Geology
Department News 2004-2005
Below are news items, event announcements and pictures of interest
to students, alumni and friends of the Department of Geology during
the current academic year. Should you wish to contribute to this
news list, please send an e-mail with a description of the item,
including attached pictures where appropriate, to Dr. Christopher
Cirmo at cirmoc@cortland.edu,
or to Susan Stout at stouts@cortland.edu.
You may also send them via US Mail to Susan Stout, Secretary of
Geology and Physics, SUNY Cortland, PO Box 2000, Cortland, NY 13045.
We look forward to hearing from you!
If you would like to view news items from preceeding years, please
click on the dates of interest below.
SPRING 2005 DEPARTMENT
SEMINAR/SCIENCE TEACHERS WORKSHOP
DLESE: A Free Source of High Quality Earth
Science Resources
Dr. Michelle Hall
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
7:00 pm
PC Lab
First Floor Bowers Hall
SUNY Cortland
Dr. Michelle Hall will be here Wednesday,
April 27th to present a 1 hour workshop on using DLESE (the Digital
Library for Earth Science Education) for teaching geology and earth
science at 7:00 PM in the Bowers Hall PC lab. This will be a little
different than our usual outside speaker seminars, and will include
a hands-on workshop looking at what you can do with the DLESE on-line
data set library in the classroom. Dr. Hall is an Distinguished
Lecturer for 2004-2005 with the National Association of Geoscience
Teachers (NAGT), and is with Science Exact Solutions, Inc. from
Los Alamos, NM. Dr. Hall is active in teacher preparation and professional
development and has developed curricula for the high school and
introductory college level courses. She will present ways to incorporate
GIS into lessons to investigate earth processes.
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SPRING 2005 DEPARTMENT
SEMINAR
Paleogene Greenhouse to Icehouse Transition:
Fossil Clams, Paleoclimate,
and Extinction in Antarctica
Dr. Linda C. Ivany
Syracuse University
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
7:00 pm
109 Bowers Hall
SUNY Cortland
Dr. Linda C. Ivany, Associate Professor of Geology at Syracuse
University and Paleontological Society Distinguished Lecturer,
presented a talk
on Wednesday, February 23, 2005 in 109 Bowers Hall. Dr. Ivany
is a leading expert on the relationship between ancient climates
and
mass extinction through the geochemical analyses of fossils.
Her ongoing research involves the analyses of biotic and environmental
change through the Paleogene Period (~64-20 million years ago)
from the U.S. Gulf Coast, Europe, and Antarctica. She is the
author
of
numerous papers in leading scientific journals and is co-editor
of the recently released book entitled From Greenhouse to Icehouse:
The Marine Eocene-Oligocene Transition published by Columbia
University Press. This lecture was sponsored by SUNY Cortland’s
Geology Department, Geology Club, and the Campus Artist and
Lecture Series.
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FALL 2004 DEPARTMENT SEMINAR
The
Effects of Channel Instability on Heavy Mineral Transport in the
Rio Pylcomayo, Bolivia
Dr. Dru Germanoski
Lafayette College
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
7:00 pm
109 Bowers Hall
SUNY Cortland
On November 16th, Dr. Dru Germanoski of Lafayette
College, PA, discussed his current NSF-funded research on the Rio
Pylcomayo,
Bolivia. The headwater tributaries of this river system have been
contaminated by mining wastes over the past four centuries; Dr.
Germanoski is looking at the mobility of heavy minerals from this
waste and how it relates to the geomorphology and stability of
the channel. This work has important implications to the native
Quetchua communities who live and farm in the contaminated area.
Dr. Germanoski is the Dr. Ervin R. VanArtsdalen Professor of Geology
and chair of the Lafayette College Department of Geology and Environmental
Geosciences. He has been at Lafayette College since 1990 where
his teaching has been honored with the Marquis Distinguished Teaching
Award, Jones Lecture Award for Distinguished Teaching and Research,
and the Student Government Superior Teaching Award (twice). His
research interests focus on the geomorphology of river systems,
their dynamics, and how channels respond to disturbance.
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SCHOLAR'S DAY 2004 and STUDENT RESEARCH
The Department had a major presence at the 2004 Scholar's Day at SUNY
Cortland, held on April 14, 2004. Several Faculty gave presentations including
an afternoon session dedicated to Geology, and Student/Faculty Posters were presented
during the lunchtime poster session.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
Barbara Ryan, a graduate of the Geology Department at Cortland
from 1974, was the keynote speaker for the event. Ms. Ryan is the Associate
Director
for at the United States Geological Survey. She gave an address on
"The
National Map - following in the Footsteps of John Wesley Powell."
PRESENTATIONS/POSTERS:
- Using Fluid Inclusions to Determine the Uplift
path of Metamorphic Rocks: A Comparison of the Grenville and Himalayan
Orogenic Belts.
Presenter: Robert Darling (Professor)
- A New, Exceptionally Preserved
and Diverse Molluscan Fauna from the Upper Triassic of Keku Strait,
Southeast Alaska.
