Geol 1030-02/03

Through support from the NASA Tennessee Space Grant Consortium (state web site, national web site), MTSU undergraduates who have taken a few science courses and who have an aptitude for science earn $11/hr exploring new frontiers. Contact campus representative Mark Abolins for more information.

The StepMT and McNair programs have supported undergraduate geology research.

Geoscience facilities

Mineral, Gem and Fossil Museum

X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF)

Laboratory for Spatial Technology (Geographic Information Systems)

MTSU Undergraduates ROCK!

Miller Wylie – 2008 Geological Society of America Annual Meeting

Travis Estep - 2006 Geological Society of America Annual Meeting

Larry Cole - 2006 Geological Society of America Annual Meeting

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Information about the instructor

Education

I earned my doctorate in geology from the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences (Division web site, Tectonics Observatory) at the California Institute of Technology in 1999.

I earned my bachelors degree from the Departments of Earth & Planetary Science and Integrative Biology (double major) at the University of California, Berkeley in 1992. Within Integrative Biology, I focused on paleontology (major info, Museum of Paleontology) but, here at Middle Tennessee State University, my colleague Dr. Melissa Lobegeier is the paleontologist.

Past work

As a major component of my doctoral dissertation, I made (and analyzed) a bedrock geologic map of ~170 square kilometers near the Nevada Test Site. This work involved nine months of field investigations in mountainous terrain and years of computer work. (You need the free Adobe Postscript Reader to view the maps.)

Plate 1 – Part 1

Plate 1 – Part 2

Plate 2

Another major component involved the field-based investigation of events - including extreme ice ages (NSF-funded web site) - accompanying the origin and diversification of animals.

While a graduate student, I was incidentally involved in the Basin and Range Geodetic Network (BARGEN) and geodetic monitoring at Yucca Mountain, NV, the proposed national high-level radioactive waste repository. During these activities, I spent a small amount of time on the low-security portion of the Nevada Test Site (Area 25) - a truly bizarre place.

During the summer after I graduated from Berkeley, I contributed in a very small way to a bedrock geologic map of the Garden Valley Quadrangle near Roseburg, OR.

While an undergraduate, I spent two summers on the Juneau Icefield in Southeast Alaska. During the first summer, I skied across the entire icefield (~100 km) with over fifty pounds on my back. (During the second summer I rode around in helicopters and oversnow vehicles.)

While at Berkeley, I also had the privilege of taking a graduate course taught by Dr. Walter Alvarez, co-author of the meteoroid impact hypothesis for dinosaur extinction, and a course taught by geophysicist Raymond Jeanloz, a 1988 recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Award.

Places visited outside the United States

Japan, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Italy, Costa Rica, Mexico, Canada.

Hobbies

Backpacking, Outdoor Adventure, Swing Dance, Folk Dance

Five facts about me that have pretty much nothing to do with this course

· At age 18, I tried to become a U.S. Forest Service fire fighter and worked briefly at surveying and logistics.

· Microeconomics was my favorite general studies course in college.

· I once co-managed a dormitory dining program with a Vietnamese boatperson who now works in public health.

· I lost a toe nail in the mosh pit during the Alice in Chains set at Lollapalooza ‘93.

· I enjoy the Hudson River school of landscape painting.