2006-2007Annual Report, Geosciences Division

[Hey, all! Below is the Annual Report of the Geosciences Division to CUR, along with annual activities and other items of interest from some of your Geoscience Councilors. If anything piques your interest here, don't hesitate to zip me an email about it! JR]

The Geosciences Division has had a typically active year conducting outreach and facilitating the presentation of undergraduate research results in national professional venues in the geosciences.

--At the 2006 National Conference, Geoscience Councilors served as facilitators or co-facilitators in seventeen different workshop and interactive sessions, ranging in topics from doing research on a shoestring, conducting field research with undergraduates, innovative classroom-based research activities, leadership development opportunities for female faculty, and examinations of research funding opportunities.

For 2006-2007, the Geoscience Division proposed and chaired two special sessions at national geoscience meetings:
1) “Collegiate Watershed Research Projects: Opportunities for Student Learning and Community Involvement,” at the Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America. Conveners and session chairs were Councilor Brannon Andersen and former Councilor Kirsten Menking.
2) “Facilitating Undergraduate Research in the Geosciences: Classroom Innovations That Encourage and Support Student Investigations” at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Conveners and session chairs were Councilors Jeff Ryan and Lydia Fox.
3) Undergraduate Research posters and poster sessions were sponsored at all the Sectional Meetings of the Geological Society of America:
--Northeastern: As arranged with the Section leadership because of its scale, undergraduate research posters are integrated into all sessions at this meeting, and the student presentations are managed and co-sponsored by the Geosciences Division. This year, over 100 student posters were presented at this meeting, an effort coordinated by Councilor Dave Bailey.
--Southeastern: The Undergraduate Research poster session included 36 student presentations, and was chaired by Brannon Andersen and Jeff Ryan.
--Joint South-Central/North Central Section meeting: The Undergraduate Research poster session included 36 student presentations, and was chaired by Councilor Bob Shuster.
--Rocky Mountain: The Undergraduate Research poster session included 14 student presentations, and was chaired by Councilor Bill Dinklage.
--Cordilleran: The Undergraduate Research poster session included 16 student presentations, and was chaired by Councilor Jeff Marshall.

Outreach efforts by the Division include both faculty development workshops and informational booths at professional meetings:
1) At the 2006 GSA Annual Meeting, the Division manned an informational booth about CUR that is provided to us as a benefit of being an Associated Society of the Geological Society of America. Division Chair Jeff Ryan represents the Division and CUR at biannual meetings of the GSA Associated Societies Forum, one at the Annual Meeting, and one at the GSA offices in Boulder, CO in early March. At the Boulder meeting, Ryan and NAGT president Karen Havholm led a half-day discussion session on issues and opportunities in geoscience education.
2) At the AGU Fall Meeting, Councilors Lydia Fox, Pat Manley, and Jeff Ryan convened and facilitated a faculty development workshop “Starting Out in Undergraduate Research.” Geoscience Councilor emeritus Don Woodrow joined in for part of the event.
3) Changes in policies at the Geological Society of America precluded us offering a faculty development workshop at the 2006 Annual Meeting. However, the Division did submit a workshop proposal in cooperation with NAGT for 2007 GSA Annual Meeting in Denver (conveners: Lydia Fox, Jeff Ryan and Jill Singer). This proposal was accepted, and the workshop is currently being scheduled.
4) At the 2007 GSA Southeastern Section meeting, the Division secured commercial booth space as an experiment in (hopefully) more direct outreach to potential Geoscience members. Overall, the booth (which cost us only $100 of our Divisional allotment) was quite successful at promoting CUR and the Division, even though it couldn’t be manned full-time, and essentially all of the promotional materials we brought were taken by meeting attendees. One interesting issue that appeared was a large number of Geoscience faculty discovering AT OUR BOOTH that their universities were CUR institutional members. Clearly this information needs to be better disseminated within our institutional members, and as an organization we need to better delineate the benefits and roles of individual versus institutional memberships.

