Bob Bauer studies ancient mountain-building processes. The principal objectives of this research are to determine the tectonic and thermal history of mountain building and to relate these histories to major orogenic events and plate interactions.

These objectives are accomplished through a combination of field and laboratory studies. The field studies include mapping and analysis of deformation features to determine both their geometries and the distributions of strains and fabrics associated with their formation. The field work also involves evaluation of the metamorphic history of the region and its relationship to deformation history. This evaluation continues in the laboratory with petrographic analysis of the relationship between deformation fabrics and metamorphic minerals and with chemical analysis of selected minerals to determine the pressure and temperature histories that the rocks record. Ultimately, this analysis allows determination of the pressure-temperature history of the rocks and a better understanding of the relationship between metamorphism and deformation history.