Andrew K. Rindsberg, Ph.D.
 

Associate Professor of Environmental Geology and Paleontology
Station 7
Bibb Graves 214E
(205) 652-3416
arindsberg@uwa.edu
Degrees: Ph.D., Geology, Colorado School of Mines, 1986
M.S., Geology, University of Georgia, 1983
B.S., Geology, Stanford University, 1975
Employment Date: Fall 2006
Professional Biography:

If a day in the field is better than a day in the office, then Andrew Rindsberg has had a lot of good days. He chose geology as his field of study, specializing first in paleontology and later in ichnology, the science of tracks, trails, burrows, and other signs of living activity. Trace fossils are not only lively, but also present challenges and puzzles that dead skeletons lack. After graduating from Stanford University, Andy sought out ichno-masters Robert W. Frey (University of Georgia) and John E. Warme (Colorado School of Mines) to study under, working on trace fossils from intertidal to abyssal environments. At the Geological Survey of Alabama from 1989 to 2006, Andy put this expertise to work on rocks of many different ages, as well as other projects in paleontology, geologic mapping, hydrogeology, and marine geology – creating a versatility that since 2006 has been put to use teaching courses in geology, earth science, and natural history at The University of West Alabama. Andy is now engaged in the business of sharing good days with students, and all his courses include field trips

Classes usually taught:

BY 457 / BY 598 / EN 498 / EN 598 / HY Natural History of the Black Belt
BY 392 / GE 392 History of Life on Earth
BY 393 Paleontology
BY 404 / 504 Research Design and Data Analysis
ES 100 Introduction to Geology
ES 100L Introduction to Geology Lab
GE 370 Environmental Geology
BY 307 UWA Butterfly Survey
BY 389 Independent Study in Paleontology

Additional UWA Assignments Curator, Geology Collection, Black Belt Museum
Academic / Research Interests:

I am a paleontologist specializing on trace fossils – the tracks, trails, burrows and so on that indicate living activity without actually including the organisms that made them – and modern analogs to these structures. Other research interests include butterflies and family history.

Personal Web Page:

Natural History of the Black Belt

Current Projects:

Demircan, Huriye, Uchman, Alfred, & Rindsberg, A.K., in press, Ichnological bibliography of Turkey: Geodinamica Acta.

Kopaska-Merkel, D.C., & Rindsberg, A.K., in press, Bioirrigation in Alph n.igen., arthropod cubichnia from the Mississippian Hartselle Sandstone of Alabama (U.S.A.): Geodinamica Acta.

Rindsberg, A.K., in press, Construction of new ichnogeneric names: Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae.

Recent Publications:

Chowns, T.M., & Rindsberg, A.K., 2015, Stratigraphy and depositional environments in the Silurian Red Mountain Formation of the southern Appalachian basin, USA, in Holmes, A.E., ed., Diverse Excursions in the Southeast: Paleozoic to Present: Geological Society of America Field Guide, no. 39, p. 95-143.

Rindsberg, A.K., & Martin, A.J., 2015, Caster’s plasters: neoichnological experiments by Kenneth Caster on limulids in 1937, in McIlroy, D., ed., Ichnology: Papers from Ichnia III: Geological Association of Canada, Miscellaneous Publication, no. 9, p. 197-210.

Vallon, L.H., Rindsberg, A.K., & Bromley, R.G., 2015, An updated classification of animal behaviour preserved in substrates: Geodinamica Acta.                 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09853111.2015.1065306

Vallon, L.H., Rindsberg, A.K., & Martin, A.J., 2015, The use of the terms trace, mark and structure: Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae, v. 85. http://www.asgp.pl/sites/default/files/in_press_85_2_Vallon.pdf

Mángano, M.G., Buatois, L.A., Astini, R., & Rindsberg, A.K., 2014, Trilobites in early Cambrian tidal flats and the landward expansion of the Cambrian explosion: Reply [to J.R. Paterson]: Geology, v. 42, no. 9, p. e343. DOI 10.1130/G35817Y.1

Morse, K., & Rindsberg, A.K., 2014, Where’s the buzz? Pollinator conservation in Alabama: Alabama Wildlife, v. 78, no. 2, p. 27-29.

Puckett, T.M., & Rindsberg, A.K., eds., 2014, Stratigraphy and depositional systems in the Mississippian strata of the Appalachian Plateau, northwest Alabama: Alabama Geological Society, Guidebook for the 51st Annual Field Trip, 216 p.

