Chance B. Ronemus

Education

• University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA — Ph.D., Geoscience (Advisor: Peter G. DeCelles) (2025)
• Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA — Master of Science, Geology (Advisor: Devon A. Orme) (2021)
• Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA — Bachelor of Science, Geology (2019)

Appointments and Major Projects

• NSF Earth Science Postdoctoral Fellow — Idaho State University (ISU), Pocatello, ID, USA (Mentor: Kurt E. Sundell) (2025–present)
  • NSF EAR-PF #2518506 — Field tests of Mesozoic terrane accretion in South America
• Research & Teaching Assistant — University of Arizona (UArizona), Tucson, AZ, USA (2021–2023, 2025)
  • NSF EAR-FRES #2020935 — TransANdean Great Orogeny (TANGO) Project
• Fulbright Research Scholar — IANIGLA-CONICET CCT, Mendoza, Argentina (2024)
  • Fulbright Award — Building the roof of South America: Integrating records of Andean orogenesis
• Research & Teaching Assistant — Montana State University (MSU), Bozeman, MT, USA (2019–2021)
  • EDMAP Award — Geologic map of Melrose and Wickiup Creek 7.5′ quadrangles, MT

Publications [6 articles (3 first-author), 1 geologic map]

Peer-reviewed Publications

First-Author Journal Articles

7. Ronemus, C.B., Orme, D.A., Guenthner, W.R., Cox, S.E., & Kussmaul, C.A.L. (2023). Orogens of Big Sky country: Reconstructing the deep-time tectonothermal history of the Beartooth Mountains, Montana and Wyoming, U.S.A. Tectonics, 42(1), e2022TC007541. DOI: 10.1029/2022TC007541.
8. Ronemus, C.B., Howlett, C.J., DeCelles, P.G., Carrapa, B., & George, S.W.M. (2024). The Manantiales Basin, southern Central Andes (~32°S), preserves a record of Late Eocene–Miocene episodic growth of an east-vergent orogenic wedge. Tectonics, 43(3), e2023TC008100. DOI: 10.1029/2023TC008100.
9. Ronemus, C.B., Orme, D.A., Campbell, S., Black, S.R., & Cook, J. (2021). Mesoproterozoic–Early Cretaceous provenance and paleogeographic evolution of the northern Rocky Mountains: Insights from the detrital zircon record of the Bridger Range, Montana, U.S.A. GSA Bulletin, 133(3–4), 777–801. DOI: 10.1130/B35628.1.

Contributing Author Journal Articles

4. Romero, M.C., Orme, D.A., Surpless, K.D., Ronemus, C.B., & Morrow, Z. (2024). Age and provenance relationships between the basal Great Valley Group and its underlying basement: Implications for initiation of the Great Valley forearc basin, California, U.S.A. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 94(5), 641–662. DOI: 10.2110/jsr.2024.004.
5. Howlett, C.J., Ronemus, C.B., Carrapa, B., & DeCelles, P.G. (2025). Miocene construction of the High Andes recorded by exhumation of the Frontal Cordillera, La Ramada Massif of western Argentina (32°S). Tectonics, 44(1), e2024TC008433. DOI: 10.1029/2024TC008433.
6. George, S.W.M., Carrapa, B., DeCelles, P.G., Jepson, G., Nadoya, H., Tabor, C., Howlett, C.J., Ronemus, C.B., Clementz, M.T., & Schoenbohm, L. (2025). Increased moisture availability in the Central Andes during the Miocene Climatic Optimum. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 663, 112732. DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2025.112732.

Geologic Map Sheet

1. Ronemus, C.B., & Orme, D.A. (2023). Geologic map of the eastern half of the Melrose 7.5′ quadrangle and the western half of the Wickiup Creek 7.5′ quadrangle, southwestern Montana (1 sheet, scale 1:24,000, EDMAP No. 16). Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, Butte, MT.

Book Chapter (Popular Press)

1. Ronemus, C.B. (2020). Regional geology: A journey through deep time. In Backcountry Skiing: Peaks and Couloirs of Southwest Montana (pp. 14–18). PKI Press.

