My Courses

Current Course

Basin Analysis (GEOL 415/515) – An integrative class providing an overview of sedimentary basin forming mechanisms and deposits. We discuss topics including mantle convection, lithospheric dynamics, heat flow, sediment depositional models, stratigraphy, provenance, porosity preservation/destruction, compaction, and petroleum geology. This class includes seven laboratory assignments built by the instructor to reinforce the materials discussed in lecture. Additionally, student will be split into teams where they form oil companies to compete against each other in a bid round on prospective blocks in a real world basin. This semester long project includes seismic interpretation, well data integration, petroleum systems analysis, corporate governance and environmental stewardship, and role playing.

Structural Geology (GEOL 344) – A class intended as an introduction to rock deformation for geology majors. It includes two field trips and twelve laboratory assignments to provide students a practical approach to reinforcing, and going beyond, the concepts discussed in lecture sections.

Energy and the Earth (GEOL 120) – This course investigates various sources of energy such as wind, solar, nuclear, biomass, hydroelectric, tides, and fossil fuels. The primary goal is to understand the scientific underpinning of each and develop a holistic appreciation for energy, the foundation of our modern society. You will learn various aspects of the Earth system including the formation of the solar system, layers of the Earth, plate tectonics, basic rock types, the atmosphere-hydrosphere system, among other topics. We will investigate historical and current energy generation and consumption and gain an understanding of the resources needed for each source.

Previous Courses

Applied Spatial Analysis (GEOL 455/555, ENVI 455, ANTH 471/556) – This course introduces applications in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) that solve geological, anthropological, and environmental problems. The course introduces students to spatial analysis in these fields using commercial GIS and R-based software packages. Lectures cover analytic topics and skills while the lab portion is focused on developing research projects in their area of interest. The course provides students the background necessary to develop, execute, and troubleshoot research projects that involve spatial analyses.

Energy Geology Seminar – A 2-credit seminar investigating the various sources of energy available on Earth such as wind, solar, nuclear, biomass, hydroelectric, tides, and fossil fuels. Basic principles, advantages, disadvantages, and dependencies for each will be studied. The primary goal is to develop a holistic appreciation of energy, the foundation of our modern society. All students will lead and participate in group discussions throughout the semester

Practical Seismic Interpretation – This seminar provides students with an opportunity to take a deep dive into geologic interpretation of 3D seismic datasets. Students will lead discussing on various aspects of seismic acquisition, processing, and interpretation in addition to hands-on experience. All work will be conducted in Petrel, an industry standard seismic interpretation software package.