Rindsberg, A.K., 2014g, 5th Workshop on Ichnotaxonomy (WIT V), Smolenice and Bratislava, Slovakia, June 9th – 13th, 2014 [conference report]: Geologica Carpathica, v. 65, no. 3, p. 240. http://www.geologicacarpathica.com/data/files/files/misc/GC_65_3_Workshop-Report.pdf

Rindsberg, A.K., 2014h, Day 1, Stop 4: Cane Creek Canyon Nature Preserve, in Puckett, T.M., & Rindsberg, A.K., eds., Stratigraphy and depositional systems in the Mississippian strata of the Appalachian Plateau, northwest Alabama: Alabama Geological Society, Guidebook for the 51st Annual Field Trip, p. 34-41.

Rindsberg, A.K., 2014i, An introduction to the Mississippian outcrop belt of northwest Alabama, in Puckett, T.M., & Rindsberg, A.K., eds., Stratigraphy and depositional systems in the Mississippian strata of the Appalachian Plateau, northwest Alabama: Alabama Geological Society, Guidebook for the 51st Annual Field Trip, p. 77-110.

Rindsberg, A.K., & Herr, L.A., 2014, Hackberry Emperor thrives in Black Belt habitat: University of West Alabama, Black Belt Connections, v. 4, no. 5, p. 6.

Rindsberg, A.K., and Pashin, J.C., 2014, Day 2, Stop 1: Pride Mountain Formation [Hartselle Sandstone] and Bangor Limestone at Fielder Ridge, in Puckett, T.M., & Rindsberg, A.K., eds., Stratigraphy and depositional systems in the Mississippian strata of the Appalachian Plateau, northwest Alabama: Alabama Geological Society, Guidebook for the 51st Annual Field Trip, p. 47-52.

Rindsberg, A.K., & Statom, R.A., 2014, Hydrogeology of Colbert, Lawrence, and Franklin Counties, Alabama, in Puckett, T.M., & Rindsberg, A.K., eds., Stratigraphy and depositional systems in the Mississippian strata of the Appalachian Plateau, northwest Alabama: Alabama Geological Society, Guidebook for the 51st Annual Field Trip, p. 199-212.

Mángano, M.G., Buatois, L.A., Astini, R., & Rindsberg, A.K., 2013, Trilobites in early Cambrian tidal flats and the landward expansion of the Cambrian explosion: Geology, v. 42 (2014), no. 2, p. 143-146. 10.1130/G34980.1

Rindsberg, A.K., 2013, Winnie McGlamery (1887-1977), State Paleontologist of Alabama, in Ebersole, Jun, & Ikejiri, Takehito, eds., Contributions to Alabama Paleontology: Tuscaloosa, Alabama Museum of Natural History Bulletin, no. 31, v. 2, p. 97-118.

Rindsberg, A.K., & Kopaska-Merkel, D.C., 2013a, Paleoecology and diagenesis of Parafavreina ziczac isp. nov., a crustacean microcoprolite from the Upper Jurassic (Oxfordian) Smackover Formation of Alabama, in Ebersole, Jun, & Ikejiri, Takehito, eds., Contributions to Alabama Paleontology: Tuscaloosa, Alabama Museum of Natural History Bulletin, no. 31, v. 2, p. 74-93.

Baucon, A., Bordy, E., Brustur, T., Buatois, L., Cunningham, T., De, C., Duffin, C., Gaillard, C., Hu, B., Hu, L., Jensen, S., Knaust, D., Lockley, M., Lowe, P., Mayor, A., Mayoral, E., Neto de Carvalho, C., Pollard, J., Rindsberg, A.K., Seike, K., Song, H., Turner, S., Uchman, U., Wang, Y., Yi-ming, G., Zhang, W., & Zhang, L., 2012, A history of ideas in ichnology, in Knaust, Dirk, & Bromley, R.G., eds., Trace Fossils as Indicators of Sedimentary Environments: Amsterdam, Elsevier, Developments in Sedimentology, v. 64, p. 3-43.

Rindsberg, A.K., 2012a, Ichnotaxonomy: finding patterns in a welter of information, in Knaust, D., & Bromley, R. G., eds., Trace Fossils as Indicators of Sedimentary Environments: Elsevier, Developments in Sedimentology, v. 64, p. 43-78.

