EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL HISTORY

Higher Education:
     Ph.D., Geology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1965
     M.A, Geology, University of Texas, Austin, 1960
     B.S. Geology, University of Texas, Austin, 1958

Academic Positions
     Professor Emeritus, May 1999-2007 Department of Geoscience, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
     Professor 1973-May 1999, Department of Geoscience, University of Iowa; DEO, 1986-l992
     Associate Professor, 1969-1973, Department of Geology, University of Iowa
     Assistant Professor, 1965-1969, Department of Geology, University of Iowa

Honors and Awards
     Workshop and Symposium, Co-Convener, XV INQUA, Durban, South Africa, Taphonony and Paleoecology Quaternary Mammals. With Christine Denys, National Museum Natural History France, 1999
     Session Chair, Biodiversity Symposium in Conference: Quaternary Mammals of the Palaerctic, Krakow (l994)
     Discussant, Micromammals in Archaeology Symposium, Society American Archaeology Ann. Meeting (1994)
     Executive Committee, American Geological Institute (1993-1994)
     Adjunct Research Associate, Soviet-American Research, Illinois State Museum, 1984-1994
     Society Vertebrate Paleontology representative to American Geological Institute Member Society Council (1986-1996)
     Key Speaker, Penrose Conference on Archaeological Geology (1986)

Memberships
     Paleontological Society
     Geological Society of America (Fellow)
     Society Vertebrate Paleontology
     Society American Archaeology
     American Quaternary Association
     International Council for Archaeozoology
     International Union Quaternary Research
     Iowa Academy Science (Fellow)

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
     Paleoecology, biogeography, evolution, taphonomy and zooarchaeology of Quaternary rodents and insectivores. Extinction of Pleistocene Vertebrates, Holocene vertebrate biogeography and zooarchaeology, especially micromammals in archaeological sites.

TEACHING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, 1985-2002

Teaching Assignments
     Earth History and Resources, Paleoecology Quaternary Mammals, Evolution of the Vertebrates, Vertebrate Osteology, Physical Geology, Historical Geology, Evolution Human Physiology (W/ Edgar Folk, Dept. Physiology), Quaternary Geology and Archaeology, Spring Field Trip (13 in all).

Students Supervised, PhD, 1985-2006
     Steven C. Wallace                          2002            Associate. Professor, East Tennessee State University
     Richard Slaughter, NSF Fellow       2001            Curator, Geological Museum, University Wisconsin-Madison
     Rachel Benton                                1999             Paleontologist, National Park Service
     Paula T. Work                                1998            Curator of Zoology, Maine State Museum, Augusta

SCHOLARSHIP

Publications
     Work, Paula T., Holmes A. Semken, Jr and Richard G. Baker. 2005.
Pollen, plant macrofossils, and microvertbrates from mid-Holocene alluvium in east-central Iowa, USA: Comparative taphonomy and paleoecology, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology and Palaeoecology 233:204-211.

     Bell, Christopher J., Ernest L Lundelius, Anthony D. Barnosky, Russell Wm. Graham, Evert H. Lindsey, Dennis R. Ruez Jr., Holmes A. Semken Jr., S. David Webb and Richard J. Zakrzewski. 2004.
The Blancan, Irvingtonian and Rancholabrean Mammal Ages. In Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic Mammals of North America: Geochronology and Biostratigraphy, (Michael O.Woodburne, ed.). Columbia University Press.

     Webb, S. David, Graham, Wm. R., Anthony D. Barnosky, Chriptopher J. Bell, Richard L Franz, Elizabeth A. Hadly, Ernest L Lundelius, Jr. H. Gregory McDonald, Robert A. Martin, Holmes A. Semken, Jr., and David W. Steadman. 2003.
Vertebrate Paleontology. In Development of Quaternary Science, (Alan Gillespie and Steve Porter, eds.). V. 1, Pp. 519-538. Elsevier. New York.

