Archive for 2020
Determining the Source of Idaho’s Mystery Boudins
Geology and environmental studies major Emily Carlson (’20) has been working with faculty member Rory McFadden (Geology) to sleuth the origins of a needle in a geologic haystack. McFadden, who conducts research in the Pioneer Mountains of Idaho, returned from a field season with a curious sample – it contains layers just a few millimeters […]
Getting to the Roots of Groundwater
Each year, rainfall events become more and more unpredictable due to climate change. This presents many challenges and raises many questions for society. One specific question is “How much water from rain events permeates the ground, eventually becoming groundwater?” Brittney Johnson (Geology ’20) spent last summer answering this question. She used precipitation data and groundwater […]
A Minecraft View of the Minnesota River
Public schools in the United States usually only make students aware of geology and don’t teach students the real-world impacts of understanding geology. Developing an understanding of geology is made more difficult by the large amounts of time involved in geologic processes. To address these gaps in understanding, Sawyer Johnson (Geology ’20) is creating a […]
Alumni Successes: Tara Selly ’13 finds the oldest fossil gut
In January, Tara Selly (Geology ’13) made the New York Times’ “Science & Technology” front page for helping to discover the oldest known animal gut! She is now an assistant research professor Geology at the University of Missouri, and helped make the discovery in her role as the assistant director of the University’s X-ray Microanalysis […]
Alumni Successes: Three recent grads meet up for environmental assessment in northern Minnesota
This fall, three Gusties were working to assess soil conditions and environmental quality on a property in the Duluth area of northern Minnesota. How did that come to pass? John Berger (Geology ’15, center of photo) has been working for AECOM doing site assessment and construction preparation. Last summer when he heard that AECOM was […]