Anthony Foyle, Ph.D.

Anthony Foyle, Ph.D.
Department Chair, Environmental Science
Department Chair, Science and Geoscience
Associate Professor of Geology, Environmental Science and Science and Geoscience programs
24 Hammermill

Mailing Address:
PENN STATE BEHREND
1 PRISCHAK BUILDING
ERIE PA 16563

B.S. 1985: Geology (Hons), National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
M.S. 1986: Petroleum Geology, National University of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
Ph.D. 1994: Oceanography, Old Dominion University, Norfolk VA


Teaching Specialties

  • Earth Science
  • Coastal Geology
  • Oceanography
  • Environmental Geology

Funded Projects and Grants

  • S Rafferty (Pennsylvania Sea Grant); AM Foyle (Penn State Erie, Environmental Science); M Naber (Penn State Erie, Environmental Science); and K Noce, (Penn State Erie, MIS). Pennsylvania Great Lakes Services Integration Project. Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. $716,711. 2015-2018. 
  • AM Foyle (Environmental Science Program) and MW Justik (Chemistry Program). Hydrology of a late Holocene cat's-eye pond sequence, Presque Isle, Pennsylvania. Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment. $5,000. 2014-2015.
  • Implementation of a Beach Sanitary Survey at Presque Isle State Park Beaches Two and Ten, Erie, PA. Range, D. (ECDH-principal Investigator), J. Covert (co-principal investigator), L. Boughton (co-principal investigator), R. Diz (co-principal investigator), A. Foyle (co-principal investigator), and S. Mauro (co-principal investigator). Submitted Through the Erie County Department of Health (ECDH) and the Regional Science Consortium (TREC) in Collaboration with Investigators from Gannon Behrend, and Mercyhurst. United States Environmental Protection Agency, $135,000. October 2007-2008.
  • Raising Awareness of Long-Term Sediment Loading, Presque Isle Bay, PA. Foyle, A. (principal investigator) and K. Norton (co-principal investigator). Great Lakes Commission, Great Lakes Basin Program for Soil Erosion and Sediment Control. $50,100. July 2004-June 2006.
  • An Integrated GIS-Based Approach to Quantifying the Rates of, and Stratigraphic Controls on Coastal Change on the Georgia Bight. Alexander, C. (principal investigator), A. Foyle (co-principal investigator), D. Bush (co-principal investigator), S. Langley (co-principal investigator), V. Henry (co-principal investigator), N. Driscoll (co-principal investigator), and P. Gayes (co-principal investigator). United States Geological survey/South Carolina Sea Grant. $228,000. 2000-2003.
  • Structure and Stratigraphy of the Gulf Trough, Onshore Georgia. Henry, V. (principal investigator), A. Foyle (co-principal investigator), and J. Reichard (co-principal investigator). Georgia Department of Natural Resources – Environmental Protection Division. $34,000. 2001.

Coastal Geology, Sequence Stratigraphy, Environmental Geophysics

A Bayesian network model for bluff retreat on the southern Lake Erie coast, United States, Journal of Great Lakes Research - April 5, 2023
Collaborator: Michael Rutter

A process-geometric visualization of bluff erosion hazards on the Pennsylvania coast of Lake Erie, United States, Environmental Earth Sciences - January 16, 2023

PENNSYLVANIA STATE WATER PLAN UPDATE 2022: An update of the State Water Plan under the Water Resources Planning Act, Act 220 of 2002 - January 15, 2023
Collaborator: Approx 50 contributors total PA DEP Water Resources Committees

The Bluff Erosion Potential Index - A Process-Geometric Model to Map Bluff Erosion Hazards on the PA Coast of Lake Erie: Bluff Retreat and Index Methodology - Revised Edition, Pennsylvania DEP website: - December 15, 2021

Bluff retreat along the Pennsylvania Lake Erie coast: a guide to bluff retreat science and management, Pennsylvania DEP and PA Sea Grant (Great Lakes science database) website: pawalter.psu.edu - December, 2021
Collaborator: Sean Rafferty, Co-Author

The Bluff Erosion Potential Index - A Process-Geometric Model to Map Bluff Erosion Hazards on the PA Coast of Lake Erie: Bluff Retreat and Index Methodology - Revised Edition, Pennsylvania DEP and PA Sea Grant (Great Lakes science database) website: pawalter.psu.edu - December, 2021

Erie County Bluff Erosion Potential Index web map - December, 2021
Collaborators: Sean Rafferty, Secondary Author; M Nabor, Student Author

Reduced sediment export to the Pennsylvania Lake Erie littoral zone during an era of average lake levels, Journal of Great Lakes Research - November, 2021
Collaborator: Karen Schuckman

Western Erie County bluff-face sediment export web map - April, 2021
Collaborator: Karen Schuckman, Co-Author

A Bayesian statistical network model of bluff retreat and a littoral sediment budget model for the western Erie County littoral cell, Lake Erie., Pennsylvania DEP and PA Sea Grant (Great Lakes science database) website: pawalter.psu.edu - February, 2021
Collaborators: Michael Rutter; Karen Schuckman

Evaluating Bluff Retreat and Sediment Supply on the Lake Erie Coast of Pennsylvania using Bayesian Network Modeling and Change-Detection Analysis, Pennsylvania DEP and PA Sea Grant (Great Lakes science database) website: pawalter.psu.edu - February, 2021
Collaborators: Michael Rutter; Karen Schuckman

The Bluff Erosion Potential Index - A Process-Geometric Model to Map Erosion Hazards on the PA Coast of Lake Erie, Part I - Bluff Retreat and Index Methodology - December, 2019

The Lake Erie Bluff Coast of Pennsylvania: A State of Knowledge Report on Coastal Change Patterns, Processes, and Management, PA Sea Grant & PA DEP WALTeR websites - June, 2018