Activities and Outcomes by Individual Councilors, reported for the 2007 Business Meeting:

Brannon Andersen:
• Co-Chair, “Council of Undergraduate Research Undergraduate Research Poster Session” Geological Society of America, Southeastern Section Meeting
• Co-Chair, “Ecology, Hydrology, and Water Quality in Urban and Suburban Watersheds” Geological Society of America, 2007 Southeastern Section Meeting
• Co-Chair, “Collegiate Watershed Research Projects: Opportunities for Student Learning and Community Involvement,” Geological Society of America 2006 Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA
• Advisory panel, Clean Water Alliance for the State of South Carolina
• Ad hoc manuscript reviewer, Geosphere
• Ad hoc proposal reviewer, NSF Major Research Instrumentation Program
• Ad hoc proposal reviewer, NSF Ecosystems Studies Program (twice)
• Member of the Teagle Foundation Undergraduate Research Task Force, Furman University
• Papers published:
Lewis, G.P., Mitchell, J., Andersen, C.B., Haney, D., and Liao, M.K., and Sargent, K.A., 2007, Urban influences on stream chemistry and biology in the Big Brushy Creek watershed, South Carolina: Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, DOI 10.1007/s11270-007-9340-1.
Muthukrishnan, S., Lewis, G.P., and Andersen, C.B., 2007, Chapter 24. Relationships between land cover, vegetation density, and nitrate concentrations in streams of the Enoree River basin, piedmont region of South Carolina, USA, in, D. Sarkar, R. Datta, and R. Hannigan (eds.), Concepts and Applications in Environmental Geochemistry, Elsevier Press, New York, p. 517-542.
• Abstracts (*undergraduate author):
Lewis, G.P., Andersen, C.B., Liao, M.-K., Muthukrishnan, S., Dripps, W., and Haney, D., 2007, Urbanization and water quality in the South Carolina piedmont: Annual Meeting of the North American Benthological Society, 55th Annual Meeting.
Andersen, C.B., and Lewis, G.P., 2007, Ponds in the urban landscape: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Southeastern Section Meeting, v. 39.
Lewis, G.P., *Rodriguez, J., Andersen, C.B., and Liao, M.-K., 2007, Relationships between land cover and water quality parameters in streams of northwestern South Carolina: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Southeastern Section Meeting, v. 39.
*O’Neill, B., *Abrams, K., *McCary, S., Lewis, G.P., Andersen, C.B., and Dripps, W., 2007, Temporal variation in physical and chemical parameters in streams draining commercial, residential, and rural watersheds, Enoree River Basin, South Carolina: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Southeastern Section Meeting, v. 39.
*Slater, L., *Williams, A., Andersen, C.B., and Lewis, G.P., 2007, Spatial variation of carbon species in an urbanized watershed in the piedmont of South Carolina: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Southeastern Section Meeting, v. 39.
*Strikas, O., *Lopez, J., Andersen, C.B., and Haney, D., 2007, Factors controlling grain size distribution of sediments in South Carolina piedmont streams near Greenville, SC.: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Southeastern Section Meeting, v. 39.
*Trierweiler, A., *Pang, S., Andersen, C.B., and Lewis, G.P., 2007, Spatial variation of dissolved nitrogen in the headwaters of the highly urbanized Brushy Creek watershed, South Carolina: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Southeastern Section Meeting, v. 39.
*Williams, A., Andersen, C.B., and Lewis, G.P., 2007, An evaluation of the effect of sample processing treatments on alkalinity measurements of groundwater from a piedmont region, South Carolina: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Southeastern Section Meeting, v. 39.
Andersen, C.B., Lewis, G.P., Muthukrishnan, S., and Dripps, W.R., 2006, Nitrogen in urban streams: Possible sources, sinks, and transformations: Annual Meeting of the Geological America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 38.
*Williams, A., Andersen, C.B., and Lewis, G.P., 2006, An evaluation of the effect of sample processing treatments on alkalinity measurements of river waters in a karstic region: Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 38.

Lori Bettison-Varga:
• Serving as CUR National President for 2006-2007.
• Serving as Director of the Keck Research Consortium. Helped to host the 20th Annual Keck Undergraduate Research Symposium at the College of Wooster in April of 2007.
• Appointed Provost and Dean of Faculty at Whitman College, Walla Walla Washington, as of July 1, 2007.
• Served as the moderator of a plenary session at the AAC&U “Student As Scholar” conference in April, on institutionalizing undergraduate research.

