Dr. Huan Cui

Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park

Email: huancui@ksu.edu
Dr. Huan Cui is an Assistant Professor of Sedimentology and Geochemistry at Kansas State University, where he joined the faculty in 2024. His multidisciplinary research integrates sedimentology, stratigraphy, geochemistry, and paleontology to investigate global and planetary changes through Earth’s deep time.
Dr. Cui has developed a broad and integrative teaching portfolio spanning sedimentology, stratigraphy, biogeochemistry, and paleoenvironments.
At K-State, he regularly teaches:
• GEOL 630 Sedimentology and Stratigraphy (3 credits)
• GEOL 540 Geologic Record of Climate Change (3 credits)
• GEOL 730 Geoenergy Exploration (3 credits)

In his teaching, Dr. Cui emphasizes applied and field-based learning that bridges classroom instruction, laboratory analysis, and field investigations. Students in his courses examine exceptional outcrops in Kansas and beyond to gain first-hand insight into the dynamic processes of deposition, diagenesis, basin evolution, and weathering that document Earth’s changing paleoenvironments through time.

Dr. Cui’s research integrates sedimentology and stable isotope geochemistry to investigate deep-time biogeochemical cycles and their impact on major paleoclimatic events and the evolution of the biosphere. His work spans a wide range of topics, including carbon and sulfur cycling, redox evolution, chemical weathering, atmospheric oxygenation, authigenesis, sediment-hosted ore deposits, and the early evolution of life.

Dr. Cui earned his Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Maryland, College Park, where he combined field and laboratory approaches to study the biogeochemical cycles associated with early animal evolution. He conducted postdoctoral research in Wisconsin (2016–2018), Brussels (2018–2020), and Paris (2020–2022) before holding faculty appointments at Mississippi State University (2022–2024) and Kansas State University (2024–present).

Born and raised in Renqiu, China—an oil city well known for its petroliferous Mesoproterozoic carbonate reservoirs—Dr. Cui is a first-generation college graduate. He earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Geology from Southwest Petroleum University (Chengdu) and Peking University (Beijing), respectively, before moving abroad in 2011.

Dr. Cui’s Paleoenvironment Research Group at Kansas State University welcomes motivated students interested in the coevolution of Earth and life through deep time. Prospective students are encouraged to follow the application instructions on the K-State Geology Program webpage when applying to join the group.

He currently serves as the Associate Editor (2025-present) of Sedimentology, and is a Voting Member (2024-present) in the Subcommission on Ediacaran Stratigraphy.

Dr. Cui’s research publications are available on his Google Scholar profile.
More information can be found on his personal website.