Bluff Erosion Hazards and Construction Setbacks on the Great Lakes Coasts of the United States: A Review, WIT Transactions on the Built Environment 173, 149-160 - October, 2017
Collaborator: Sean Rafferty, Secondary Author

Groundwater flux as a determinant of coastal-zone upland loss: a case study from the Pennsylvania coast of Lake Erie, USA, Environmental Earth Sciences - October 19, 2013

Decade-scale Coastal Bluff Retreat from LiDAR Data: Lake Erie Coast of NW Pennsylvania, Environmental Earth Sciences Journal - 2011
Collaborator: M. Naber, Co-Author

Lidar Mapping of Short-term Bluff Recession, Lake Erie, Pennsylvania, USA, Roles of Bluff Geomorphology and Groundwater Flux, Fragile Earth Conference - September, 2011

Estuary Remediation Challenges in the U.S. ‘Rust Belt’: A Case Study from Presque Isle Bay, Lake Erie, Pennsylvania, Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference Littoral 2008: A Changing Coast - 2008
Collaborators: S. Rafferty; L. Boughton

The Influence of Drainage Hierarchy on Pathways of Barrier Retreat: An Example from Chincoteague Bight, Southeastern Geology - 2008
Collaborators: G. Oertel; T. Allen, Co-Author

Geo-Feasibility of In-Situ Sediment Capping in a Great Lakes Urban Estuary: A Sediment Budget Assessment, Environmental Geology - 2007
Collaborator: K. Norton, Co-Author

Late Holocene Nearshore Change at a Nontidal Transgressive Systems Tract Strandplain Complex, Journal of Coastal Research - 2006
Collaborator: K. Norton, Co-Author

Sediment Loading During the 20th Century in Presque Isle Bay, Journal of Great Lakes Research - 2006
Collaborator: K. Norton, Co-Author

Historical Sediment Dispersal Along Open-Lake Shoreface and Protected Back-Bay Environments, Presque Isle, Pennsylvania: Natural and Anthropogenic Influences, Proceedings of the International Coastal Symposium - June, 2005
Collaborator: K. Norton

Georgia-South Carolina Coastal Erosion Study: Phase 2 Southern Study Region State of Knowledge Report and Semi-Annotated Bibliography, South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium - 2004
Collaborators: V. Henry; C. Alexander

Between Beds and Sequences: Stratigraphic Organization at Intermediate Scales in the Quaternary of the Virginia Coast, Sedimentology - 2003
Collaborators: D.J. Swift; B. Parsons, Co-Author; G. Oertel, Co-Author

Mapping the Threat of Seawater Intrusion in a Regional Coastal Aquifer-Aquitard System in the Southeastern United States., Environmental Geology. - December, 2002
Collaborators: V. Henry, Co-Author; C. Alexander, Co-Author

The Miocene Aquitard and the Floridan Aquifer of the Georgia/South Carolina Coast: Geophysical Mapping of Potential Seawater Intrusion Sites, Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division, Georgia Geologic Survey Bulletin 132 - 2002
Collaborators: V. Henry, Co-Author; C. Alexander, Co-Author

Using Marine Reflection Seismics to Identify Potential Seawater Intrusion Sites in the Upper Floridan Aquifer of Coastal Georgia and South Carolina, Proceedings of the Georgia Water Resources Conference - March, 2001
Collaborators: V. Henry; C. Alexander

Phase I Findings Report: Miocene Aquiclude Mapping Project, Georgia Geologic Survey Project Report 39 - 1999
Collaborators: V. Henry; C. Alexander

Erosion and Accretion Trends Along the Lake Michigan Shore at North Point Marina and Illinois Beach State Park, Illinois State Geological Survey, Open File Series - 1998
Collaborators: M. Chrzastowski; C. Trask

Erosion and Accretion Trends Along the Lake Michigan Shore at North Point Marina and Illinois Beach State Park, Illinois State Geological Survey, Open File Series - 1997
Collaborators: M. Chrzastowski; C. Trask

Transgressive Systems Tract Development and Incised-Valley Fills Within a Quaternary Estuary-Shelf System; Virginia Inner Shelf, USA, Marine Geology - 1997
Collaborator: G. Oertel

Erosion and Accretion Trends Along the Lake Michigan Shore at North Point Marina and Illinois Beach State Park, Illinois State Geological Survey, Open Files Series - 1996
Collaborators: M. Chrzastowski; C. Trask

Drainage Displacement and Capture by Sea-Level Fluctuation at the Outer Margin of the Chesapeake Seaway, Journal of Coastal Research - 1995
Collaborator: G. Oertel

Coastal Behavior of Inlets and Barrier Islands Along Tide-Dominated Sections of Large Coastal Compartments, Large Scale Coastal Behavior ‘93, United States Geologic Survey Open File Report - 1993
Collaborator: G. Oertel

Regressive to Transgressive Quaternary Deposits in a Delmarva Coastal Lagoon, Hog Island Bay, Virginia, Studies in Eastern Energy and the Environment - 1993
Collaborators: G. Oertel; H. Woo; M. Kearney

Seismic Stratigraphy and Coastal Drainage Patterns in the Quaternary Section of the Southern Delmarva Peninsula, Virginia, USA, Sedimentary Geology - 1992
Collaborator: G. Oertel

Implications of Tide-Dominated Lagoonal Processes on the Preservation of Buried Channels on a Sediment-Starved Continental Shelf, Shelf Sand and Sandstone Bodies: Geometry, Facies, and Sequence Stratigraphy - 1991
Collaborators: G. Oertel; V. Henry

Ph D, Oceanography, Old Dominion University

MS, Petroleum Geology, NUI University College Dublin

BS, Geology, Honors, NUI University College Galway