Manuscripts in Review/Preparation

3. Ronemus, C.B., Howlett, C.J., DeCelles, P.G., Carrapa, B., Echaurren, E., Barrionuevo, M., Mosolf, J.G., Foley, M.L., & Ducea, M.N. (in prep.). From extension to compression: A Cretaceous–Quaternary record of whole-rock and zircon geochemistry reveals how horizontal shortening built the southern Central Andes at ~35°S. [In Review with Earth and Planetary Science Letters].
4. Ronemus, C.B., Howlett, C.J., DeCelles, P.G., Carrapa, B., Muller, V.A., Fennel, L.M., & Thirumalai, K. (in prep.). Volcanic glass and carbonate isotopes from the Manantiales Basin (~32°S) reveal a two-phase Miocene evolution of Andean hydroclimate and topographic growth. [Expected submission Winter 2025/2026 to Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems].
5. Ronemus, C.B., Howlett, C.J., DeCelles, P.G., Carrapa, B., Muller, V.A., Fennel, L.M., Peluffo, N.A., Lothari, L., & Suriano, J. (in prep.). The Cretaceous–Neogene basin record of the High Andes and implications for evolution of the southern Central Andean orogenic system. [Expected submission Winter 2025/2026 to Earth Science Reviews].

Grants & Awards (21 awards; $353,995 total research funding)

Major Fellowships

• Earth Science Postdoctoral Research Fellowship ($291,976) — US National Science Foundation (2025)
• Fulbright Research Scholarship ($10,700 + other support) — US Fulbright Program (2023)

Research Grants and Other Awards

• Undergraduate Student Research Funding Award (PI of record: K. Sundell; $6,000) — Idaho Higher Education Research Council (2025)
• John and Nancy Sumner Scholarship ($1,000) — UArizona Dept. of Geosciences (2025)
• Lewis and Clark Exploration and Field Research Scholarship ($4,900) — American Philosophical Society (2024)
• Research and Project Grant ($1,490) — UArizona Graduate and Professional Student Council (2023)
• Travel Grant ($350) — GSA Cordilleran Section (2023)
• Coney Scholarship ($3,000) — UArizona Dept. of Geosciences (2023)
• Galileo Circle Scholarship ($1,000 each) — UArizona College of Science (2022, 2023)
• Travel Grant ($1,000) — UArizona Graduate and Professional Student Council (2022)
• 1^st place, Best Student Geologic Map Competition — US Geological Survey (2021)
• Sulzer Scholarship ($4,676) — UArizona Dept. of Geosciences (2021)
• StraboSpot Super Tester Award ($1,500) — University of Kansas (2021)
• Graduate Research Fellowship Honorable Mention — US National Science Foundation (2021)
• Open Access Author Fund Award ($2,000) — MSU Library (2020)
• Harrison Scholarship ($500) — Tobacco Roots Geological Society (2020)
• Donald L. Smith Memorial Scholarship ($3,000) — MSU Dept. of Earth Sciences (2020)
• EDMAP Grant (PI of record: D. Orme; $17,428) — US Geological Survey (2020)
• Research Grant ($750) — Montana Academy of Sciences (2019)
• Research Grant ($225) — Tobacco Roots Geological Society (2019)
• Undergraduate Scholars Program Research Grant ($1,800) — MSU (2018)

Invited Presentations

• Building the High Andes: The view from the foreland basin record — Idaho State University (2025)
• Cordilleran evolution in the sedimentary basin record — University of Alaska Fairbanks (2025)
• Mapping as a foundation for understanding orogenic systems — MT Bureau of Mines and Geology (2025)
• Cenozoic evolution of the southern Central Andean foreland basin — University of Buenos Aires (2024)

