LeGo Lab
Facilities
Complete suite of rock preparation and mineral separation, grain picking for thermochronology and geochronology
Thermochronologic modeling
Numerical and landscape modeling
Petrographic analysis facilities
Structure/Tectonics data collection, analysis, and processing (with drone technology, Gigapan, laser range finder, digital Brunton, mapping tools and software, etc.)
Structural modeling software and tools
Remote Sensing data analysis and processing
Environmental Remote Sensing
GIS data analysis and processing
Geomorphic and environmental data collection and processing
LeGo Lab Research Team
Dr. Nahid D. Gani
Associate Professor
Program Coordinator, Geological Sciences
Director, Landscape Geodynamics (LeGo) Lab
Faculty Advisor, WKU Geology Club
Department of Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric SciencesWestern Kentucky UniversityPh.D., Geosciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, USA
Current Students
Kaya Goertz (Spring 2024-Present)
Mckenzie Senig (Spring 2024-Present)
Sydney Anderson (Fall 2023-Present)
John Lunday (Fall 2023-Present)
Clay Kilgore (Spring 2023-Present)
Nima Esmaeilzadeh (Fall 2022-Present)
Barrett Gibbs (Fall 2022-Present)
Graduate Student Alumni
Gavin Middleton, M.S. 2023. Now a Ph.D. student at George Mason University, Washington D.C.
Niroj Shrestha, M.S. 2022. Now a full-time GIS specialist at the City County Planning Commission, Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Jacob Grigsby, M.S. 2020. Now a Geotechnical Engineer at EGSci Consulting Inc. Civil Engineering, Atlanta, Georgia.
Adam Mattson, M.S. 2019. Now a Ph.D. student at the University of Houston.
Shelby Bowden, M.S. 2018. Now a Ph.D. student and Mass Spectrometry Lab Manager at Pennsylvania State University.
Indu Bhattarai, M.S. 2017. Now a Data Specialist at Oklahoma State University.
Prabhat Neupane, Ph.D. 2017. Now a full-time geology instructor at South Texas College.
Nathaniel Blackburn, 2016. Now a geologist (PG) at Blackburn Drilling, LLC Geotechnical Services.
Leah Sossamon, 2013. Graduate Student
Prabhat Neupane, M.S. 2011. Now a full-time geology instructor at South Texas College.
Undergraduate Student Alumni
Parker Philbeck (Fall 2023): : Worked on creating Geological Sciences mineral e-library and critical minerals for the society.
Thomas Clark (High School student Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science), Fall 2023: Mammoth Cave surficial geology study.
Sydney Anderson (Spring 2023): Worked on creating Geological Sciences sample e-database.
John Lunday (Fall 2022-Spring 2023): SEM and petrographic analysis of the Ethiopian Plateau basalts. Now a Master's student at WKU.
Kassius Johnson (Spring 2023): Worked on creating Geological Sciences sample e-database.
Madeline Brosky (Spring 2022): Worked on USGS-EDMAP funded project, WKU RCAP, and FUSE projects, and completed an honors thesis on the eruption history of the Ethiopian Plateau flood basalt, and interned with NASA. Now a Ph.D. student at the University of Florida.
Isabella Karn (Spring 2022): Now a B.Sc. student at the University of Kentucky.
Mason Wade (Spring 2022): Worked on USGS-EDMAP funded project. Now a full-time geologist at the Doe Run mining company.
Will Strehl (Fall 2021): Worked on remote sensing analysis of the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, Himalaya.
Emily Wright (Fall 2019-Spring 2020): Worked in FUSE grant project in Hawaii's 2018 volcanic eruption. Now an ore control geologist, Nevada Gold Mine.
Megan Whittle (High School student Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science), Fall 2018-Spring 2019). Now an undergraduate student at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
Michael Suggs: summer 2018; worked in RCAP and ACS-PRF funded projects. Now n environmental advisor, Nyrstar, Tennessee.
Jamin Lopez, fall 2017-spring 2019; worked in ACS-PRF funded projects. Now a Field Engineer at SUMMIT Engineering, Laboratory, & Testing, Inc.
Scott Kaily, fall 2016-summer 2017; worked in NSF EPSCoR and ACS-PRF funded projects.
Katherine Brown (High School student Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science), fall 2016-spring 2017; worked in WKU RIG and Gatton Research grant project. Now an undergraduate student at Chapman University.
Helen Deborah Flynn: Quantifying rock permeability structures on the Ethiopian Plateau, East Africa (spring 2015-Summer 2016; student funding: WKU FUSE and LTE grants and ACS-PRF grant; Graduated with Summa Cum Laude).
Henry Ngbede (from Nigeria): Tectonics of East African Rift system (fall 2016).
Christopher William, fall 2015; worked in ACS-PRF funded project.
Cody Meservy, fall 2014-fall 2015; worked in RCAP and ACS-PRF funded projects.
Bradford Stanley, spring 2014-fall 2015; worked in WKU FUSE grant. Now a geologist and environmental scientist at SMR Environmental, Kentucky.
Brian Way: spring 2015; Honors Augmentation Contract. Completed Doctor of Law degree in Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources, West Virginia University College of Law.
Brittiny Moore, fall 2014-spring 2015; worked on East African project. Honors Augmentation Contract. Now a community enhancement specialist, City of San Marcos, Texas.
Ronald Waterbury, spring 2015. Deformation, Bengal Basin. Now a consultant at the TPM Group Environmental Services, Kentucky.
Stuart Kenderes, spring 2014, Stuart was a recipient of the AY 15 WKU Graduate Research Fellowship for this project. Now a Postdoc at IUPUI.
Naomi Kellogg (High School student; Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science): fall 2013 and spring 2014. Naomi has received 2014 Wells Scholarship, which ranks among the most competitive and prestigious awards offered by any American university for her undergraduate studies at Indiana University (Bloomington). Now the Head of Communications & Culture, Copenhagen.
Brittiny Moore, spring 2014; Honors Augmentation Contract. Now a community enhancement specialist, City of San Marcos, Texas.
Evan Crowe, spring 2013. WKU FUSE grant project.
Natasha Paterson, fall 2013 Remote sensing analysis of the flood basalt on the Ethiopian Plateau, East Africa.
Leah Caroline Sossamon, 2010: worked on NSF GLD project.
Michele Nicole Dellinger, 2010: worked on NSF GLD project.