Bill Dinklage
• Co-led a field trip along the Wasatch Front for a National Science Teacher Association conference in Salt Lake City
• Mentored a student who presented at the April, 2007, NCUR on Ti-in-biotite thermometry
• Continued to receive institutional funding for undergraduate research in the Pequop Mts., Nevada
• Serving a the committee which administers research funding in the UVSC School of Science and Health
• Continued to give talks on global climate change to University and local audiences.

Steve Dunn:
• Serving as Chair of the Geology Department, Mt. Holyoke College
• Received a $158K National Science Foundation grant to study graphitization processes, work that will be conducted with undergraduate researchers.

Lydia Fox:
• Serving as the Coordinator of the 7th Annual Pacific Undergraduate Research & Creativity Conference, at the University of the Pacific
• Convened and facilitated a workshop (with Kerry Karukstis in the Chemistry Division) at the Annual Meeting of the National PostDoctoral Association on "How to get a tenure-track position at a primarily undergraduate institution"
• Co-convened a workshop and co-chaired a special session at the AGU Fall Meeting (see above).
• Chaired a University of the Pacific task-force on institutionalizing undergraduate research
• Co-Chair of the CUR-2008 National Conference,
• Chair of the Meetings Committee.

Laura Guertin:
• Serving as Councilor in the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (along with CUR Emeritus President Jill Singer)
• Supervised nine undergraduate independent research projects in 2006-2007. Highlighted projects include:
• Project advisor for an undergraduate honors option project on cemetery demography from Centralia, PA. This student presented her research at The Sigma Xi (The Scientific Research Society’s) Student Symposium held at Saint Joseph’s University, April 2007.
• Field project advisor for senior thesis of Earth science major on the comparison of anthropogenic and natural beach scallops in Ocean City, MD. This student presented his research at GSA in Philadelphia in October 2007.
Didlake, T.J., Guertin, L.A., 2006. Comparison of modern anthropogenic and natural beach scallops in Ocean City, MD. Abstracts with Programs (Geological Society of America), v. 38, n. 7, p. 352.
• Project advisor for two students conducting undergraduate research in developing hands-on hydrologic and meteorologic curriculum for elementary school girls. This project was funded through an EPA Environmental Education Grant where I served as PI.
Environmental Protection Agency: “SPHERES! (Science Programming HERE, Scouts!) at Penn State Delaware County.” PI on proposal. One year (2005-2006).
• Project advisor for undergraduate independent research project involving the development of environmental science instruction and an environmental science essay contest for middle and high school girls. This project was funded through a Society of Women Environmental Professionals Grant.
Society of Women Environmental Professionals: “Concern and Care for the Earth: An Essay Writing Contest for Girls.” PI on proposal. One year (2006).
• Two additional science-related projects, two projects relating to civic engagement
• Organized two undergraduate research fairs for the honors program on campus, titled The Socratic Symposium. Instructed students on how to give oral presentations, how to make PowerPoint presentations, and how to make posters.
• Publications:
Guertin, L.A., 2006. Integrating handheld technology with field investigations in introductory-level geoscience courses. Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 54, n. 2, p. 143-146.

Pat Manley
• Serving as Associate Dean of Undergraduate Research at Middlebury College
• Set up Undergraduate Research Office, organized the first Spring Student Symposium, and developed a web database of Middlebury research funds available for undergraduate research
• Took 4 undergraduates in 2006 to Antarctica on the research SHALDRIL cruises
• Oversaw 6 undergraduate student theses in 2006-2007
• With the Geology department, took 5 senior undergraduates to present their undergraduate student thesis results at the Vermont State Geological Society Spring meeting.

