Rachel Quist

Rachel Quist is an archaeologist working in the Great Basin of the Western United States.She has specific expertise in cultural resource management, prehistoric technology, lithic toolstone, procurement, geomorphology of the Bonneville Basin, and public history projects. She may be contacted through her website at www.rachelquist.com.

Geography of Coffee

Rachel Quist

To geographers, coffee holds a number of intriguing chronicles relating to physical geography, human geography, biogeography, and many other aspects.

A map showing grayscale relief and a quaternary fault scarp.

How Archaeologists and Geomorphologists Can Work Together to Understand the Quaternary

Rachel Quist

Archaeologists and geomorphologists are some of the best suited professions for interdisciplinary research into the Late Quaternary period.

A map of the world in the Robinson map projection.

A Look at Some Map Projections

Rachel Quist

The Robinson, Transverse Mercator, Lambert Conformal Conic, and Space Oblique Mercator projections are discussed in this article.

Pleistocene lakes and rivers from 15,000 years ago of the Mojave Desert. Source: USGS, 2004

Ancient Pluvial Lakes of North America and What They Can Tell Us about Climate Change

Rachel Quist

Datasets of paleoenvironmental variability contained in a variety of pluvial lakes is a treasure-trove of past climate conditions.

Ptolemy's World Map from Geographia (~150 CE), reproduced in the 15th Century.

Ptolemy’s Geographia

Rachel Quist

Ptolemy was not only a geographer but a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, and even a poet.

What is the Public Land Survey and Why Do We Still Use It?

Rachel Quist

Have you ever wondered why on legal documents your house is not listed with your address but rather by parcel ...

Geography Careers

Rachel Quist

“Well, I guess you can always teach.”  If this is the response you get from friends and family when you ...

This station contains a combined GPS and seismometer. Photo: USGS geologist viewing the northeastern slope of Mount Hood from Shellrock monitoring station, Liz Westby, USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory. Public domain, July 16, 2015.

What is GPS?

Rachel Quist

So, what exactly is GPS? How does GPS work?

Bristlecone pine forest in Great Basin National Park. Photo: USGS, public domain.

Island Biogeography of the Great Basin

Rachel Quist

The theory of island biogeography is one of the explanations as to why speciation occurs.

RQ-8A Fire Scout Vertical Takeoff and Landing Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV) System.

Using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for Remote Sensing of Archaeological Sites

Rachel Quist

Unmanned vehicles are becoming more widely available both in the military and civilian sectors for their usefulness for remotely acquiring ...