Reid Parsons
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
Environmental, Geographic and Public Health Sciences
School of Health and Natural Sciences
rparson4@fitchburgstate.edu
978.665.3613
Office: Antonucci Science Complex 329
Office Hours
Fall 2026
Tuesday 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Thursday 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Courses Taught
To see course descriptions go to the University Catalog.
Earth Systems Science (GEOG 1000)
Environmental Geology (GEOG 2003)
Geology LAB (GEOG 2100)
Honors Seminar in Environmental Science (HON 2250)
Planetary Geology (GEOG 2300)
Environmental Science Data Visualization (GEOG 2600)
Geomorphology LAB (GEOG 4200)
Remote Sensing of the Environment (GEOG 4500)
Geographic Perspectives on Conservation (GEOG 4900)
Background
- 2010 Ph.D., Earth Science (Planetary Science), University of California, Santa Cruz
Thesis: Recent climate change on Mars - 2005 B.S., Science of Earth Systems, Cornell University (Magna Cum Laude with Distinction in Research)
Study Abroad: Earth and Environmental Science Hawai’i Field Program
- Planetary Science - specifically Mars climate change and surface features
- Renewable energy and sustainability at FSU and regionally
- Satellite, aerial, and drone image analysis in monitoring environmental issues.
- Levy, J.S., C.I. Fassett, J.W. Holt, R.A. Parsons, W. Cipolli, T.A. Goudge, M. Tebolt, L. Kuentz, J. Johnson, F. Ishraque, B. Cvijanovich, I. Armstrong, (2021) Surface boulder banding indicates martian debris-covered glaciers formed over multiple glaciations, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118 (4) e2015971118; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2015971118.
- Parsons, R.A., T. Kanzaki, R. Hemmi, and H. Miyamoto, (2020) Cold-based glaciation of Pavonis Mons, Mars: Evidence for moraine deposition during glacial advance, Progress in Earth and Planetary Science, Vol. 7, 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40645-020-0323-9 (open access)
- Parsons, R.A. and H. Miyamoto, (2018) Optimizing Change Detection for Planetary Remote Sensing Datasets, Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1036 (012004), September 10–13, 2017, Kyoto, Japan.
- Parsons, R.A. and J. W. Holt (2016) Constraints on the formation and properties of a Martian lobate debris apron: Insights from high-resolution topography, SHARAD radar data, and a numerical ice flow model. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, Vol.121, doi:10.1002/2015JE004927.
- Parsons, R.A., J.M. Moore, and A.D. Howard (2013). Evidence for a short period of hydrologic activity in Newton crater, Mars, near the Hesperian-Amazonian transition. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, Vol. 118, 1-12, doi:10.10002/jgre.20088.