Freya Morris

Freya Morris is a field geologist who uses sedimentology and structural geology to reconstruct paleoenvironments and basin evolution for understanding the intersection of climate, tectonics, and the evolution of life through Earth history. Coupled with her field work, she has employed various geochemical methods to support lithostratigraphic correlations and temporal constraints, along with glacial isostatic adjustment modeling to test viable sea level histories for intervals of deglaciation. After defending her thesis over the summer of 2023, Morris subsequently joined Whitman College as a visiting assistant professor for the 2023-2024 academic year. Between her time at Whitman and starting at Hamilton, she took a gap year to solo travel the world.

Recent Courses Taught

Principles of Geoscience: Our Interconnected Earth

Research Interests

My research interests encompass the use of field-based sedimentology and structural geology to reconstruct paleoenvironments and basin evolution for understanding the intersection of climate, tectonics, and the evolution of life through Earth history.

Distinctions

• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 2017-2022

Selected Publications

• Morris, F. K., & Grotzinger, J. P. (2023). Facies and stratigraphy of the basal Ediacaran cap carbonate, Naukluft Mountains, Namibia. Precambrian Research, 394, 107113.
• Morris, F. K., Pico, T., Creveling, J. R., and Grotzinger, J. P. (2025). Melting the Marinoan Snowball Earth: The Impact of Deglaciation Duration on the Sea-Level History of Continental Margins. Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
• Morris, F. K. and Grotzinger, J. P. (in review, manuscript available upon request). Structural and Lithostratigraphic Framework of the Neoproterozoic Naukluft Nappe Complex. Journal of African Earth Science.
• Dougherty, A. J., Bartholet, Z. T., Chumsky, R. J., Delano, K. C., Huang, X., & Morris, D. K. (2018). The Liquidus Temperature for Methanol_Water Mixtures at High Pressure and Low Temperature, With Application to Titan. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 123(12), 3080?3087.

Appointed to the Faculty

Educational Background

Ph.D., California Institute of Technology
M.S., California Institute of Technology
B.S., Lafayette College