Rindsberg, A.K., 2012b, Black Belt History class enjoys field trip: Livingston, University of West Alabama, Division of Educational Outreach, The Black Belt Connection, v. 2, no. 1, p. 3.

Rindsberg, A.K., & Herr, L.A., 2012a, Butterflies at the University of West Alabama: Livingston, University of West Alabama, Center for the Study of the Black Belt, Leaflet no. 1.

Rindsberg, A.K., & Herr, L.A., 2012b, Butterflies on the University of West Alabama Nature Walks: Livingston, University of West Alabama, Center for the Study of the Black Belt, Leaflet no. 2.

Rindsberg, A.K., & Herr, L.A., 2012c, Butterflies at the Black Belt Garden and the University of West Alabama campus: Livingston, University of West Alabama, Center for the Study of the Black Belt, Leaflet no. 3.

Martin, A.J., & Rindsberg, A.K., 2011, Ichnological diagnosis of ancient storm washover fans, Yellow Banks Bluff, St. Catherines Island, Georgia (USA), in Thomas, D.H., ed., Geoarchaeology of St. Catherines Island, Georgia: Proceedings of the Fourth Caldwell Conference, St. Catherines Island, Georgia, March 27-29, 2009: Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 94, p. 113-127. http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/handle/2246/6105/A094%20chapter%205.pdf?sequence=8

Uchman, A., Mikuláš, R., & Rindsberg, A.K., 2011, Mollusc trace fossils Ptychoplasma Fenton and Fenton, 1937 and Oravaichnium Plička and Uhrová, 1990: their type material and ichnospecies: Geobios, v. 44, no. 4, p. 387-397.

Kaminski, M.A., Uchman, A., & Rindsberg, A.K., 2010, Arthrodendron maguricum n.sp., a new larger agglutinated foraminifer from the Eocene Magura flysch of the Polish Carpathians and its relationship to komokiaceans and trace fossils: Journal of Paleontology, v. 84, no. 6, p. 1015-1021.

Uchman, A., & Rindsberg, A.K., eds., 2010a, Advances in marine ichnology: Proceedings of the Second International Congress on Ichnology, Cracow, Poland, 1-5 September 2008: Acta Geologica Polonica, v. 60, no. 1, p. 1-138. http://agp.org.pl/table/abstracts/60-1.htm

Uchman, A., & Rindsberg, A.K., 2010b, Advances in marine ichnology – Foreword. Acta Geologica Polonica, v. 60, no. 1, p. 1-2. http://agp.org.pl/table/pdf/60-1/01uchman.pdf
Recent Presentations:

Broecker, C., Martin, A.J., & Rindsberg, A.K., 2015, Ichnodiversity vs. species diversity: variability in trace fossils of the Pennington Formation (Lower Carboniferous), northwest Georgia [abs.]: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 47, no. 2, p. 20.

Rindsberg, A.K., 2015, Ichnology of the Silurian Red Mountain Formation of Alabama and Georgia [abs.]: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 47, no. 2, p. 20.

Rindsberg, A.K., 2014a, J-, U-, and W-shaped burrows: how growth affects form and function in ichnology [abs.]: 10th North American Paleontological Convention, Florida Museum of Natural History, Abstract Book: Paleontological Society Special Publications, v. 13, p. 73.

Rindsberg, A.K., 2014b, Herbert H. and Daisy W. Smith: collectors, curators, and chroniclers of Alabama [abs.]: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 46, no. 3, p. 73. URL https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2014SE/webprogram/Paper237493.html

Rindsberg, A.K., 2014c, Estuarine ichnology in the Mississippian Hartselle Sandstone of Alabama [abs.]: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 46, no. 3, p. 86. URL https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2014SE/webprogram/Paper237498.html

Rindsberg, A.K., 2014d, Where is ichnotaxonomy heading? [abs.], in Milŕn, J., and Vallon, L.H., eds., One Ichnology: Symposium in Honour of Richard G. Bromley and Ulla Asgaard, 14.-16. May, Eigilsholm, Bornholm, Denmark, Abstract and Programme, p. 13-15.

