Geology and Geography News
Alumni news: Khandaker Zahid (MS 2005) joins Chevron
Alumni news: Khandaker Zahid (MS 2005) joins Chevron
Congratulations to Nur Uddin Md Khaled Chowdhury
Congratulations to Nur Uddin Md. Khaled Chowdhury for receiving an AAPG grant in aid through SEAPEX, the South East Asia Petroleum Exploration Society, for his thesis research on the petrofacies and geochronology of Gondwanan sequences in South Asia.
Behind the predictions at The Weather Channel: student group receives tour
Students in assistant professor Chandana Mitra's Climatology class in the Department of Geology and Geography visited The Weather Channel in Atlanta in March. The purpose of the trip was to engage students in learning opportunities outside of the classroom.
Chris Marlow was recently awarded the Alabama Geological Society's John G. Newton Scholarship for 2012.
Chris Marlow was recently awarded the Alabama Geological Society's John G. Newton Scholarship for 2012.
Geology and Geography Annual Picnic 2013
Geology and Geography Annual Picnic 2013
Congratulations to Ryan Hile for receiving the 2013 David W. Icenogle Award for Outstanding Senior in Geography.
Congratulations to Ryan Hile for receiving the 2013 David W. Icenogle Award for Outstanding Senior in Geography.
Wilkes 2013 NASA Volcanology Field Workshop
Congratulations to Cheryl Wilkes, who got into the NASA Planetary Volcanology Field Workshop in Hawaii
Saunders receives NSF grant
James Saunders, professor in the Department of Geology and Geography, received a three-year National Science Foundation grant for his research project titled, "Transport and Deposition of Metallic Nanoparticles as a Hydrothermal Ore-forming Process." The grant is supported by the Petrology and Geochemistry program and will allow Saunders to expand his research in the realm of metallic nanoparticle transport, particularly those involved in the formation of shallow deposits of gold and silver, which were the type of precious-metal ores commonly mined in the western U.S. in the 1800s.
Searching for evidence of life on the Red Planet
Has there ever been life on Mars? Shawn Wright, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Geology and Geography suggests we can only answer that question by looking in the right places, including deep craters on Mars.
Congratulations to Sarah Sheffield for winning the COSAM Graduate Research Award.
COSAM held the Dean’s Research Awards ceremony on March 6. The awards provide the dean with an opportunity to acknowledge outstanding COSAM faculty and students for their research and scholarly accomplishments.
U.S. Geoscience Enrollments and Degrees Grow Robustly in 2011-2012
Alexandria, VA – New data collected by the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) and published in Geoscience Currents 68 reaffirms a decade-long trend of continued growth in U.S. undergraduate enrollments in the geosciences during the 2011-2012 academic year.
Internal grant triggers interdisciplinary work and multiple projects
Luke Marzen, professor in the College of Sciences and Mathematics, or COSAM, and Art Chappelka, professor in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, or SFWS, spurred collaboration between Auburn University and the U.S. Geological Survey Alabama Water Science Center to produce an exact, three-dimensional model of the Toomer’s oaks. The model provided both a means of measuring the overall health of the trees, as well as documentation of the historic oaks. It was produced using a tripod-mounted laser scanner, also known as terrestrial light detection and ranging, or T-LiDAR. The T-LiDAR sends out a laser that scans anything within range and produces a three-dimensional replica.
Consequences of the oil spill on the Gulf Coast environment revealed
Two researchers in Auburn University’s College of Sciences and Mathematics have delivered preliminary results of ongoing research into the effects of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and results indicate potentially serious consequences for the environment. The researchers, Ming-Kuo Lee, Robert B. Cook professor of geology, and Ken Halanych, alumni professor of biological sciences, carried out two separate projects surveying different regions in the gulf, and in each location, effects of the oil spill are persistent. The research suggests the oil spill may have caused massive harm to the environment at a microscopic level, which in turn could have serious repercussions on the food chain in the long term.
COSAM awards the 2012 Dean’s Outstanding Outreach Award
COSAM named two recipients of the 2012 Dean’s Outstanding Outreach Award, David King, professor of geology, and Ash Abebe, associate professor of mathematics and statistics. The annual Outstanding Outreach Award is given to COSAM faculty members with recent records of service and outreach performance that extend beyond normal expectations.
Geography professor helps preserve historic Toomer’s Oaks
Luke Marzen has been a geography professor at Auburn for 10 years. Originally from Iowa, Marzen said he has grown to love Auburn, especially the traditions surrounding university athletics.
“I have rolled Toomer’s corner a couple of times but more than anything, I like to go there after football wins and just enjoy the atmosphere,” Marzen said. “I was in Washington for the annual Meteorology Society meeting when the news broke that the trees had been poisoned. I was pretty shocked when I heard. My first thought was of trying to contact my former student, Dusty Kimbrow (’08), to do a scan of the trees.”