     Jans-Langel, Carmen M. and Holmes A. Semken, Jr. 2003
Paleoecological Interpretation of Late Holocene and Late Pleistocene Microvertebrate Faunules from Duhme Cave, Eastern Iowa. In Ice Age Cave Faunas of North America (Blaine W. Schubert, Jim I. Mead and Russell Wm. Graham, eds). Indiana University Press. Bloomington. 400 p.

      Semken, Holmes A. Jr. 2003
Review of: In Quest of Great Lakes Ice Age Vertebrates by J. Alan Holman. Michigan State University Press. East Lansing. 230 p. Journal of Paleontology 77:405-407.

     Semken, Holmes A., Jr. and Steven C. Wallace 2002
Key to Arvicoline ("Microtine" rodents) and Arvicoline-like lower First Molars Recovered from Late Wisconsinan and Holocene Archaeological and paleontological Sites in Eastern North America. Journal Archaeological Science 29:23-31.

     Denniston, R.F., Gonzalez, L.A., Semken, H.A., Jr., Baker, R.G., Recelli-Snyder, H., Reagan, M.K.and Bettis, E.A. III. 1999
Integrating stalagmite, vertebrate, and pollen sequences to investigate Holocene vegetation and climate change in the southern Midwest. Quaternary Research 52:381-387.

     Stafford, T. W., Jr., H. A. Semken, Jr., R. Wm. Graham, W. F. Klippel, A. K. Markova, N. G. Smirnov and J.Southon. 1999
First Accelerator Mass Spectrometry 14C Dates Documenting Contemporaneity of Non-Analog Species in Late Pleistocene Mammal Communities. Geology 27:903-906.

     Falk, Carl R. and Holmes A. Semken, Jr.  1999.
Taphonomy of Rodent and Insectivore Remains in Archaeological Sites: Selected Examples and Interpretations. In Quaternary Paleozoology in the Northern Hemispere (J. J. Saunders, B. W. Styles, G. F. Baryshnikov, eds.). Illinois State Museum Scientific Papers 27:285-321. Springfield.

     FAUNMAP Working Group (Semken H.A., Jr.) 1996.
Spatial Response of Mammals to Late Quaternary Environmental Fluctuation. Science: 271:1601-1606.

     Semken, Jr., Holmes A. and Russell W. Graham, 1996.
Paleoecology and Taphonic Patterns Derived form Correspondence Analysis at Zooarchaeological and Paleontological Faunal Samples. Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia 39:477-490.

     Graham, Russel W. and Ernest L. Lundelius, Principal Authors (Semken, Holmes A., Jr., Regional Collaborator), 1994.
FAUNMAP: A Database Documenting Late Quaternary Distributions of Mammalian Species in the United States (Russell W. Graham and Ernest L. Lundelius, joint authors). Illinois State Museum Scientific Papers 25: 690 p. (2 Vols.). Springfield.

     Croft, Darin A. and Holmes A. Semken, Jr. 1994.
Distribution of Mammalian Osteological Elements Recovered form Waterscreened Features, House Fill, and Overburden of The Wall Ridge Earthlodge (13ML176), Mills County, Iowa. Current Research in the Pleistocene 11:65-67.

     Semken, Holmes A., Jr. and Carl R. Falk, 1991.
Micromammal Taphonomy of Three Late Prehistoric Plains Village Tradition Refuse Pits. In Beamers, Bobwhites, and Blue-Points: Tributes to the Career of Paul W. Parmalee (James R. Purdue, Walter E. Klippel and Bonnie W. Styles, eds.) Pp. 111-124.  Illinois State Museum Scientific Paper 22: 436p. Springfield.

     Stafford, Thomas W. and Holmes A. Semken, 1990.
Accelerator 14C Dating of the Micromammal Species Representative of the Late Pleistocene Disharmonious Fauna from Peccay Cave, Newton County Arkansas. Current Research in the Pleistocene 7:129-132.

     Lundelius, Ernest L., H.A. Semken, Jr., et al., 1988.
The North American Quaternary Sequence. In Cenozoic Mammals of North America: Geochronology and Biostratigraphy (M.O. Woodburne, ed.). Pp. 211-235 U. of Calif. Press, Berkeley.