Rindsberg, A.K., 2014e, Where is ichnotaxonomy going? [abs.], in Šimo, V., Starek, D., Fekete, K., Olšavcký, M., Šurka, J., and Tomašových, A., eds., 5th Workshop on Ichnotaxonomy, Abstracts and Guide of Excursion, June 9th-13th, 2014, Bratislava and Smolenice, Slovakia: Geological Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, p. 6-7.

Rindsberg, A.K., 2014f, Ichnotaxonomy of incomplete trace fossils [abs.], in Šimo, V., Starek, D., Fekete, K., Olšavcký, M., Šurka, J., and Tomašových, A., eds., 5th Workshop on Ichnotaxonomy, Abstracts and Guide of Excursion, June 9th-13th, 2014, Bratislava and Smolenice, Slovakia: Geological Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, p. 7-8.

Rindsberg, A.K., & Kopaska-Merkel, D.C., 2013b, Bioirrigation in arthropod cubichnia from the Mississippian Hartselle Sandstone of Alabama (U.S.A.) [abs.]: XII. International Ichnofabric Workshop, 30th June – 5th July 2013, Çanakkale – Dardanelles, Türkiye, Abstracts, p. 54-55.

Vallon, L.H., Rindsberg, A.K., & Bromley, R.G., 2013, An updated classification of animal behaviour in substrates [abs.]: XII. International Ichnofabric Workshop, 30th June – 5th July 2013, Çanakkale – Dardanelles, Türkiye, Abstracts, p. 82-85.

Rindsberg, A.K., 2012c, Winnie McGlamery (1877-1972), State Paleontologist of Alabama [abs.]: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 44, no. 4, p. 68. http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2012SE/finalprogram/abstract_202467.htm

Rindsberg, A.K., & Martin, A.J., 2012, Caster’s plasters: Kenneth Caster’s neoichnologic experiments on limulids in the 1930s [abs.]: Abstract Book, Ichnia 2012, the 3rd International Congress on Ichnology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Canada, p. 69.

Rindsberg, A.K., & Martin, A.J., 2011, Ringgold Gap, Georgia: a classic locality for Ordovician and Silurian trace fossils [abs.]: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 43, no. 2, p. 13. http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2011SE/finalprogram/abstract_185813.htm

Martin, A.J., & Rindsberg, A.K., 2010, Neoichnology of storm-washover fans on the Georgia coast and its uses in paleoecology [abs.]: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 42, no. 1, p. 104. http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2010NE/finalprogram/abstract_169337.htm

Rindsberg, A.K., & Martin, A.J., 2010, The bioprint of burrowing Paleozoic arthropods [abs.]: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 42, no. 1, p. 105. http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2010NE/finalprogram/abstract_169733.htm

Recent grants:

Fossils of the Black Belt (Cretaceous of west-central Alabama: a hands-on fossil workshop for teachers; annual workshop in cooperation with University of West Alabama faculty and Geological Survey of Alabama staff). Funding and in-kind support: The University of West Alabama (UWA); Geological Survey of Alabama; Alabama Geological Society; Birmingham Paleontological Society; Discovering Alabama, 1997-2014.Ichnology of the Silurian Red Mountain Formation of Alabama: UWA, 2012.

Other recent notable work:

Herr, L. A., and Rindsberg, A. K., Jan.-Mar. 2012, Painted Wings: Southern Butterflies: photographic exhibition, University of West Alabama.

Buta, R.J., Rindsberg, A.K. & Kopaska-Merkel, D.C., eds., 2005, Pennsylvanian Footprints in the Black Warrior Basin of Alabama: Alabama Paleontological Society, Monograph no. 1, 392 pp. Contents: http://kudzu.astr.ua.edu/apsmono1/monointro.pdf

Additional Information:

Interested in Independent Research on butterflies? Sign up for the UWA Butterfly Survey!

WWW Links:

Center for the Study of the Black Belt http://www.centerforblackbelt.org/
National Association of Geoscience Teachers, SE Section http://facstaff.gpc.edu/~pgore/nagt/se-home.html
Alabama Paleontological Society http://www.alabamapaleo.org/Alabama_Paleontological_Society.html
Birmingham Paleontological Society http://bps-al.org/
Butterflies and Moths of North America http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/
North American Butterfly Association http://www.naba.org/
 
Find some of my papers on:
Academia.edu https://www.academia.edu/
ResearchGate https://www.researchgate.net/home.Home.html

ResearchGate https://www.researchgate.net/home.Home.html