Undergraduate geology students at 51ยายื get to work in the field with renowned faculty as well as doing their work on senior thesis projects.
Earth and Environmental Geosciences Research
Earth and Environmental Geosciences Research
The Earth and Environmental Geosciences faculty are committed to highly effective teaching as well as to quality scientific research. Faculty educate students to be well-prepared geologists who can help solve problems related to energy, resources and the environment during this important phase of human history.
In addition to their significant teaching duties, faculty also are very active in research, publish in various peer-reviewed publications, and deliver invited lectures and conference presentations.
Faculty members also oversee graduate research projects and advise on graduate thesis projects within the department, college, university and abroad.
The Earth and Environmental Geosciences faculty collaborates across four research clusters:
- Geochemistry This includes petrology, geochemistry, geochronology, convergent-margin tectonics, and other related disciplines.
- Mineralogy: This includes mineralogy, planetary geology, geology of Mars, impact cratering, and remote sensing.
- Environmental Processes: This includes hydrogeology, contaminant hydrology, groundwater and surface water remediation, low-temperature geochemistry, acid mine drainage, environmental isotope hydrology, or greenhouse gas dynamics in critical zones.
- Surficial Processes: This includes fluvial and karst geomorphology, paleoclimate and geomorphic response to climate change, rivers and flooding, and bedrock stream processes.
Faculty Research Areas
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Charlene Estrada--Online and open-access education
--Astrobiology
--Origins of Life
--Aqueous Geochemistry
--Mineral surface chemistry
--Mineralogy -
Katherine FornashGeochemical and Tectonic Processes--Metamorphic Petrology
--Geochemistry
--Geochronology
--Convergent Margin Tectonics -
Eung Seok LeeHydrogeology--Contaminant hydrogeology
--Environmental isotope hydrology
--Carbonate-rock hydrogeology -
Keith MilamPlanetary Geology--Geology of Mars
--Impact Cratering
--Remote Sensing -
Arindam MukherjeeGroundwater Hydrogeology--Contaminant transport in heterogeneous formations
--Stochastic simulation of precipitation
--Estimation of long-term recharge rates in arid environments
--Geospatial techniques for risk assessment/disaster preparedness -
Vincent NowaczewskiSedimentary Tectonics of Late Paleozoic North America--Sedimentary tectonics
--Intracratonic deformation
--Basin analysis
--Stratigraphy/Sedimentology
--Invertebrate Paleontology/Biostratigraphy -
Gregory S. SpringerFluvial and Karst Geomorphology--Paleoclimate
--Geoarchaeology
--Paleoflood hydrology
--Geomorphic response to climate change
--Bedrock rivers and erosion
Student Researchers: Senior Capstones and Master's Theses
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Graduate Student Research
Graduate students are encouraged to develop into independent scientists while earning the skills necessary to pursue their career aspirations. Students select a permanent faculty adviser and write a thesis.
Earth and Environmental Geosciences Facilities
Rock sample preparation laboratory
Crushing and powdering equipment
- Morse Jaw Crusher: coarse crushing rock down to gravel particle size
- Bico UA pulverizer: crushing and disaggregating rock to sand particle size
- Angstrom model TE250 ring pulverizer: WC grinding containers are used for powdering samples in preparation for XRD and XRF analysis.
Saws
- Hilquist large slab saw Model RF 20-24
- Hilquist medium slab saw Model RF 14-16
- Hilquist Trim Saw Model SF-8
Thin sectioning equipment
- Hilquist thin sectioning machine and plate grinder. Used to prepare thin sections of rock for petrographic analysis.
Petrology & Geochemistry Laboratory
- Rigaku Supermini200 - benchtop WD-XRF for elemental analysis of solid, powder, or liquid sample
- XRF Scientific Phoenix gas fusion machine allows automated preparation of fused glass beads for XRF analysis