Lewis A. Owen is a professor and head of the Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences at North Carolina State University since 2019. Prior to that, he was a professor and head of the Department of Geology at the University of Cincinnati from 2008 to 2019. He has also held various academic positions at the University of California, Riverside, Royal Holloway-University of London, and Hong Kong Baptist University. His research focuses on Quaternary paleoenvironmental change, landscape evolution, environmental geology, and natural hazards along active plate margins, with a particular emphasis on the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen and the western Cordilleras of North and South America. He has also conducted research in other regions, including Egypt, Venezuela, Morocco, Trinidad, Thailand, Yemen, Azerbaijan, and the United Kingdom.
His research also involves defining the timing and relationship between tectonics, geomorphic processes, and Quaternary climatic change to understand landscape evolution. His research employ mapping and numerical dating of landforms and sediments to determine the timing and rates of geomorphic and tectonic processes. Prof. Owen is director of geochronology laboratories at the University utilize emerging techniques such as terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure and optically stimulated luminescence dating. They have conducted research in several regions globally, including the American Midwest, Himalayas, Egypt, Venezuela, Morocco, Trinidad, Thailand, Yemen, Azerbaijan, and the United Kingdom.