Dr. Clark   |    Dr. Greenberg   |    Dr. Moshier
  

 

Overview

Faculty

Major

Courses

Science Station

Student Opportunities

Global Ministry Science Symposium 2005

    

Dr. Stephen Oakley Moshier

Department Chair, Associate Professor of Geology
On faculty since 1991

Office Phone: (630) 752-5856
Email: Stephen.O.Moshier@wheaton.edu

Education

Ph.D., 1987, LSU, Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Geology

M.A., 1979, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, New York; Geology

B.S., 1977, VPI & SU, Blacksburg, Virginia; Geology

 
Professional and Personal Interests
Dr. Stephen Moshier has practiced geology as a college professor and an oil company explorationist. Much of his early research in geology involved describing and interpreting oil reservoir rocks. He has published papers on oil fields in North Ameirca, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. This work contributed to our understanding of the origin of oil in giant oil-sand deposits and the formation of porosity in subsurface limestone reservoirs. Dr. Moshier is also interested in ancient and modern reef depositional environments (allowing him occasional trips to snorkel in the Bahamas and Belize).

More recently, Dr. Moshier's research efforts are in the field of geoarchaeology. In 1998, he visited the northwest Sinai coast with Egyptologist James Hoffmeier (Trinity International University) to look for potential excavation sites associated with the ancient Egyptian New Kingdom. From 1998 to 2007 Dr. Moshier served as team geologist in Dr. Hoffmeier's excavation of Tell el-Borg. Field mapping conducted in the area of the excavation has resulted in a reconstruction of the area's physical geography in New Kingdom times, putting archaeological sites in proper geographic context. For example, an ancient stream that ran through the site, now buried beneath the desert floor, was discovered using satellite photography and hand-dug trenches. In 2008, Dr. Moshier joined the Harvard University-Leon Levy Expedition to Tell Asheklon in Israel. Dr. Moshier involves students in his research, including fieldwork at archaeological sites and lab and remote sensing work back at Wheaton College.

Dr. Moshier has served as past president of the Geological Society of Kentucky and the Affiliation of Christian Geologists. He is a member of several professional geological societies.

In the Department of Geology and Evnironmental Science, Dr. Moshier is responsible for education in the areas of sedimentology, stratigraphy, biogeology, petroleum geology and geoarchaeology. He teaches general education courses on Natural Disasters, Geology of National Parks, and Oceanography.

Dr. Moshier and his wife have two grown sons. Dr. and Mrs. Moshier are active in their church in Geneva IL, currently helping in the youth (middle school) ministry. The Moshier family enjoyed many summers together in the Black Hills at the Wheaton College Science Station where Dr. Moshier taught and directed.

Doc Mo, as students call him, was interested in space exploration as a child, which led to his study of geology in college and remains a hobby. His other interests include msuic (his sons are jazz musicians), travel (a benefit of being a geologist) and reading historical biography (at least one per year).


Courses Taught
 
  • General Oceanography (nonmajor course)
  • Natural Disasters (nonmajor course)
  • Geology of National Parks (nonmajor course)
  • Theories of Origins (nonmajor course) (co-teacher)
  • Earth History and Stratigraphy
  • Biogeology
  • Geoarchaeology
  • Petroleum Geology
  • Marine Biology (co-teacher with Biology faculty)
  • General Petrography and Petrology (co-teacher)
  • Senior Geology Seminar


 

Membership in Professional Societies

  • Geological Society of America
  • Affiliation of Christian Geologists, President 1999-2002
  • American Scientific Affiliation
  • Geological Society of Kentucky (President--1990; Eastern Vice President--1989)
  • ARCE (American Research Center in Egypt)

Research

Individual Projects:

  • Applications of geology to archaeology, Quaternary paleoenvironmental analysis- Study area in east Nile Delta, NW Sinai, Egypt.
  • Carbonate petrology (sedimentology and diagenesis): microporosity formation and lime mud diagenesis; unconformity related diagenesis; carbonate-coal depositional and diagenetic systems; carbonate petroleum reservoirs.

