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NEWS OF THE DEPARTMENT

Three Research Grants Awarded from the C.W. Fetter, Jr. Endowed Research Fund
 Collin Dischler, Matt Hiebing, and Krista Kroeninger each have been awarded $350 research grants from the C.W. Fetter, Jr., Endowed Research Fund. Collin’s research is entitled “3D Modeling of Battle Injuries on Dinosaurs;” he will collaborate with Dr. Joe Peterson on the project. Matt Hiebing’s project will be undertaken in collaboration with Dr. Jen Wenner. Its title is “Petrographic Study of Intraflow Variation Within Primitive Basalt Eruptions of the Poison Lake Chain” (Lassen Volcanic Park, California). Dr. Wenner will also collaborate on Krista Kroeninger’s project “Residence Time of Small-Volume Basalts in Arcs: An Electron Microprobe Study to Characterize Modification Processes in the Poison Lake Chain, California.” Congratulations to all three student researchers for receiving the grants.

Two New Faculty Members Hired
The Department had two successful searches for tenure-track faculty members this year, one for a petrologist and one for a paleontologist/stratigrapher.  Our new petrologist is Dr. Chad Deering; he joins the faculty with the beginning of Fall Semester, 2011.  Dr. Deering will teach Lithology (206), Mineral Deposits (322), Geochemistry (369), and Physical Geology (102).  He received his Ph.D. from University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2009, and he has been a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Washington since then.  His research concerns felsic magma systems and volcanoes as well as geothermal energy resources.  Dr. Joe Peterson joins the faculty in Fall Semester, 2011 as our new paleontologist.  He will teach Paleontology (309), Stratigraphy and Basin Analysis (311), and Evolution of the Earth (109).  Dr. Peterson received his Ph.D. from Northern Illinois University in 2010 and spent the past academic year teaching here at UW Oshkosh as an academic staff member.  His research focuses on dinosaur taphonomy and paleoecology.  Both new faculty members will teach Field Course in Geology (360) on a rotating basis (as all faculty members do).  Dr. Peterson will be teaching this course in Spring Interim, 2012, and he plans to take students to southeastern Utah where they will, among other things, excavate dinosaurs at a quarry near Hanksville that is being excavated by the Burpee Museum in Rockford, Illinois.
Research Grants from the Department of Geology Endowed Research Fund
Congratulations to the four students who have been awarded $200 research grants from the Department of Geology Endowed Research Fund.  The grants will help support research projects in collaboration with Geology faculty members.  The students, their projects, and their faculty collaborators are listed below.

Carol Bigalke: “Erosive Craniofacial Structures in Marginocephalians: An Extant Phylogenetic Bracket Approach” with Dr. Joe Peterson

Bryan Ernst:  “The Glover Bluff Structure: A Possible Impact Feature Exposed in the Mid-Continent Cambro-Ordovician Strata of Central Wisconsin” with Dr. Tim Paulsen

Candice Phillips: “Trace-Element Comparisons of Spatially Related Basalt Pairs in the Poison Lake Chain, Northern California” with Dr. Jen Wenner
       
Mike Schallhorn: “Taphonomic Investigations of Erosive Structures in Pachycephalosaurid Crania” with Dr. Joe Peterson

The Endowed Research Fund was established and continues to grow as a result of donations from faculty members, emeriti, and alumni.  To be eligible for a research grant, a student must apply for another research grant such as Sigma Xi or Geological Society of America.


Andrew Jansen and Derrick Wagner
Andrew Jansen and Derrick Wagner were awarded $500 research grants for the 2008-2009 academic year from the Endowed Research Fund.  Andy will study volcanic rocks of the Ely Greenstone in northeastern Minnesota under the supervision of Dr. George Hudak.  Derrick will collaborate with Dr. Eric Hiatt to study the provenance of glacial tills collected along the Transantarctic Mountains through the use of X-Ray diffractometry.  Both Andy and Derrick will be seniors in 2008-2009.

Rachelle Kernen and Brad Jeffrey
Rachelle Kernen and Brad Jeffrey, both senior geology majors this fall, received $500 research grants from the Endowed Geology Research Fund. Rachelle’s project, “Caught Between Two Tectonic Environments: A Geochemical Study of Source and Magma Modification Processes at Mount Lassen, California,” will be advised by Dr. Jen Wenner. Dr. Dan Lehrmann will supervise Brad’s project, which is entitled “Facies and Microfossil Study of the Mechanisms and Timing of the Termination of the Rajamandala Platform, West Java, Indonesia.” (Aug. 2007)

Cole Edwards Awarded Research Grant from Endowed Geology Research Fund
Cole Edwards, a junior geology major, received a research grant for $400 to support his collaborative research “Controls on the formation of the earliest marine phosphate deposits, Marquette Supergroup, Michigan.” Dr. Eric Hiatt is his faculty research collaborator. This is the first research project to be supported from the recently established Endowed Geology Research Fund (Oct. 2006).

C.W. FETTER ENDOWED RESEARCH FUND
The Department of Geology is pleased to announce the creation of The C.W. Fetter Endowed Research Fund to provide financial support to our student researchers. More information may be found by clicking on the above link or you may make an online donation at http://www.uwosh.edu/foundation/how-to-give/give-online.php. Please indicate 'Geology Endowed Research Fund' at the bottom of the page under 'Gift Allocation Notes'.

DEPARTMENT NEWSLETTERS


VOL. 29, NO. 3 (posted 02/27/13)

VOL. 29, NO. 2 (posted 02/18/13)

VOL. 29, NO. 1 (posted 02/18/13)

 

VOL. 28, NO. 7 (posted 02/18/13)

VOL. 28, NO. 6 (posted 10/30/12)

VOL. 28, NO. 5 (posted 10/22/12)
VOL. 28, NO. 4 (posted 10/09/12)
VOL. 28, NO. 3 (posted 10/01/12)
VOL. 28, NO. 2 (posted 09/25/12)
VOL. 28, NO. 1 (posted 09/05/12)