     Semken, Holmes A., Jr., 1988.
Environmental Interpretations of the "Disharmonious" Late Wisconsinan Biome of Southeastern North America. In Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Paleoecology and Archaeology of the Eastern Great Lakes Region (R.S. Laub, N.G. Miller and D.W. Steadman, eds.) Pp. 185-194. Bull. Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences 33: 316 p.

     Graham, Russell. W., Holmes A. Semken, Jr. and Mary .A. Graham (Eds.), 1987.
Late Quaternary Mammalian Biogeography and Paleoecology and Environments of the Great Plains and Prairies. Illinois State Museum Scientific Paper 22, 491 p.

     Semken, Holmes, A., Jr. and Carl R. Falk, 1987.
Late Pleistocene-Holocene Mammalian Faunas and Environmental Changes on the Northern Plains of the United States. In Late Quaternary Mammalian Biogeography and environments on the Great Plains and Prairies (Graham, R.W., H.A. Semken, & M.A. Graham, eds.). Pp. 176-313. Illinois State Museum Scientific Papers 22, 491 p. Springfield.

     Semken, Holmes A., Jr., 1984.
Paleoecology of a late Wisconsinan/Holocene Micromammal sequence in Peccary Cave, Northwestern Arkansas. Carnegie Museum Special Publication 8:405-431.

     Semken, Holmes A., Jr., 1983.
Holocene Mammalian Biogeography and Climatic Change in the Eastern and Central United States. In Late Quaternary Environments of the United States (H.E. Wright, ed.), Pp. 182-207. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.

Other publications: See Long CV
     18 Contract Completion Reports to NPS, Corps Engineers, MN DOT, USDA; 13 on Plains Village sites (1985-2002); 24 papers presented (1985-2002), 7 overseas; 14 student papers published, 11student papers presented since 1985.

Grants, external:
     Co-PI, NSF EAR 0618036 Salvage Excavation of the Tarkio Valley Ground Sloth, Page County, Iowa, 2006-07 $8114
     Regional Collaborator, NSF, FAUNMAP: Dynamic Biogeography of North American Mammals 1990-93 (R. Graham E. Lundelius, Co-PI)
     Co-PI, NSF, Dynamics of Late Pleistocene Vertebrate Extinctions: Absolute Chronologies Based on AMS14 Dating, 1992-1993 $120,000
     Co-PI, NSF, Accelerator 14C Dating of Individual Species of Small Mammals for Reconstructing Paleoclimates 20,000-8,000 yr. BP in North America, l990-l992, $210,000
     PI Cooperative Agreement, National Park Service for professional staff improvement. l995-l998 $15,000

Invited Lectures and Conference Presentations (1995-2006)
     2006 Interpreting Late Glacial and Holocene paleoenvironments via fossil rodents and insectivores. University of Oklahoma-Norman, Department of Anthropology, Geoarchaeology Seminar Series.

     2006 Taphonomy and paleoecology of rodents and insectivore remains in archaeological sites: Selected examples and interpretations. University of Oklahoma-Norman, Department of Anthropology, Geoarchaeology Seminar Series.

     2002 C-14 chronostratigraphy and lithostratigraphy of late Pleistocene megafauna extinctions in the New World. Abstracts of the Society of American Archaeology, 67th Annual Meeting. (Graham, R., T. Stafford, E. Lundelius, H. Semken and J. Southon)

     1999 Comparison of paleoecological interpretations derived from two juxtaposed, contemporaneous micromammal Faunas collected from cultural and non-cultural associations; Great Plains of North America (title modified for presentation). XV International Congress, International Union for Quaternary Research (abs. p. 163) Durban, South Africa. (Holmes A. Semken Jr. Scott A. Behrends, Steven C. Wallace and Richard W. Slaughter)

     1999 Depositional Environments and Paleoecology of the Neogene Lufengpithecus-bearing Deposits, Lufeng Basin, Yunnan, China. Fifth Conference of the China Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Yuxi Museum, Yunnan, China (abs. p.9). Beijing Musuem Publ. (Chen, Wanyong, Yingjun Tang, Holmes A. Semken, Jr. and Jian Guan)

     1998 Taphonomy and Paleoecology of Micromammals from the Zooarchaeological Record: The Lundelius Legacy. Lundelius Symposium on Quaternary Vertebrate Paleontology. University of Texas-Austin.

