Dr. Dolores van der Kolk
Dolores van der Kolk is the Communications Coordinator for the Gulf Coast Carbon Center (GCCC) at the State Geological Survey of Texas, known as the Bureau of Economic Geology (Bureau). The Bureau is housed at The University of Texas at Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences. Dolores serves as the GCCC’s Program Coordinator and Science Communicator of research programs designed for a variety of sector audiences, including nonprofit, corporate, legislative, state or federal agencies. Dolores is responsible for professional-marketing representation and communicating the GCCC’s news through popular media outlets.
As the GCCC’s Science Communicator, Dolores helps research staff articulate findings to a wide variety of stakeholders with different levels of science literacy and assists research staff with communicating their projects more effectively through various products and outlets. Dolores supports researchers with grants, proposals, manuscripts, newsletters, oral and poster presentations, and formal documentation to showcase professional qualifications. On behalf of the GCCC’s internal, local, national, and international collaborations, Dolores builds booths and educational materials for carbon storage education. Dolores coordinates with various UT, Bureau, and GCCC science teams to produce and support external and internal professional meetings (e.g. See UNFCCC COPs, global offshore initiatives, UTCCS showcase, GCCC's IA/consortium meetings for Sponsors, and Bureau's AI Workshop).
Feel free to contact Dolores if you are interested in becoming a member of the GCCC's world-renowned research consortium to help your country or organization with carbon storage or follow the GCCC’s LinkedIn "company" page to see updates about the GCCC’s activities. Dolores’ role does not include officially advising UT Austin graduate students, but she enjoys mentoring the GCCC’s students with their research projects while helping them build skills for their dream careers. Dolores remains an active participant on the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys' North Slope Project.
Education
Ph.D. Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, 2016
M.S. Geology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2010
B.S. Geology, California State University, Fullerton, 2002
Professional History
Communications Coordinator, Gulf Coast Carbon Center, Bureau of Economic Geology, UT Austin, 2022 – Present
Geology Minor Coordinator, Senior Geology Lecturer & Geology Lecturer, Texas State University, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, 2016 –2022
Geology Consultant for ACT-GEO (2021 – 2023), ConocoPhillips (2020 – 2021), bp (2013), Bureau of Economic Geology (2009), FEX LLC/Talisman Energy Inc. (2007 – 2008)
Sedimentologist & Stratigrapher, IA & Graduate Research Assistant, Quantitative Clastics Laboratory, Bureau of Economic Geology, UT Austin, 2010 – 2016
Energy Division Intern, Alaska Division of Geology & Geophysical Surveys, 2006 – 2009
Environmental & Geotechnical Staff Geologist, URS Corporation and Earth Tech, 2002 – 2005
Select Publications
van der Kolk, D.A., Flaig, P.P., and Hasiotis, S.T., 2015, Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction of a Late Cretaceous, Muddy, River-Dominated Polar Deltaic System: Schrader Bluff-Prince Creek Formation Transition, Shivugak Bluffs, North Slope of Alaska, U.S.A.: Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. 8, p. 903–936. https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2015.58
van der Kolk, D.A., Whalen, M.T., and Wartes, M.A., 2015, Source-rock Potential of the Lower Cretaceous Pebble Shale Unit, northeastern Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys Preliminary Interpretive Report 2015-1, 37 p. http://www.dggs.alaska.gov/pubs/id/29401
Flaig, P.P., and van der Kolk, D.A., 2015, Depositional Environments of the Prince Creek Formation along the east side of the Toolik River, Sagavanirktok Quadrangle, North Slope, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys Preliminary Interpretive Report 2015-4, 17 p., 1 sheet. http://www.dggs.alaska.gov/pubs/id/29407
Clemens-Knott, D., van der Kolk, D.A., Sturmer, D.M., and Saleeby, J.B., 2013, The Goldstein Peak Fm, central CA: Record of a Nonmarine Intra-arc Basin within the Early Cretaceous Sierra Nevada Arc: Geosphere, v. 9, p. 718–735. https://doi.org/10.1130/GES00886.1
Burnham, B. S., Bond, C., Flaig, P. P., van der Kolk, D. A., Hodgetts, D., 2022, Outcrop Conservation: Promoting Accessibility, Inclusivity, and Reproducibility through Digital Preservation: The Sedimentary Record, vol. 20, no. 1, p. 5–14. https://doi.org/10.2110/sedred.2022.1.2
Ludvigson, G.A., Dieffendorff, A.F., Suarez, M.B., González, L.A., Corcoran, M.C., Schlanser, K., Flaig, P.F., McCarthy, P.J., van der Kolk, D.A., Houseknecht, D., Sanders, M., 2022, Stable Isotope Tracers of Cretaceous Arctic Paleoprecipitation: Geosciences Special Issue No. 43 - Terrestrial Paleoclimatology and Paleohydrology of the Cretaceous Greenhouse World, v. 12, p. 1–18. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12040143
Suarez, C.A., Flaig, P.P., Ludvigson, G.A., Gonzalez, L.A., Tian, R., Zhou, H., McCarthy, P.J., van der Kolk, D.A., and Fiorillo, A.R., 2016, Reconstructing the Paleohydrology of a Cretaceous Alaskan Paleopolar Coastal Plain from Stable Isotopes of Bivalves: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 441, p. 339–351. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.07.025
