Dr. Phillip Schmutz, an Associate Professor and the Chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, researches coastal/beach and aeolian geomorphology, particularly factors that can build sand dunes. He is working to develop better techniques for understanding the dynamics of these environments and to build more realistic models of coastal aeolian systems. Before Schmutz joined UWF鈥檚 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences in 2015, he earned a Ph.D. and a M.S. in Geography, both from Louisiana State University, and spent a year as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Texas A&M University鈥檚 Department of Geology and Geophysics. In his research, Schmutz has studied surface moisture, evaporation dynamics, coastal vegetation and other topics related to beaches.

His work has been published in Journal of Coastal Research, Journal of Aeolian Research, Geomorphology and elsewhere. Schmutz also has made numerous presentations to the Association of American Geographers. He teaches Earth Science, Geomorphology and other courses. He has a B.A. in Geography & Environmental Studies from Baylor University, where he won a scholarship to fund study abroad.