Lyman Persico

Lyman is pebble man. Placing 1600 painted and numbered pebbles at four sites in the Mojave Desert he tracked their movement over time and space using repeated total station surveys. Lyman also assisted Kyle Nichols in the Mojave and worked closely with several urban hydrology projects in Burlington.

BS Honors Thesis (University of Vermont, 2002)

Tracking painted pebbles on a Mojave Desert piedmont: Annual rates of sediment movement and impact of off-road vehicles
download pdf of BS thesis

Undergraduate Degree

University of Vermont, B.S. Environmental Science with honors, 2002

Honors and Awards

University of Vermont, Charles G. Doll Award, 2002
University of Vermont, Hawley Award, 2000 and 2002

Additional Degrees

University of New Mexico, Ph.D. Geology, 2012
University of New Mexico, M.S. Geology, 2007

Current Position and Contact Information (8/2018)

Assistant Professor of Geology and Environmental Studies
Whitman College

Refereed Papers

Persico, L. P., Nichols, K. K. and Bierman, P. R. (2005) Tracking painted pebbles: short-term rates of sediment movement on four Mojave Desert piedmont surfaces. Water Resources Research. v. 41(7), p. W07004. doi:10.1029/2005WR003990

Nichols, K. K., Bierman, P. R., Persico, L., Bosley, A., Melillo, P. and Kurfis, J. (2003) Quantifying land use and urban runoff changes through service learning hydrology projects. Journal of Geoscience Education. v. 51(4), p. 365-372. doi:10.5408/1089-9995-51.4.365

Abstracts

Nichols, K. K., Bierman, P. R., Persico, L. P., Larsen, J., Caffee, M. and Finkel, R. (2003) U.S. Army impacts on Mojave Desert sediment, past and present. International Conference on Military Geology and Geography, p. 47. (download pdf)

Persico, L., Nichols, K. K. and Bierman, P. R. (2002) The tortoise, the tank, and the sage: What really moves Mojave Desert pebbles: GSA Abstracts with Programs, Annual meeting, Denver, CO. Abstract 123-14. (download pdf)

Kurfis, J., Bierman, P. R., Nichols, K., Persico, L. and Melillo, P. (2001) Green university town succumbs to blacktop: Quantifying the increase in impermeable surfaces and runoff through time. GSA Abstracts with Programs, Annual meeting, Boston, MA. v. 32, p. A-179, Abstract 74-0. (download pdf)

Nichols, K. K., Bierman, P. R., Hooke, R. L., Eppes, M. C., Persico, L., Caffee, M. and Finkel, R. (2001) Regular cosmogenic nuclide dosing of sediment moving down desert piedmonts. EOS, AGU Fall meeting, San Francisco, CA. v. 82(47), Abstract H42D-0392. (download pdf)

Persico, L. P., Nichols, K. K. and Bierman, P. R. (2001) Tracking painted pebbles in the Mojave: annual rates of sediment transport and the impact of offroad vehicles. GSA Abstracts with Programs, Annual meeting, Boston, MA. v. 33, p. A-439. (download pdf)

Persico, L. P., Mallard, L. D., Bierman, P. R. and Massey, C. A. (2000) Forest to farmland and back again: A changing Vermont landscape. GSA Abstracts with Programs, Annual meeting, Reno, NV. v. 32, p. A-24. (download pdf)