Conference Proceedings

21. Muller, V.A., Carrapa, B., Thomson, S.N., DeCelles, P.G., Howlett, C.J., Ronemus, C.B., & Beck, S.L. (2025). Exhumation of the Eastern Cordillera, NW Argentina: a record of competing river incision and fold-and-thrust belt propagation. GSA Connects, San Antonio, TX.
22. Howlett, C.J., Ronemus, C.B., Carrapa, B., & DeCelles, P.G. (2025). Cordilleran orogenic wedge evolution in a transitional segment of the South-Central Andes (34.5°S), Chile and Argentina. GSA Connects, San Antonio, TX.
23. Ronemus, C.B., Howlett, C.J., Carrapa, B., Echaurren, A., Barrionuevo, M., Mosolf, J.G., & Foley, M.L. (2025). Crustal thickness evolution of the southern Central Andes (~35°S): Insights from igneous paleomohometry and zircon petrochronology. GSA Connects, San Antonio, TX.
24. Howlett, C.J., Ronemus, C.B., Carrapa, B., & DeCelles, P.G. (2025). New thermochronology insights from the South-Central Andes (32–35°S) and relation to regional tectonics. Along Strike Variations in Central Andean Subduction and Mountain Building (NSF Funded Workshop), Tucson, AZ.
25. Ronemus, C.B., Howlett, C.J., Müller, V.A., DeCelles, P.G., Carrapa, B., Fennel, L., Suriano, J., & Lothari, L. (2025). Foreland basin evolution in the Andes (~32°S). Along Strike Variations in Central Andean Subduction and Mountain Building (NSF Funded Workshop), Tucson, AZ.
26. Beck, S.L., Bradford, J., Mahanti, S.S., Howlett, C.J., Ronemus, C.B., et al. (2024). The tale of two mountain belts along the South America convergent margin. AGU Annual Meeting, Washington, DC.
27. Lothari, L.D., Suriano, J., Mescua, J.F., del Llano, M., Echaurren, A., Giambiagi, L.B., Cottle, J., & Ronemus, C.B. (2024). El registro sedimentario Paleógeno del retroarco Andino (33–32°S): Extensión hacia el sureste del evento compresivo del Eoceno Temprano. XXII Congreso Geológico Argentino, San Luis, Argentina.
28. Ronemus, C.B., Suriano, J., Howlett, C.J., & Muller, V.A. (2024). La naturaleza de las discontinuidades en la cuenca del antepaís andino: Datos de un nuevo registro sedimentario del Eoceno-Mioceno a ~31.75°S. XIX Reunión de Tectónica, San Juan, Argentina.
29. Beck, S.L., Comte, D., Kiser, E., Ronemus, C.B., et al. (2023). TransANdean Great Orogeny (TANGO)–High-resolution imaging of the Andean Cordillera from the mantle to the surface. AGU Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
30. George, S.W.M., Carrapa, B., DeCelles, P.G., & Ronemus, C.B. (2023). Intensification of the South American monsoon at the start of the Middle Miocene climatic optimum in the Central Andes as a modulator of orogenic shortening. GSA Connects, Pittsburgh, PA.
31. Howlett, C., Ronemus, C.B., DeCelles, P.G., & Carrapa, B. (2023). Exhumation of the La Ramada Massif of western Argentina: field and thermochronological data from Cerro Mercedario (6720 m). GSA Connects, Pittsburgh, PA.
32. Ronemus, C.B., Howlett, C.J., DeCelles, P.G., Carrapa, B., & George, S.W.M. (2023). Miocene wedge-top sedimentation adjacent to out-of-sequence thrust faults in the Manantiales basin, southern Central Andes (~32°S). GSA Connects, Pittsburgh, PA.
33. Sabor, F., Ronemus, C.B., & Howlett, C.J. (2023). Sedimentologic insights into Late Cretaceous to Early Miocene foreland basin development in the southern Central Andes (~36°S) [student mentee first author]. GSA Connects, Pittsburgh, PA.
34. Baird, C., Orme, D.A., Malkowski, M.A., & Ronemus, C.B. (2022). Reinvestigation of the sedimentary processes, depositional environments, and provenance of the Mesoproterozoic LaHood Formation in Jefferson Canyon, Montana. GSA Connects, Denver, CO.
35. Ronemus, C.B., & Orme, D.A. (2022). Overlap of structural styles associated with reactivation of Proterozoic structures during Cordilleran orogenesis: Geologic mapping and geo/thermochronology results from the Highland Mountains, southwest Montana, USA. GSA Connects, Denver, CO.
36. Ronemus, C.B., & Orme, D.A. (2021). Geologic map of the eastern half of the Melrose 7.5′ quadrangle and the western half of the Wickiup Creek 7.5′ quadrangle, southwestern Montana (USGS Best Student Map Competition, 1^st place). GSA Connects, Portland, OR.
37. Ronemus, C.B., & Orme, D.A. (2021). Overlap of structural styles associated with reactivation of Proterozoic structures during Cordilleran orogenesis. Tobacco Roots Geological Society Field Conference, Mackay, ID.
38. Ronemus, C.B., Orme, D.A., Guenthner, W.R., & Cox, S.E. (2021). Orogens of Big Sky country: Reconstructing the deep-time tectonothermal history of the Beartooth Mountains, Montana and Wyoming. 17th Annual Conference on Thermochronology, Santa Fe, NM.
39. Romero, M.C., Orme, D.A., & Ronemus, C.B. (2020). Depositional age, provenance, and basin development of the basal Great Valley forearc basin, northern California. GSA Connects (Online), Virtual.
40. Ronemus, C.B., Orme, D.A., Campbell, S., Black, S., & Cooke, J. (2019). Provenance and paleogeography of Mesoproterozoic-Mesozoic strata, Bridger Range, Montana, USA. GSA Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ.
41. Ronemus, C.B., Orme, D.A., Campbell, S., Black, S., & Cooke, J. (2019). Provenance and paleogeography of Mesoproterozoic-Mesozoic strata, Bridger Range, Montana, USA. Tobacco Roots Geological Society Annual Field Conference, Deer Lodge, MT.

