DRI / DIRECTORY / CHRISTOPHER BAISH
Christopher Baish Profile Photo
Christopher Baish
Affiliate Research Associate

Introduction

I am a Doctoral Fellow at Michigan State University and an Adjunct Research Associate at the Desert Research Institute. My research broadly centers on the evaluation of soil genesis and geomorphology to understand landscape history and dynamics. I am especially interested in (1) disentangling the physicochemical nuances of pedogenic processes, namely argilluviation and podzolization, and (2) explaining soil variability and complexity across scales, with special consideration for how disturbances influence the trajectory and outcomes of soil formation.

Education

Year Degree Institution Major
In Progress Ph.D. Michigan State University Geography
2020 M.S. Michigan State University Geography
2017 B.A. University of Northern Iowa Environmental Geography

Publications

2023

Miller B.A., Baish, C., and R.J. Schaetzl. Use of Soil Maps to Interpret Soil-Landform Assemblages and Soil-Landscape Evolution. In: Geopedology – An Integration of Geomorphology and Pedology for Soil and Landscape Studies. 2nd ed. Zinck, J., Metternicht, G., del Valle, H., and M. Angelini (edd.). Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-20667-2_13

Sion, B., Samburova, V., Berli, M., Baish, C., Bustarde, J., and S. Houseman. Assessment of the effects of the 2021 Caldor megafire on soil physical properties, eastern Sierra Nevada, USA. Fire, 6(2): 1-20. doi: 10.3390/fire6020066

2022

Schaetzl, R.J., Miller, B.A., and C. Baish. Catenas and Soils. In: Shroder, J. (Editor in Chief), Pope, G.A. (Ed.), Treatise on Geomorphology. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, vol. 4, Weathering and Soils Geomorphology. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-818234-5.00214-5

Sion, B., Baish, C., and J. Bustrade. Distribution of Geomorphic Landforms and Soils Along the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro in the Socorro area: Implications for Trafficability and Trail Routing. In: Geology of the Socorro Region III, New Mexico Geological Society 72nd Annual Fall Field Conference Guidebook. doi:10.56577/FFC-72.399

Patton, N., Baish, C., Kielhofer, J., Sion, B., and E. McDonald. Preliminary evaluation of Fort Greely as a US analog for high-latitude environments using soil-landform characteristics. 24 pp. Report prepared for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory.

Kielhofer, J., Sabol, D., Baish, C., and E. McDonald. Current knowledge of frozen soil formation, soil-landform relationships for seasonally frozen soils, and techniques for remote detection and prediction. 45 pp. Report prepared for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory.

2021

Baish, C. and R.J. Schaetzl. New insights into the origin and evolution of glossic features in coarse-textured soils in northern Lower Michigan (USA). Soil Science Society of America Journal, 85(6): 2115-2134. doi:10.1002/saj2.20331

Baish, C., Sion, B., and E. McDonald. A landform-based predictive mapping approach to estimating soil textural properties in Estonia and Lithuania (II): US analogs. 38 pp. Report prepared for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory.

Baish, C., Sion, B., Adam, K., Sabol, D., and E. McDonald. A landform-based predictive mapping approach to estimating soil textural properties in Estonia and Lithuania. 34 pp. Report prepared for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory.

2020

Schaetzl, R.J., Kasmerchak, C., Pavel, S., Baish, C., Hadden, M, and D. Rothstein. Acidification and weathering associated with deep tongues in sandy Spodosols, Michigan, USA. Geoderma Regional, 23. doi:10.1016/j.geodrs.2020.e00332

Schaetzl, R.J., Baish, C., Colgan, P.M., Knauff, J., Bilintoh, T., Wanyama, D., Church, M., McKeehan, K., Fulton, A., and A.F. Arbogast. Variations in Till Texture and Clay Mineralogy of the Saginaw Lobe (Michigan, USA): Evidence for a Sediment-Mixing Process Model of Till Genesis. Quaternary Research, 94: 174-194. doi:10.1017/qua.2019.82

Personal website: https://sites.google.com/view/baishmsu/home

Publications
2023
Sion, B., Samburova, V., Berli, M., Baish, C. J., Bustarde, J., Houseman-Lehman, S. M. (2023). Assessment of the Effects of the 2021 Caldor Megafire on Soil Physical Properties, Eastern Sierra Nevada, USA, Fire, 6 (2). MDPI, 10.3390/fire6020066

2022
Sion, B., Baish, C. J., Bustarde, J. (2022). Distribution of geomorphic landforms and soils along the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro in the Socorro area: implications for trafficability and trail routing, New Mexico Geological Society 72nd Annual Fall Field Conference Guidebook, 399-412, 10.56577/FFC-72.399

Patton, N. R., Baish, C. J., Kielhofer, J., Sion, B., McDonald, E. V. (2022). Preliminary evaluation of Fort Greely as a US analog for high-latitude environments using soil-landform characteristics, pp. 1-20. Report prepared for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, and Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory under contract W913E520C0021

Kielhofer, J., Sabol, D. E., Baish, C. J., McDonald, E. V. (2022). Literature review of cold region soils: Current knowledge of frozen soil formation, techniques for remote detection and prediction, and soil-landform relationships in a subarctic analog environment, pp. 1-50. Report prepared for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, and Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory under contract W913E520C0021

2021
Baish, C. J., Sion, B., Adams, K. D., Sabol, D. E., McDonald, E. V. (2021). A landform-based predictive mapping approach to estimating soil properties in Estonia and Lithuania, 29. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: , Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory

Conference Proceedings
2024
Kielhofer, J., Patton, N., Baish, C. J., Thomas, E., Sion, B. (2024). A multi-proxy paleoclimate record from a peat soil of interior Alaska: insight on mechanisms of Holocene peatland formation and landscape development. European Geosciences Union General Assembly: Vienna, Austria, April 14, 2024-April 19, 2024, EGU24-767

2022
Sion, B., Berli, M., Samburova, V., Baish, C. J., Bustarde, J., Houseman-Lehman, S. M. (2022). Effects of the 2021 Caldor fire (CA, USA) on soil hydraulic and thermal properties: a pilot study, 54 (5), GSA Connects 2022: Denver, CO, October 9, 2022-October 12, 2022, 10.1130/abs/2022AM-381651

Kielhofer, J., Sabol, D. E., Baish, C. J., McDonald, E. V. (2022). Frozen soils and permafrost in a warming climate: Implications for military vehicle mobility. The 14th International Conference on Military Geosciences: Charleson, S.C., June 20, 2022-June 24, 2022

2021
Sion, B., Baish, C. J., Brown, D., McDonald, E. V., Neudorf, C.M. (2021). Soils developed beneath a relict geomorphic surface in southern New Mexico (USA) indicate episodic regional scale surface instability. ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting: Salt Lake City, UT, November 7, 2021-November 10, 2021, 1239