Jeanette Pope:
• Coordinator of the Women in Science Program at DePauw (2006 – present)
• Funded undergraduate research project: “Investigating the Hydrogeochemistry of Acid Mine Drainage along West Little Sugar Creek, IN” (May – August 2006). Supported by DePauw University.
• Meeting Presentations:
Pope, Jeanette K (2006) “Integrating Research into Geochemistry Using Local Resources” Council of Undergraduate Research Bi-annual Meeting, Greencastle, IN
Pogue, John*, Vetz, Nicholas*, Pope, Jeanette K (2006) “Ground water – Surface Water Exchange in an Acid Mine Drainage Setting” in Abstracts with Programs 2006 Annual Meetings, Geological Society of America.
Pope, Jeanette K, Mooney, Philip*, Pogue, John* (2006) “Integrating Research into an Undergraduate Geochemistry Course” in Abstracts with Programs 2006 Annual Meetings, Geological Society of America.
• Other presentations
“Global Warming: Cause, Consequences, and Corrective Action” for spouses and guests of the Board of Trustees, October 2006
“When Good Rocks Go Bad – Geochemistry of Acid Mine Drainage” for Faculty Colloquium Series, April 2007

Jeff Ryan
• Serving as Assistant Chair and Undergraduate and Graduate Program Director, Department of Geology, University of South Florida
• Serving as a Member of the NSF MARGINS Program Steering Committee, and the MARGINS Education Advisory Committee. Represented MARGINS at the NSF-Geosciences Facilities/Initiatives Educational Directors Meeting in March of 2007.
• Served on five review panels for three different NSF funding programs (Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement, Advanced Technological Education, and STEM Talent Expansion programs) in 2006-2007.
• Received two NSF Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement Program grants in 2006: the first to examine the impact of using remotely operated microbeam instrumentation in geoscience classrooms on student learning and research facilitation; and the second to repurpose multidisciplinary data and visualization resources derived from NSF-MARGINS program funded projects for use in both introductory and upper-level geoscience classrooms.
• Co-Convener and Presenter in the “Bringing MARGINS Science to the Classroom” workshop in Arlington, VA in April of 2007 (the kickoff to the MARGINS CCLI project above).
• Received (in collaboration with a USF colleague) NSF Earth Sciences-Instrumentation and Facilities Program funding to acquire a quadrupole ICP-Mass Spectrometer analytical system.
• Relevant meeting presentations:
Ryan, J.G., 2006, Designing and evaluating Classroom activities using remotely operated microbeam instruments: Some preliminary results. 2006 AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts volume, ED33B-1390
Ryan, J.G., Peterson, V.L., and Yurkovich, S.P. (2007) Amphibolites and meta-ultramafic rocks point to petrogenetic and tectonic diversity in the Cartoogechaye Terrane. 2007 GSA Southeastern Section Meeting Abstracts with Programs, p. 27.
Wagner, R. Grose, C., Lindsey, M. and Ryan, J.G., (2007) B-Be-Li Systematics in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt: Along-Strike Consistencies and Variations. Submitted for the AGU Joint Assembly Meeting, Acapulco, Mexico.
Ryan, J.G., Peterson, V.L., and Yurkovich, S.P. (2007) Describing ancient forearcs through the study of mafic and ultramafic metamorphic rocks: a case study from the US Appalachians. Submitted for the AGU Joint Assembly Meeting in Acapulco, Mexico.

Kathleen Surpless:
• Received $55,000 grant from the ACS-Petroleum Research Fund to conduct research on the Hornbrook Formation in Oregon with undergraduate students.
• Served as a workshop leader for the NSF-sponsored Cutting Edge/NAGT workshop "Preparing for an Academic Career in the Geosciences," emphasizing careers at a primarily undergraduate institution.
• Supervised two undergraduate research projects, culminating in two student posters presented at the 2006 Cordilleran Section GSA meeting in Anchorage, Alaska:
Hanley, P. R., Surpless, K. D., Roseberry, J. C., 2006, Detrital zircon dating of Jurassic Great Valley Group strata: Implications for the early evolution of the Great Valley forearc basin: Abstracts with Programs – Geological Society of America, Cordilleran Section, vol. 38, no. 5.
Roseberry, John C., Surpless, K. D., and Hanley, P. R., 2006, Detrital zircon analysis of Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous Great Valley Group forearc basin strata in the Newville and Wilbur Springs area, Sacramento Valley, California: Abstracts with Programs – Geological Society of America, Cordilleran Section, vol. 38, no. 5.
• Serving on a Trinity University planning committee for the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics group on campus.