Presenters: Christopher McRoberts (Associate Professor); James
Morgenthein and Emily Hopkin (undergraduates)
- Characterization of a Small Mylonitic
Shear Zone, Western Adirondacks
Presenters: Stephanie Desisto (undergraduate student); Gayle
Gleason (Assistant Professor)
- Storm Response in Two Adirondack Wetlands:
Presenters: Maryann Ashworth (graduate student); Christopher Cirmo
(Associate Professor)
- Geomorphic Evidence for a Buried Gorge at
Hoxie
Presenters: Devin Herrick, Christina Maniaci, Noah Mantaro (undergraduate
students); David Barclay (Assistant Professor)
- Stream Gaging
and Instrumentation for Long-Term Monitoring of Hydrology and Water
Quality at Hoxie Gorge
Presenters: Christopher Cirmo (Associate Professor); Vincent
Pezzullo, Devin Herrick, Rachel Hutchinson (undergraduate students)
- Creating a Geographic Information System for the Hoxie Gorge Field
Station
Presenters: Vincent Pezzullo (undergraduate student); Christopher
Cirmo (Associate Professor), David Miller (Professor)
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KRADYNA
SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS
The James Kradyna Scholarships,
for use as financial assistance to students taking summer field camp
courses, were awarded this spring
to Kristy Auchampau, Adam English and
Jason Smith (pictured below
left, Jason Smith not pictured). This award, in the amount of $500
per student, was created in honor of the late James Kradyna, long
time friend of the department and a person instrumental in the establishment
and successful running of the Brauer Field Station and its courses.
In addition, Dan Weatherbee received the James
Kradyna Student Award ($250) awarded to a student showing a "positive attitude, endless
enthusiasm and energy, good initiative, sound judgement, maturity
and competence in geology and outdoor studies!" Dan is pictured
below right with Dr. Gleason.
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DEPARTMENT ACADEMIC AWARDS/2004-2005
The Geology Department made its annual academic awards at the spring
Honors Convocation at SUNY Cortland on April 18. The Max Hawkins
Award for the senior major with the hightest GPA went to Amanda
Buboltz. The Graham Heaslip Award for academic excellence in a
junior Geology student went to Stephanie
DeSisto, and the freshman
award for highest GPA went to Megan Bradley. Amanda worked with
Dr.Cirmo on several projects over the past few years in both the
Adironacks and the Catskills. Stephanie worked with Dr. Gleason
on shear stress zone dynamics in the Adirondacks. The students
are pictured below (from left to right Amanda, Stephanie and Megan).
Also, Joshua Payne was the recipient of the "Darwin" award,
given to the student in Historical Geology (GLY 272) giving the
best oral presentation. He is pictured below right with his favorite
scientist.
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FIELD TRIPS!
Field trips this year included the Fall 2004 trip to Eastern New
York and Vermont to explore the Taconic
Orogeny! let by Dr.Gleason.
The group photo below was taken at the Proctor Marble Quarry in
Vermont. The spring trip is still in the planning stages and is
being led by Dr. McRoberts to the FLORIDA KEYS!. To view photos
of these and past trips, as well as to obtain more information,
click the Geology Field Trip link here....GEOLOGY FIELD TRIPS!
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DOMINION SCHOLARSHIPS
Dominion Resources Services Incorporated has established a scholarship
fund for students pursuing Geology degrees and with a preference
for students pursuing some aspect of environmental science. Mr.
Kevin Zink, a Cortland Geology alumnus ('77), assisted in the establishment
of the Dominion Scholarships by working with his company in procuring
annual donations of $10,000 in 2002-2004 toward these scholarships.
The awards consist of a $2000 per year scholarship for up to two
years, to mainly assist qualified students in the Environmental
Science and Water Resources concentrations, or those involved with
environmentally-associated research projects. The 2004-2005 awardees
were Leslie Tomic, Megan Bradley (GLY/ENVS
majors), and Stephanie Desisto. Leslie has received a prestigious NSF-CRUI summer fellowship
for 2005 to work with Dr. Cirmo in a project involving faculty
and staff at three institutions, investigating hydrologic and biogeochemical
functioning of Adirondack Ecosystems. Megan has been a stellar
student in the department and is working on obtaining an internship
for the summer of 2005 with the USGS in Troy, NY. Stephanie has
done research with Dr. Gleason in the Adirondacks, and has begun
work with Drs. Darling and Cirmo on the ammonium content of Adirondack
rock. The Department hopes to secure sufficient future funding
to award two-year scholarships each year to promising transfer
students and to junior students in the department with interests
in environmental science and related areas. Alex and Stephanie
are pictured below to the right (along with graduated senior Jason
Smith, an awardee last year). From left to right in the picture
below, are Megan, Leslie and Stephanie
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ADJUNCT INSTRUCTORS
This year, welcomed to our department our adjunct instructors Julie
Barclay (who returns to teach GLY 171 lectures and labs after a "well-deserved" maternity
leave) and Dr. Stephen Losh, from Cornell University, who is teaching
our SCI 141 lectures and labs, and our GLY 172 Earth History course.
Stephen is a research professor at Cornell University in the Geology
Department and has a strong background in geochemistry, structural
geology and petroleum research.
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FACULTY/STUDENT RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
As usual, our faculty have been very busy with research projects
this year and have involved students in much of their work. Several
pictures below give a sense for the "outdoor" and "lab" activities
of our students.
Stephanie DeSisto with Dr. Gleason in the Adirondacks
Students on a field trip exploring a road cut
Noah Mantaro looking for a place to put the staff gauge!
James Morgenthien fossil hunting in Alaska!
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GEOLOGY/BIOLOGY SOFTBALL GAME!
On Friday, October 1, 2004, Team Biology attempted to reclaim the
coveted “Bat and Ball” trophy from last year’s
softball champion Team Geology. By their rock-solid defense and
good hitting, Geology was easily able to dispense with Biology’s
feeble attempt to win back the title. The final score was Geology:
14, Biology: 4. Better luck next year Biology.
VICTORIOUS TEAM GEOLOGY!
DEJECTED TEAM BIOLOGY!
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