Joseph V. Chernosky
Professor of Geological Sciences
Professor Joseph Chernosky retires at the end of this semester with 35 years of service as a valued member of the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Maine. Joe received his Bachelor’s degree in Geology from the University of Notre Dame, his Master’s from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and his Ph.D. in Geochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Joe joined the Department in 1973, and built a research program designed to investigate high temperature and pressure phase equilibria of rock-forming, silicate minerals, as well as pursuing an interest in metamorphic petrology. In 1980, he received the Hawley Award from the Mineralogical Association of Canada for the best paper of the year in the Canadian Mineralogist, an internationally recognized professional journal. He is a fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America, and has served as a member of the Executive Committee and a Distinguished Speaker of the Mineralogical Society of Canada. He is also the author of numerous scientific papers, has participated in national review panels in the U.S. and Canada, and advised graduate and undergraduate students in the Earth Sciences and Chemical Engineering departments, as well as the Quaternary Institute.
Joe has been extremely active in departmental and University service. His committee participation at the University level is long, distinguished, and appreciated. Joe has become the face of the Department of Earth Sciences to the many undergraduate students who take his popular Introductory-level geology courses. His patient, low-key approach, and a willingness to take time to help students, has resulted in a number of students choosing to transfer into the department. Joe has also acted as the undergraduate coordinator for the Department of Earth Sciences. In this role he has welcomed countless new and transfer students and eased their transition to college life.