Short Bio
Dr. Uddin teaches undergraduate courses in Dynamic Earth, Earth and Life Through Time, and Sedimentary Petrology and Stratigraphy. His graduate teaching includes Basin Analysis, Petroleum Geology, Sedimentary Petrology, Geology of Organic Matter, Tectonics, and Cycles Through Earth History.
He also offers directed studies in sedimentary geology, with an emphasis on dense minerals and mineral chemistry. In addition, he mentors students in a petroleum exploration course that prepares them for the Imperial Barrel Award competition coordinated by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
Education
PhD, Geology Florida State University 1996
MS, Geology and Geophysics University of Hawaii 1987
MS, Geology University of Dhaka 1982
BS, Geology University of Dhaka 1980
Professional Experience
Professor, Department of Geosciences, Auburn University, 2011–present
Robert B. Cook Professor and Graduate Program Officer, Auburn University, 2020–2024
Professor and Graduate Program Officer, Auburn University, 2011–2024
Associate Professor and Graduate Program Officer, Auburn University, 2007–2011
Associate Professor, Auburn University, 2005–2011
Assistant Professor, Auburn University, 2000–2005
Postdoctoral Researcher, Florida State University, 1997–2000
Innovation
Dr. Uddin’s research focuses on sedimentary geology, including clastic sedimentology, sedimentary petrology, tectonics and stratigraphy, detrital geochronology, basin analysis, and provenance studies of sedimentary sequences deposited in orogenic systems. His work also examines carbon sequestration in subsurface formations in Alabama and contaminant hydrogeology in terrestrial and coastal environments.
Much of his research has centered on the Himalayan–Assam–Bengal system, including exposed rock sections and subsurface geology, as well as clastic wedges associated with the Appalachian Mountains. His primary goal is to reconstruct the unroofing and erosional histories of the eastern Himalayas, including the Indo-Burman ranges, and the Appalachians.
This research incorporates sedimentary petrology, modal analysis of framework grains, dense-mineral studies, mineral chemistry, bulk-sediment geochemistry, isotopic fingerprinting, detrital geochronology using argon-argon and uranium-lead methods, and paleomagnetic analysis. These approaches are applied to sediments from the Bengal and Assam basins and the Appalachian mountain belt.
Dr. Uddin’s research has been supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy. His external collaborators have included Dr. Jack Pashin of Oklahoma State University and Dr. Roy Odom of Florida State University.
In collaboration with Dr. David King of Auburn University, Dr. Uddin also studies carbon sequestration in Paleozoic and Mesozoic subsurface formations in Alabama. His ongoing projects examine late Paleozoic Gondwanan deposits in South Asia to better understand the sedimentary and tectonic history of eastern Gondwana, including India, Australia, and Antarctica.
Selected Publications
- Chowdhury, N.U.K., Uddin, A., and Hames, W.E. 2026. “Multiproxy Provenance Analysis of Late Paleozoic Strata in Peninsular India: Implications for Paleodrainage and Paleotectonic Reconstruction of East Gondwana.” Journal of Sedimentary Research, 96: 315–337. https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2025.033
- Uddin, M.R., Uddin, A., Nelson, J., Rahman, S.N., and Zahid, A. 2025. “Spatial Mapping of Vegetation’s Potential to Counter Seasonal Groundwater Salinity in Coastal Bangladesh.” Earth Systems and Environment. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41748-025-00574-6
- Uddin, M.R., Uddin, A., Lee, M-K., Nelson, J., Zahid, A., Haque, M.M., and Sakib, N. 2024. “Geochemistry of Arsenic- and Salinity-Contaminated Groundwater and Mineralogy of Sediments in the Coastal Aquifers of Southwest Bangladesh.” Water, 16(10): 1442. https://doi.org/10.3390/w1610144
- Jahan, S., and Uddin, A. 2022. “Organic Petrography and Depositional Environments of the Upper Eocene Kopili Shale, Bengal Basin, Bangladesh.” Journal of Asian Earth Sciences: X, 7: 100092.
- Uddin, A., Hames, W.E., Peavy, T., and Pashin, J.C. 2016. “Detrital History of the Lower Pennsylvanian Pottsville Formation in the Cahaba Synclinorium of Alabama.” Journal of Sedimentary Research, 86: 1287–1297.
