Affiliate Professor of Geology

Padnos Hall of Science # 145
One Campus Drive
Allendale, Michigan 49401-9403

Office Telephone: (616) 331-2779
Office Fax: (616) 331-3740
Electronic Mail: [email protected]

EDUCATION

Ph.D., Earth and Planetary Sciences, Northwestern University (June 2022) 

B.S., Geology, Grand Valley State University (May 2016) 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Visiting Professor, Grand Valley State University, Geology Department (2023-Present)

Visiting Professor, Indiana University Northwest, Geosciences Department (2022-2023)

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Northwestern University, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (2017-2022)

Geoscience Intern, ExxonMobil (2020)

SELECTED PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

IU Northwest Science Olympiad Volunteer (2023)

GSA Student Advisory Council (2018-2020)

Northwestern EPS Seismic Monitoring Team (2018-2020)

COURSES

GEO 105: Living with the Great Lakes

GEO 111: Exploring the Earth

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Plate Tectonics
• Continental Rifting
• Geophysics
• Gravity Modeling
• Paleomagnetic Data

RECENT PROJECTS:

Conducted scientific research into failed continental rifting events to understand their possible evolution paths in succeeding, or failing to succeed, to volcanic passive margins. I primarily focused on North America’s Midcontinent Rift, and interpreted gravity, magnetic, and seismic data from the surrounding region to build subsurface models to understand its formation. I'm interested in how comparing the evolution of failed and active rifts around the world can provide insight into how and why continents break apart.

Combined geophysical models with paleomagnetic data compilation and global plate modeling to provide insight into the plate tectonic evolution of North America, specifically the collisions involved with the assembly of Rodinia. I'm interested in utilizing this 1.5-billion-year global plate reconstruction to build apparent polar wander paths and analyze how directional changes, or cusps, within them might be linked to major tectonic events such as collisions of rifts.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Elling, R.P., Stein, S., Stein, C.A., Scotese, C., 2023, What does the shape of Apparent Polar Wander Paths Tell Us About Global Plate Motions?. Earth-Science Reviews Special Volume “Plate Tectonics, the Last 2 Billion Years”, in prep.

Elling, R.P., Stein, S., Gefeke, K., Stein, C.A., 2022. North America’s Three Rifts: Similarities and Differences. GSA Today, v. 32, 8 pp. Click here for pdf.

Stein, C.A., Stein, S., Gallahue, M., Elling, R.P., 2021. Revisiting hotspots and continental breakup – Updating the classical three-arm model, GSA Special Paper “In the Footsteps of Warren B. Hamilton: New Ideas in Earth Science”, v. 553, p. 1-17.Click here for pdf.

Elling, R.P., Farfan, P., and Weber, J., 2021. Cunapo conglomerate, northern basin floor and north flank of the Central Range, Trinidad: Neogene syn-contractile or syn-transpressional tectonic marker unit – field and petrographic study, AAP Special Volumes Memoir 123: South America-Caribbean-Central Atlantic Plate Boundary, 2021, p. 695-712. Click here for pdf.

Elling, R.P., Stein, S., Stein, C.A., Keller, G.R., 2019. Tectonic implications of the gravity signatures of the Midcontinent Rift and Grenville Front. Tectonophysics. Click here for pdf.

Stein, S., Stein, C.A., Elling, R.P., Kley, J., Keller, R., Wysession, M., Rooney, T., Frederiksen, A., and Moucha, R., 2018. Insights from North America’s failed Midcontinent Rift into the evolution of continental rifts and passive continental margins. Tectonophysics. v. 744, p. 403-421. Click here for pdf.

Stein, C.A., Stein, S., Elling, R.P., Keller, G.R., and Kley, J., 2018. Is the “Grenville Front” in the central United States really the Midcontinent Rift? GSA Today, v. 28(5), p. 4-10. Click here for pdf.

Salaree, A., Stein, S., Saloor, N., and Elling, R.P., 2017. Turn your smartphone into a geophysics lab, Astronomy and Geophysics, v. 58(6), p. 6.35-6.36. Click here for pdf.

RECENT CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

Elling, R.P., Stein, S., Stein, C.A., Scotese, C., 2022. Rifting and Precambrian Tectonics of North America: Insights from Gravity Modeling and Apparent Polar Wander Paths (invited). AGU Fall Meeting, Chicago, USA. Click here for abstract.

Elling, R.P., Stein, S., Gefeke, K., Stein, C.A. 2021. Exploring rift magmatism and evolution through gravity analysis of North America’s failed rifts. EGU Annual Meeting, Virtual. Click here for abstract.

Elling, R.P., Stein, S., Stein, C.A., Keller, G.R., 2019. Unscrambling the Midcontinent Rift and Grenville Front in the eastern United States. GSA Fall Meeting, Phoenix, USA. Click here for abstract.

Elling, R.P., 2018. Tectonic implications of the gravity anomalies along the east and west arms of the Midcontinent Rift as well as the Grenville Front. EarthScope Midcontinent Rift Synthesis Workshop, Evanston, IL, USA. Click here for abstract.

Elling, R.P., Stein, C.A., Stein, S., Kley, J., Keller, G.R., Wysession, M.E., 2017. Comparative Riftology: insights into the evolution of passive continental margins and continental rifts from the failed Midcontinent Rift (MCR). AGU Fall Meeting, New Orleans, USA. Click here for abstract.

Elling, R.P., Stein, C.A., Stein, S., Kley, J., Keller, G.R., Wysession, M., 2017. The Midcontinent Rift: a rift-LIP hybrid. GSA Fall Meeting, Seattle, USA. Click here for abstract.

Scotese, C.R., Elling, R.P., 2017. Plate tectonic evolution during the last 1.3 billion years: the movie. GSL, William Smith Meeting 2017: Plate Tectonics at 50, London.  Click here for video.

Elling, R.P., Stein, C.A., Stein, S., Kley, J., Keller, R., Wysession, M., Shen, W., Rooney, T., Moucha, R., Frederiksen, A., Darbyshire, F., Jurdy, D., 2017. Comparative riftology: insights into the evolution of passive continental margins and continental rifts from the failed Midcontinent Rift (MCR). GeoPRISMS TEI RIE, Albuquerque, NM, USA. Click here for abstract.