Biography

I studied geology at Eastern Michigan University and graduated with honors in 2006. My graduate eduction took me to the University of Utah where I earned a M.S. in 2009, followed by a Ph.D. degree from U.C. Santa Barbara in 2014. After my Ph.D. I was a postdoctoral and Assistant Research Professor at the University of Utah. I joined UVU in 2017.

Education

PhD, University of California Santa Barbara, 2014

Major: Earth Science

MS, University of Utah, 2009

Major: Geology

BS, Eastern Michigan University, 2006

Major: Professional Geology

Teaching

GEO 1010

Introduction to Geology PP, Spring 2025

GEO 101H

Introduction to Geology PP, Spring 2025

GEO 4080

Petrology, Spring 2025

GEO 4085

Petrology Laboratory, Spring 2025

GEO 489R

Student Research, Spring 2025

Presentations

Saunders, Emmaline (Presenter & Author), Stearns, Mike (Co-Author), Annual Meeting, "A Plagioclase Framework For the Differentiation of Plutons", Rocky Mountain Section Geological Society of America, Orem. (May, 2025)
Karns, Hayley (Presenter & Author), Bryant, Dylan (Co-Author), Stearns, Mike , Annual Meeting, "DEFORMATION-ENHANCED DIFFUSIVE LOSS OF TITANIUM IN QUARTZ DURING GREENSCHIST-FACIES CRYSTAL-PLASTIC DEFORMATION, WASATCH FAULT ZONE, UTAH", Rocky Mountain Section Geological Society of America, Orem, UT. (May, 2025)
Ward, Ami (Presenter & Author), Stearns, Mike (Co-Author), Coleman, Drew (Co-Author), Rasbury, E. Troy (Co-Author), Wooton, Kathleen (Co-Author), Thomas, Kamron (Co-Author), Annual Meeting, "TITANITE PETROCHRONOLOGY AND BORON-ISOTOPE GEOCHEMISTRY OF THE TUOLUMNE INTRUSIVE SUITE, CA_ INSIGHTS INTO PLUTONIC GROWTH AND EVOLUTION", Cordilleran Section of Geological Society of America, Reno, NV. (April, 2025)
Bryant, Dylan (Presenter & Author), Karns, Hayley (Co-Author), Stearns, Mike (Co-Author), Annual Meeting, "Deformation-enhanced diffusive loss of titanium in quartz during greenschist-facies crystal-plastic deformation", American Geophysical Union, Washington D.C.. (December, 2024)
Bunds, Michael (Presenter & Author), Stearns, Mike (Co-Author), Annual Meeting, "Differential Uplift of the Uinta-Cottonwood Arch on the Salt Lake Segment of the Wasatch Fault Zone and Possible Implications for Wasatch Fault Structure", American Geophysical Union, Washington D.C.. (December, 2024)
Saunders, Emmaline (Presenter & Author), Stearns, Michael (Co-Author), Annual Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, "Magmatic Processes in the Alta Stock, Utah_ The Impact of Tectonic Dilation on Granite Differentiation", American Geophysical Union, Washington D.C.. (December, 2024)

Scholarly/Creative Works

Beno, C. J., Stearns, Mike , Bowman, J. R., Bartley, J. M., Fernandez, D. P., Kylander‐Clark, A. R., (2025) "Timing of Dike and Sill Emplacement in the Inner Aureole of the Alta Stock, Utah Determined by Zircon and Monazite Petrochronology" (Issue: 5, vol. 26). Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024gc011946
Beno, Carl J., Lackey, Jade Star, Schmitz, Mark D., Bowman, John R., Stearns, Mike , Bartley, John M., Fernandez, Diego P., (2024) "Assessment of Natural Reference Materials for U‐Pb Geochronology of Grossular‐Andradite Garnet" (Issue: 4, vol. 48). Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research. https://doi.org/10.1111/ggr.12561
Morris, A. M., Lambart, S. , Stearns, Mike , Bowman, J. R., Jones, M. T., Mohn, G. , Andrews, G. , Millett, J. , Tegner, C. , Chatterjee, S. , Frieling, J. , Guo, P. , Jolley, D. W., Cunningham, E. H., Berndt, C. , Planke, S. , Alvarez Zarikian, C. A., Betlem, P. , Brinkhuis, H. , Christopoulou, M. , Ferré, E. , Filina, I. Y., Harper, D. T., Longman, J. , Scherer, R. P., Varela, N. , Xu, W. , Yager, S. L., Agarwal, A. , Clementi, V. J., (2024) "Evidence for Low‐Pressure Crustal Anatexis During the Northeast Atlantic Break‐Up" (Issue: 7, vol. 25). Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023gc011413
Moser, A. C., Ault, A. K., Stearns, Mike , Evans, J. P., Guenthner, W. R., (2021) "Late Oligocene–Early Miocene Detachment Faulting in Crystalline Basement, Mecca Hills, CA, Documented With Zircon (U–Th)/He Date‐eU‐Visual Radiation Damage Patterns" (Issue: 9, vol. 40). Tectonics. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021tc006809
Bunds, Michael , Stearns, Mike , (2020) "Implications of the March 18, 2020 Magna Mw5. 7 Earthquake for Coulomb Stress Change, Earthquake Hazard, and Listric Structure on the Wasatch Fault, Utah, USA" .
Stearns, Mike , Bartley, John M, Bowman, John R, Forster, Clayton W, Beno, Carl J, Riddle, Daniel D, Callis, Samuel J, Udy, Nicholas D, (2020) "Simultaneous magmatic and hydrothermal regimes in alta--little cottonwood stocks, Utah, USA, Recorded Using Multiphase U-Pb Petrochronology" (Issue: 4, vol. 10). Geosciences.

Awards

Dean's Award of Excellence

Utah Valley University College of Science - April, 2024

Faculty Excellence Award

UVU Faculty Senate - April 23, 2021