Jeff Marshall:
• Chair, “Council of Undergraduate Research Poster Session” Geological Society of America, Cordilleran Section Meeting, Bellingham, WA (May 6, 2007).
• Representative for 4-year CSU system, CUR-NCIA Regional Conversation on Research at Community Colleges, San Antonio College, Walnut, CA (Feb. 16, 2007) (with Nancy Hensel, Jill Singer, and Kerry Karukstis).
• Reviewer for student research abstracts, SACNAS – Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science Annual Conference, Tampa, FL
• Reviewer for Geosciences student abstracts, CUR Posters on the Hill
• Geology faculty on Cal Poly Pomona Tropical Field Studies Course in Costa Rica, with 10 undergraduate students, (June-July 2006)
• Supervised 4 Cal Poly Pomona undergraduate research students (2 field projects in Costa Rica, and 2 field projects in Southern California).
• Took 3 undergraduate students to Costa Rica for field research (Jan. 2007)
• Awarded 2 Cal Poly Pomona University grants to support undergraduate Geosciences field research in Costa Rica (Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Grant, and Faculty Professional Development Grant).
• Selected as a 2007 Cal Poly Pomona University Provost’s Teacher-Scholar in recognition of undergraduate research activities in Costa Rica
• Invited participant, NSF International Division/Continental Dynamics Division planning meeting and field conference for collaborative Geosciences research, University of Costa Rica (Jan. 2007)
• Invited participant, NSF MARGINS Program, Workshop to Integrate Subduction Factory and Seismogenic Zone Studies in Central America, Heredia, Costa Rica (June 2007)
• Manuscript reviewer for Geomorphology; GSA Books; and Estuarine, Coastal, and Shelf Science
• University Service, Cal Poly Pomona: Chair of Physical Sciences G.E. Assessment Committee; Academic Senator; Academic Programs Committee; Center for GIS Research Advisory Board; College of Science Prioritization Advisory Group; Geology Club Advisor; Geological Sciences Colloquium Coordinator; Geophysics Search Committee
• Publications:
Marshall, J.S., 2007, Geomorphology and Physiographic Provinces of Central America, in Bundschuh, J. and Alvarado, G., eds, Central America: Geology, Hazards, and Resources, Taylor and Francis, London, 75-122.
• Relevant conference presentations (*undergraduate author):
Marshall, J.S., *LaFromboise, E.J., Gardner, T.W., and Protti, M., 2007, Upper plate faulting and uplift along the Nicoya Peninsula seismic gap, northern Costa Rica fore arc: NSF MARGINS Program, Central America Focus-Site Workshop, Heredia, Costa Rica, 2007.
*Ruotolo, A.M., *Ellis, R.A., and Marshall, J.S., 2007, Geomorphology and tectonics of uplifted alluvial fan remnants along the San Gabriel Mountain Foothills, San Dimas and La Verne, Los Angeles County, California: Cal Poly Pomona University, College of Science 2nd Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, 2007.
Gardner, T., *Pezzia, C., *Amborn, T., *Tunnell, R., *Flanagan, S., Merritts, D., Marshall, J., Webb, J., Fabel, D., Cupper, M., 2007, Deformation of Late Neogene and Quaternary Marine Terraces, Cape Liptrap, Southeastern Victoria, Australia: XVII INQUA Congress, International Quaternary Association, Cairns, Australia, 2007.
Sak, P.B., Fisher, D.M., Gardner, T.W., Lafemina, P., and Marshall, J.S., 2006, Interseismic coupling, Quaternary uplift rates, and fore arc deformation along the Costa Rican segment of the Middle America Trench: Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, v. 87, Fall Meeting Supplement Abs. T21D-0445.
Singer, J., and Marshall, J., 2006, The Los Angeles and Buffalo Rivers: Restoration of urban river systems and opportunities for student learning: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v.38, no.5, Abs. 88-7.
Gardner, T., *Pezzia, C., *Amborn, T., *Tunnell, R., *Flanagan, S., Merritts, D., Marshall, J., Webb, J., Fabel, D., Cupper, M., 2006, Intraplate deformation of late Neogene and Quternary marine terraces, Cape Liptrap, southeastern Victoria, Australia: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 38, no. 5, Abs. 24-11.