Research with Students:

  • Geoarchaeology (field work, remote sensing and sedimentology)
  • Watershed analysis for urban planning and community development (previous projects in Chicago suburbs and rural Honduras).

Papers Published and/or Presented

Selected Refereed Articles:

  • Moshier, S.O., Maas, D.E., and Greenberg, J.K. 2009. From the beginning: faith and geology at evangelical Wheaton College. In M. Kobel-Ebert (ed.) Geology and Religion: Historical Views of an Intense Relationship between Harmony and Hostility. The Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 310, 299-314.
  • Moshier, S.O., A. El-Kalani. 2008. Late Bronze Age paleogeography along the ancient Ways of Horus in Northwest Sinai, Egypt. Geoarchaeology 23: 450-473.
  • Haddock, G.H., Neiburger, E.J. and Moshier, S.O. 2008. The Perry Mastodon: A Specimen Exhibit at Wheaton College. Central States Archaeological Journal, 55: 32-33.
  • Moshier, S.O., Arnold, D., Funck, L.L., Lewis, R.J., Smith, A.J., Walton, J.H., Wharton, W.R. 2007. Theories of Origins: A Multi- and Interdisciplinary Course for Undergraduates and Wheaton College. Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, 59, 290-296.
  • Hoffmeier, James K., and Stephen O. Moshier. 2006. New paleo-environmental evidence from the north Sinai to complement Manfred Bidtak¹s map of the eastern Delta and some historical implications. In Timelines: Studies in Honour of Manfred Bietak, Volume II, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, 149. eds. E. Czerny, I. Hein, H. Hunger, D. Melman, A. Schwab, 167-176. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters Publishers.
  • Moshier, Stephen O. 2006. What is God's Purpose for Natural Disasters? In Not Just Science: Questions Where Christian Faith and Natural Science Intersect. eds. Dorothy F. Chappell and E. David Cook, 141-147. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan.
  • de Wet, C. B, Moshier, S. O., Hower, J. C., de Wet, A. P., Brennan, S. T., Helfrich, C. T., and Raymond, A. L., 1997. Disrupted coal and carbonate facies within two Pennsylvanian cyclothems, southern Illinois Basin, United States. Geological Society of America Bulletin. 109:1231-1248.
  • Moshier, S. O., and Kirkland, B., 1993. Identification and diagenesis of a Phylloid Alga: Archaeolithophyllum from the Pennsylvanian Providence Limestone, Western Kentucky. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology. 63:1032-1041.
  • Moshier, S. O., 1989. Development of microporosity in a micritic limestone reservoir, Lower Cretaceous, Middle East. Sedimentary Geology. 63:191-213.
  • Moshier, S.O., 1989, Microporosity in micritic limestones - a review. Sedimentary Geology, 63: 217-240.
  • Dean, C.S. and Moshier, S.O., 1989, Cumberland Mountain: The Inside Story: Annual Field Conference of the Geological Society of Kentucky, September 22-23, 1989. 43 p.
  • Moshier, S.O., 1986, Carbonate platform sedimentology, Upper Cambrian Richland Formation, Lebanon Valley, Pennsylvania. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 54:204-216.

Book Reviews:

  • Moshier, S.O. 2008. Review of Supercontinent: Ten Billion years in the Life of our Planet, by Ted Nield. Books and Culture 14/4: 10-11.
  • Moshier, S.O. 2007. Review of Extinction, How Life on Earth Nearly Ended 250 Million Years Ago, by Douglas Erwin. Books and Culture 13/3: 38-39.
  • Moshier, S.O. 1994. Review of Dolomite Reservoirs, Geochemical Techniques for Evaluating Origin and Distribution, by J.R. Allen and W.D. Wiggins. Journal of Sedimentary Research B64: 582-583.

 

Next faculty: Dr. Jeffrey Greenberg