Gail Ashley

Gail Ashley, née Mowry, (born 29 January 1941) is an American sedimentologist. She is known for her studies of the Olduvai Gorge sediments, focused on the water supplies available to hominids and the paleoclimate of the region. She has participated in multi-disciplinary projects that include meteorology, oceanography, paleoanthropology, and archaeology.She has served in professional organizations in the fields of sedimentology and geology, including the presidency of the Geological Society of America, the second woman to hold that post.

Ashley was born Gail Mowry in Leominster, Massachusetts, on January 29, 1941. Her interest in geology developed at a young age under the tutelage of a neighbor and professor of geology. She earned a bachelor's degree in 1963 and a master's degree in 1972, both in geology, from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In 1977 Ashley received a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia for research on sediment transport in tidal rivers.

In 1977, Ashley was hired at Rutgers University, where she currently serves as a full professor. During the first 23 years at Rutgers, she was the only female tenured professor in the Geology Department where she also served as a role model and mentor for students. She has served as editor for several journals, including as the first female editor of the Journal of Sedimentary Research and the Geological Society of America Bulletin. She presented a lecture on "The Paleoclimate Framework of Human Evolution, Lessons from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania" at Rutgers, publicized by WISE (Women in Scientific Education) in 2014.

Ashley's research career has focused on glaciation and paleoecology. Her studies of sediment in Olduvai Gorge includes springs that co-existed with early hominids and their potential as water sources. Her research includes glacial stability in Antarctica, the Brooks Range, Ireland, and the northeastern United States where she also examines the effects of prior glaciation on marshes and wetlands. Her research in Antarctica came after being denied a research opportunity twenty years earlier because of her sex.

Ashley's current research in East Africa is in the Rift Valley of Kenya and Tanzania where she focuses on the reconstruction of paleoenvironments and paleoclimate origins. Her interpretations of the paleoenvironment are based on her studies of modern physical processes and deposits of glacial, fluvial, lacustrine, arid landscapes. Her additional research projects include the scientific interpretation and history of ground water discharge in spring, seeps and wetland areas and the Critical Zone concept to deep time application.

From 1991–1992, Ashley was the president of the Society of Economic and Petroleum Mineralogists and chaired the Northeast Section of the Geological Society of America (GSA). She is active in the Association of Women Geoscientists to bring more women into scientific fields. From 1998–1999, she presided over the GSA and was the second female president in its history. From 1998 to 2002 she served as vice president of the International Association of Sedimentologists.

In 2012, Ashley was the recipient of the GSA's Laurence L. Sloss Award for lifetime achievements.

Ashley has two children with her first husband, Stuart Ashley.She is currently married to Jeremy Delaney.