using GIS and to perform environmental field analysis at various sites of vertebrate remains. At least five graduate students have been, and are being, supported by these grants.

Examples of Recent International Research Projects
Analysis of Bedforms Generated During a Catastrophic Glacial Burst, Iceland. Dr. Harmsen and graduate student Chad Pyatt worked on catastrophic floodplain deposits in Iceland. The study involved examination of morphology and sedimentology of proglacial outwash following a glacial outburst from the Vatnajokull Ice Cap in southeast Iceland. Over the past several hundred years, many eruptions have occurred within ice caps covering parts of the volcanic zones in Iceland. This study focused on catastrophic flooding in glaciofluvial streams flowing from the Vatnajokull icecap that occurred in response to subglacial volcanic eruptions within the Grimsvotn caldera. A large subglacial lake formed behind a hyaloclastite seal between the glacier and bedrock. As the eruption progressed, the hydrostatic pressure under the icecap exceeded the isostatic pressure of the overlying glacier. The dam was breached, and the resulting flood had the largest magnitude recorded this century. The flow rate of one studied river exceeded 45,000 m3/s.

Facies Analysis of the Gogo Formation and Diagenesis of Fish Fauna
This was a sedimentological study of the Gogo Formation of the Canning Basin of Western Australia, internationally acclaimed as the world's most significant early vertebrate fossil site. Discoveries have included the uncovering of many new forms of lungfishes, arthrodires, and the first complete skull of an osteolepiform - the group giving rise to the first amphibians. Studies of early vertebrate evolution here have resulted in a new model for the origins of the first land animals. The environment the Gogo fish inhabited was an ancient reef yet details of their habitat were sketchy. A major focus of the research was to undertake a detailed environmental analysis of the sediments which enclose these fossils. The chemical and physical processes that operated to preserve the specimens following deposition was also studied. The Gogo fish are preserved in outstanding three-dimensional anatomical detail, providing unique opportunities for the study of evolution.

Sedimentological Studies of the Lower Beacon Supergroup, Darwin Mountains, Antarctica.
Dr. Harmsen participated in two international expeditions to Antarctica. The last expedition completed an ambitious nine week sledging journey, traveling over 700 kilometers, passing for part of the time through unexplored territory in the Darwin Mountains. Dr. Harmsen was on Devonian strata in the TransAntarctic Mountains. Only 1% of the Antarctic continent is exposed above the ice sheet. As well as collecting fish material, the expedition was also studying the sediments in which they were found. The Aztec Siltstone was deposited by large rivers flooding across low-lying alluvial fans. Freshwater fish lived within the channels of these rivers and during floods when the rivers broke their banks, mud was spread across the river flats leaving dead and dying fish. Fossil root horizons indicate that the mud flats were often colonized by primitive vegetation. Mudcracks and soil horizons are common in the sequence. Ther are indications that the region had a savanna-like climate with distinct wet and dry seasons. See the Aztecodus harmsenae named for Dr.Harmsen – a shark thought to be larger than a great white (Specimens recovered from the Aztec Siltstone).

Past Graduate Students: Dr. Harmsen has supervised numerous graduate students on their MS thesis work. The most recent student, Tim McConnico, won the Presidential Graduate Medal for outstanding graduate work at CSU Fresno. He is currently a Fulbright scholar pursuing his Ph.D. in Sedimentology in New Zealand.