• I head west most summers for research, bringing students with me to the mountains of California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and southern British Columbia. My research addresses two major questions: (1) what can the information contained in sedimentary rocks and the basins in which these rocks formed tell us about what was happening on Earth?; and (2) can we determine how ancient sedimentary basins formed and evolved.

    Because petroleum, natural gas, and coal formed in ancient sedimentary basins, researching these questions is critical for targeting energy resource exploration. Also, the success of current efforts to capture carbon and store it underground depends on a detailed understanding of the layering and structure below the surface. Finally, these are fundamental research questions because sedimentary basins are essential to understanding the formation and destruction of past mountains and ocean basins, changing climates, and the evolution of life. My research focus is on sedimentary basins in the Cordilleran mountain belt of the western United States and Canada.

    • Ph.D., Stanford University
    • B.A., Amherst College

    • Surpless, K.D., Barnes, C.G., Yoshinobu, A.S., 2026, A Record of the Late Jurassic Cordilleran Margin from Detrital Zircon Analysis of the Galice and Mariposa Formations, California and Oregon, in Gordon, S., Miller, R., Rusmore, M., and Tikoff, B., eds., Jurassic-Paleogene tectonic evolution of the North American Cordillera: Geological Society of America Special Publication 565, p. 189-227.
    • Orme, D.A., Weis, N.W., Surpless, K.D., Laskowski, A.K., Crowley, J.L., Stine, N., Colliver, I., and Ross, C., 2025, Age, provenance, and geochemical relationships amongst the Great Valley Group, Coast Range Ophiolite, and Franciscan Subduction Complex at Del Puerto Canyon, Central California: Geological Society of America Bulletin, 27 p., https://doi.org/10.1130/B38093.1.
    • Romero, M.C., Orme, D.A., Surpless, K.D., Ronemus, C.B., and Morrow, Z., 2024, Age and provenance relationships between the basal Great Valley Group and its underlying basement: Implications for initiation of the Great Valley forearc basin, California: Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. 94, p. 641-662, doi.org/10.2110/jsr2024.004.
    • Surpless, K.D., Alford, R.W., Barnes, C., Yoshinobu, A., and Weis, N.E., 2024, Late Jurassic paleogeography of the U.S. Cordillera from detrital zircon age and hafnium analysis of the Galice Formation, Klamath Mountains, OR and CA: GSA Bulletin, vol. 136, p. 1488-1510, doi.org/10.1130/B36810.1.
    • Schwartz, T.M., Surpless, K.D., Colgan, J.P., Johnstone, S.A., and Holm-Denoma, C.S., 2021, Detrital zircon record of magmatism and sediment dispersal across the North American Cordilleran arc (~28-48°N): Earth-Science Reviews, vol. 200, 35 p

    Sedimentology and Tectonics

    • First-Year Experience
    • Earth's Environmental Systems
    • Solid Earth Processes
    • Evolution of the Earth
    • Sedimentology & Stratigraphy
    • Geosciences Senior Capstone Seminar
    • Majors' Field Trip

    • Dr. and Mrs. Z. T. Scott Faculty Fellowship, Trinity University, 2025
    • Geological Society of America Fellowship, 2019
    • Recognition as “Best of the Best” Trinity University Faculty, 2019
    • Biggs Award for Excellence in Earth Science Teaching, Geoscience Education Division of the Geological Society of America, 2012
    • Trinity University Junior Faculty Distinguished Teaching and Research Award, 2009

    Through Trinity's HHMI-sponsored Science Academy, I co-taught middle school students from three middle schools and two SAISD academies over four days during the Science Academy (Earth Science unit) held at Trinity since 2006. I also worked with elementary and middle school teachers lacking a science background to help them improve both their content knowledge and their understanding of the process of science during Trinity's Science Teaching Institute.

    I have served on the Trinity University United Way Committee, Lecturers and Visiting Scholars Committee, Trinity Women in Science and Technology (TWIST) Steering Committee, and the Undergraduate Research Committee. I'm also the Faculty Adviser for Trinity's Sigma Gamma Epsilon chapter and the Geology Club.