John R. Baumgardner is an American

young earth creationist Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between approximately 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. In its most widespr ...

and

geophysicist Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' som ...

Biography

Baumgardner earned a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

from

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

in 1968, a

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

in 1970, and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in geophysics and space physics from the

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

in 1983. He worked at the

Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...

and in 2002 joined the staff of the

Institute for Creation Research The Institute for Creation Research (ICR) is a Creationist apologetics institute in Dallas, Texas, that specializes in media promotion of pseudoscientific creation science and interpretation of the Genesis creation narrative as a historical ...

. As a professional scientist, Baumgardner is known for developing TERRA, a

finite element The finite element method (FEM) is a popular method for numerically solving differential equations arising in engineering and mathematical modeling. Typical problem areas of interest include the traditional fields of structural analysis, heat t ...

code designed to solve problems in

mantle convection Mantle convection is the very slow creeping motion of Earth's solid silicate mantle as convection currents carrying heat from the interior to the planet's surface. The Earth's surface lithosphere rides atop the asthenosphere and the two form ...

. In 1994 he presented research at a geophysics conference stating that the slip-sliding geologic plates that cover the Earth might once have moved thousands of times faster than they do today. In 1997, '' U.S. News & World Report'' described him as "the world's pre-eminent expert in the design of computer models for geophysical convection". Baumgardner is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

who sometimes pursues creationist research. He has, for example, created a computer simulation called ''Terra'' to model the

Noachian flood The Genesis flood narrative (chapters 6–9 of the Book of Genesis) is the Hebrew version of the universal flood myth. It tells of God's decision to return the universe to its pre- creation state of watery chaos and remake it through the micro ...

. In 1985, Baumgardner joined the amateur adventurer

Ron Wyatt Ronald Eldon Wyatt (June 2, 1933 – August 4, 1999) was an American nurse anesthetist noted for advocating the Durupınar site in Turkey as the location of Noah's Ark's landing place, along with almost 100 other alleged biblically-related disco ...

and salvage expert

David Fasold David Franklin Fasold (February 23, 1939 – April 26, 1998) was a United States Merchant Marine officer and salvage expert who is best known for his 1988 book ''The Ark of Noah'', chronicling his early expeditions to the Durupınar Noah's Ark si ...

to Durupınar, Turkey for an expedition recounted in Fasold's ''The Ark of Noah'' to locate the biblical ship's remains. Baumgardner did not support Wyatt's and Fasold's claims to have found a boat-shaped 'object' which was the Ark. He argued that the object was a natural formation.

Select publications

According to Web of Science, he has published 20 peer-reviewed papers, including: * cited 75 times. * cited 89 times * cited 65 times. *

References

External links

John Baumgardner's website

Geologists Explain Evolution
''Reports of the

National Center for Science Education The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) is a not-for-profit membership organization in the United States whose stated mission is to educate the press and the public on the scientific and educational aspects of controversies surrounding t ...

'' Living people Year of birth missing (living people) University of California, Los Angeles alumni American geophysicists Intelligent design advocates Flood geology Texas Tech University alumni Princeton University alumni {{creationism-stub