Education
BS, SUNY College at Brockport
MS, SUNY University at Buffalo
PhD, University of Cincinnati
Courses Taught
GEOL 105: Evolution of the Earth
GEOL 171/172: Field Methods/Excursion
GEOL 245: Earth’s Climate: Past and Future
ENVS 290: Tools for Environmental Scientists
Research Interests
Publications
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
Rich, A. and Zambito, J. (2022) Insights from fossil fish taphonomy into the depositional environment of the lower Milwaukee Formation (Berthelet Member, latest Middle Devonian), PALAIOS, 37(1):1-15. https://doi.org/10.2110/palo.2021.040
Zambito, J., Haas, L., and Parsen, M. (2022) Identifying the source of groundwater contaminants in West-Central Wisconsin, U.S.A.: Geochemical and mineralogical characterization of the Cambrian sandstone aquifer, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconhyd.2022.103966
Soreghan, G., Beccaletto, L., Benison, K., Bourquin, S., Hamamura, N., Hamilton, M., Heavens, N., Hinnov, L., Huttenlocker, A., Looy, C., Pfeifer, L., Pochat, S., Sardar Abadi, M., Zambito, J., and the 2019 Deep Dust workshop participants (2020) Report on ICDP Deep Dust workshops: Probing Continental Climate of the Late Paleozoic Icehouse-Greenhouse Transition and Beyond, Scientific Drilling, 28:93-112. https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-28-93-2020
Brett, C., Zambito, J., McLaughlin, P., and Emsbo, P. (2020) Revised perspectives on Devonian biozonation and environmental volatility in the wake of recent time-scale revisions, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 549:108843. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.06.037
Brett, C., Zambito, J., Baird, G., Aboussalam, S., Becker, T., and Bartholomew, A., 2018, Litho-, Bio-, and Sequence Stratigraphy of the Boyle-Portwood Succession (Middle Devonian, Central Kentucky, U.S.A.), Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 98(2): 331-368, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-018-0323-6
Zambito, J., M. Joachimski, C. Brett, G. Baird, and Aboussalam, S., 2016, A carbonate carbon isotopic record for the late Givetian (Middle Devonian) Global Taghanic Biocrisis in the type region (northern Appalachian Basin), In Becker, R. T., Königshof, P. & Brett, C. E. (eds.) Devonian Climate, Sea Level and Evolutionary Events. Geological Society, London, Special Publications 423: 223-233, http://doi.org/10.1144/SP423.7
Benison, K., Zambito, J., and Knapp, J., 2015, Contrasting siliciclastic-evaporite strata in subsurface and outcrop: an example from the Permian Nippewalla Group of Kansas, U.S.A, Journal of Sedimentary Research 85: 626-645. https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2015.43
Zambito, J. and Benison, K., 2013, Extreme High Temperatures and Paleoclimate Trends Recorded in Permian Ephemeral Lake Halite, Geology 41(5): 587-590. https://doi.org/10.1130/G34078.1
Zambito, J. and Schemm-Gregory, M., 2013, Revised Taxonomy and Autoecology for the Brachiopod Genus Ambocoelia in the Middle and Late Devonian Northern Appalachian Basin (USA), Journal of Paleontology 87(2): 277-288. https://doi.org/10.1666/12-051R.1
Stories Written on Beloit.edu
- Field Excursion: Upstate New York (Oct 1, 2024)
- Geology Department Annual Fall Field Trip (Oct 1, 2024)
- Tri-States Field Conference (Nov 16, 2023)
Jay Zambito
Associate Professor of Geology
Department Chair for Geology
Director of School of Environment & Sustainability
Pronouns: he/him/his
Email: zambitoj@beloit.edu
Phone: 608-363-2223
Office: Room 434, Sanger Center for the Sciences
The courses that I teach at Beloit are directly related to my research interests, which means students in my classes get to take lots of field trips. These courses include include Earth’s Climate: Past and Future, Evolution of the Earth, and Paleontology. I incorporate multi-week projects into my courses to provide hands-on, critical-thinking activities that reinforce lecture material. I also strive for an inclusive classroom and I view our differences as strengths and believe that we can all learn from each other.
My research interests include paleoclimatology, paleontology, and environmental science. These interests lead me to study a variety of questions like: How did climate change cause extinctions in Earth’s past? and, What are the potential environmental impacts related to mining? Since these research interests are multi-disciplinary, I spent time in the field collecting fossils and rock samples as well as the lab studying those fossils and conducting geochemical analysis; you can find more info on my lab group at the Beloit Paleo Lab website.
I spend my free time gardening, cooking, and with family. I make pizza from scratch almost every weekend, and have recently started bottling hot sauce with the different peppers that I grow in my garden.