     1998 Contemporaneity of megamammal extinctions and the reorganization of non-analog micromammal associations during the late Pleistocene of North America (abs. p. 148). 8th International Congress, International Council for Archaeology. Victoria, BC, Canada. (H. A. Semken, Jr., T. W. Stafford, & R. W. Graham)

     1998 Combining Speleothem Carbon and Faunal Assemblages to Examine Vegetation Change in the Southern Midwest (abs. p. 167) Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Toronto (Denniston, R. F., L. A. Gonzalez, H. A. Semken, Jr., M. K. Reagan, & Y. Yemane

     1996 AMS C-14 Analysis of Non-Analog Late Pleistocene Mammalian Communities (abs. p. 305). Geological Society America, Annual Meeting, Denver (with Russell W. Graham, senior author, and Thomas W. Stafford).

     1996 Taphonomic and Paleoecologic Implications of Late Holocene Mammalian Samples from Iowa Archaeological and Paleontological sites. 54th Annual Plains Conference (abs p. 109) Iowa City (with R.W. Graham).

     1996 AMS C-14 Analysis of Non-Analog Late Pleistocene Mammalian Communities. 1996 Ann. Meeting Geological Society America, (abs) Denver. (Poster with R.W. Graham (senior) and T.W. Stafford, Jr.)

     1996 Pleistocene Extinctions: Chronology, Non-analog Communities, and Environmental Change. In Humans and Other Catastrophes: A New Look at Extinctions and The Extinction Process (abs). Symposium sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History, New York (with R.W. and T.W. Stafford, Graham senior).

     1995 Taphonomic and Paleoenvironmental Signals in Late Holocene Mammal Faunas Along The Middle Missouri River, USA: Implications For TheThantocoenosis Versus The Biocoenosis, (with Russell W. Graham and Carl R. Falk). International Union for Quaternary Research, XIV International Congress (abs. p.249). Berlin, Germany.

     1995 Correspondence Analysis of Mammalian Remains from Missouri Basin Archaeological Sites in North and South Dakota (abs. p.73). Society American Archaeology, 60th Annual Meeting, Minneapolis (with Carl Falk and Russell Graham, presented by Semken, Falk senior).

Pending Research, Manuscripts in Preparation
     Work, Paula T. and Holmes A. Semken, Jr. Area of sympatry versus assemblage analysis in paleoenvironmental reconstructions.

     Semken, Holmes A., Jr., Russell Wm Graham and Thomas W. Stafford. AMS dates and Late Pleistocene micromammal biogeography

     Semken, Holmes A.., Jr. . Paleoecological implications of the micromamals from the Paleo-Indian Clary site, west-central Nebraska

Pending Research, Grants
     Holmes A. Semken, Jr. and David G. Brenzel, To NSF Analysis of an adult and two juxtaposed juvenile ground sloths (Megalonyx jeffersonii) in stratigraphic association, West Tarkio Valley, Page County, Iowa

SERVICE

Department
     Fossil Identification, vertebrates

University
     Office of the State Archaeologist, Advisory Board
     Museum Natural History/Geoscience,Excavation and Analysis Tarkio Valley Ground Sloth

State of Iowa
     Iowa State University, Department of Anthropology, Identification and Interpretation of microfauna from archaeological sites.

     Tarkio Valley Sloth talks and exhibitions to civic organizations. Sample localities are Des Moines, Shenandoah, Mt. Pleasant, Dubuque, Red Oak, University Hospitals and Iowa State Fair