Teaching

Instructor of Record

• Solid Earth — ISU (Sp. 2025)
• Independent Problems and Studies in Geology — ISU (Sp. 2025)

Teaching Assistant

• Physical Geology (Lab Instructor) — UArizona (Fa. 2021, Fa. 2023)
• Paleontology — UArizona (Sp. 2023)
• Dinosaurs — UArizona (Fa. 2022)
• Introduction to GIS and Cartography (Lab Instructor) — MSU (Sp. 2020, Sp. 2021)
• Sedimentation and Stratigraphy (Lab Instructor) — MSU (Fa. 2019)
• Geology Field Camp (Assistant Instructor) — Indiana University/MSU (Su. 2019)
• Geologic Field Methods — MSU (Fa. 2018)
• Freshman Seminar — MSU (Fa. 2016)

Guest Lecturer

• Geochronology and Thermochronology — MSU (Sp. 2021)

Student Mentorship

Undergraduate student researchers mentored as postdoctoral fellow

• Amarissa Cramer (NSF EAR-PF project; provenance analysis) — ISU, exp. B.S. 2027 (2025)
• Tiana Hursh (NSF EAR-PF project; sedimentary facies analysis) — ISU, exp. B.S. 2027 (2025)
• Parker Hazelbush (NSF EAR-PF project; sandstone petrography) — ISU, exp. B.S. 2026 (2025)

Undergraduate student researchers mentored as Ph.D. student

• Faisal Sabor (TANGO project; first-author GSA presentation) — UArizona, B.S. 2023 (2023)
• Katleho Ramotso (TANGO project; provenance analysis) — UArizona, B.S. 2025 (2023)
• Ash Abbate (TANGO project; provenance analysis) — UArizona, exp. B.S. 2026 (2023)

Undergraduate student researchers co-mentored as Masters student

• MSU Sedimentary Undergraduate Research program (6 students) — MSU (2021)
• Sophie Black (Montana provenance analysis; coauthor GSA Bulletin) — MSU, B.S. 2021 (2019–2021)
• Saré Campbell (Montana provenance analysis; coauthor GSA Bulletin) — MSU, B.S. 2021 (2019–2021)
• John Cook (Montana provenance analysis; coauthor GSA Bulletin) — MSU, B.S. 2024 (2019)

Field Research (Total fieldwork: > 18 months)

• Coastal Cordillera, Chile (9 weeks) — Postdoctoral research (2025–present)
• High Andes, Argentina & Chile (> 8 months) — Ph.D. Research (2022–2025)
• Great Valley forearc basin, CA (6 weeks) — Research Mentor, Research Assistant (2019–2021)
• Southwest Montana (> 7 months) — Field Camp Instructor, M.S. Research (2018–2021)

Service & Outreach

Conference Organization

• Convener — Convergent Margin Systems (GSA Connects Session T160) (2023)
• Organizing Committee — GeoDaze Research Conference, UArizona (2022)
• Organizing Committee — ESCI Seminar Series, MSU (2020–2021)
• Organizing Committee — Earth Science Student Colloquium, MSU (2019–2021)

University & Scientific Community Service

• Panel Member — Careers and Graduate School in Geoscience, ISU (2025)
• Peer Reviewer — Tectonics, Terra Nova, Geosphere, GSA Bulletin (2022–present)
• Grant Reviewer — Graduate and Professional Student Council, UArizona (2025)
• Assistant Instructor — Detrital Zircon Analytical Methods (GSA Connects Short Course 512) (2023)
• Graduate Student Representative — Department of Geosciences, UArizona (2022–2023)
• Founding Member — Decolonize Geosciences, MSU (2021)
• Panel Member — Tips for Applying to Graduate School, MSU (2020)

Public Service & Outreach

• Contributor — Science YouTube Channel (@CadenHowlett) (2022–present)
• Science Fair Judge — Sunrise Drive Elementary School, Tucson, AZ (2025)
• Outreach Presenter — Legacy Traditional Schools, Tucson, AZ (2022)
• Adaptive Skiing Volunteer — Eagle Mount Therapeutic Recreation, Bozeman, MT (2016–2021)

Industry Experience

• Petroleum Geology Intern — Matador Resources, Dallas, TX (Su. 2021)
• Exploration Geologist — Childs Geoscience Inc., Bozeman, MT (part-time (PT) 2018–2020)
• Mining Geology Intern — Sibanye-Stillwater, Nye, MT (Su. 2018)
• GIS Analyst — Bioresource Consultants, Ojai, CA (PT 2017–2019)
• GIS Analyst — MSU Water Quality Extension, Bozeman, MT (PT 2017)