Peter Harries Joins NC State’s Graduate School, MEAS Faculty

Dr. Peter J. Harries, assistant dean of graduate studies at the University of South Florida, has been named senior associate dean of the Graduate School at NC State, effective July 1. In this role, Harries will oversee the academic affairs of graduate studies. He also will be a professor in the Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department.

Harries, whose research field is paleobiology, earned a bachelor’s degree in geology and geophysics from Yale University in 1984 and a doctorate in geological sciences from the University of Colorado in 1993. During 1990-91, he was a Fulbright fellow in Germany.

“We welcome Peter Harries and the wealth of experience that he brings to The Graduate School,” said Dean Maureen Grasso of NC State’s Graduate School.

Harries joined the faculty of University of South Florida in 1992 as assistant professor in the Department of Geology. He served as interim associate dean for the Graduate School at USF, 2011-2013, and as assistant dean since 2013.

In addition, he has served as curatorial affiliate at the Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, since 2001, and was a curatorial assistant for the American Museum of Natural History, 1984-85.

Harries’ research, teaching and outreach activities focus on mass extinction events and comparing greenhouse and icehouse paleoclimatic, paleoceanography and paleontologic conditions. He is a member of several geology professional associations and societies and serves as treasurer for the Paleontological Society and a member of Grants in Aid of Research Committee for Sigma Xi international science society.

Harries has published in a broad range of top peer-reviewed publications, including Science and Nature Geoscience, as well as paleontology journals. He is a co-editor of the Topics in Geobiology series, on the editorial board of the Paleontologic Research Institute, and an associate editor of the Journal of Paleontology, as well as Acta Geologica Polonica.

(Original story from The Graduate School at NC State)