Teaching
I specialize in teaching hands-on field methods courses where students learn how to plan and execute research and how to analyze and interpret real Earth Science data. All my courses focus on how to write like a geologist.
I'm teaching GEOL 225 (Sedimentary and Surface Processes) this fall, along with Core 128 (Climate Change and You).
Courses I've taught in the past:
CORE 120, Earth Resources. Everything we own, everything we eat, even the air we breathe and the water we drink, come from resources concentrated by Earth processes. This course asks students to consider where our resources come from and what the consequences of consumption are for the planet and its people.
FSEM 133, Fire. This first year seminar explores what we as a human society burn, how we burn it, who decides, and what the consequences are. From ancient myths to anthropogenic climate change, this course asks us to consider what the costs that we pay when we harness the stored power of the sun.
GEOL 101L, the Environmental Geology Lab. This hands-on lab explores Colgate's regional environmental situation and human's impact on it. We examine everything from groundwater geochemistry to how wind farms work.
GEOL 420, The Cryosphere. This class is a research intensive exploration of cold regions on Earth and beyond. We explore glaciation, global climate, and permafrost and periglacial landforms. Field work involves mapping the ice age landforms that surround Colgate.
GEOL 225A, Surface Processes and Sedimentary Geology. This classroom and field course focuses on how sedimentary materials are generated, transported, and preserved in the rock record. It explores the climate implications of Earth surface processes and reconstructions of past climates on Earth and beyond!
GEOL 370, Geoinformatics. This course is an introduction to digital methods in the geosciences, from geographic information systems and mapping, to digital data analysis in Matlab. Students work through a range of hands-on digital exercises to explore Earth systems datasets.
GEO 371/391, Field Methods for Polar and Planetary Science (UT-Austin). A research-based field course focused on learning UAV-photogrammetry, thermal imaging, GPR, and TDEM and other field methods in a hands-on environment.
GEO 371T, Introduction to the Cryosphere (UT-Austin). This is a data-driven, writing-intensive introduction to cold regions geology and geophysics for undergraduates and graduate students .
GEO 303C, Introduction to the Solar System (UT-Austin). A comparative planetology course that focuses on teaching key geological concepts to non-majors through the lens of solar system exploration.
GEO 394 and GEO 371C, Glacial and Permafrost Processes (UT-Austin). individual research courses. I supervise grad and undergrad research students who conduct original research on glacial geology and hydrology.
Photos from Recent Courses: Sedimentology & Surface Processes
Coding up environmental data analyses in R can be every bit as intimidating an experience as trekking to a field site or analyzing an outcrop. Students in Core 128 - Global Change and You work as part of Peer Programming teams, guiding each other and interpreting coding tutorials to generate their own analyses of global climate change drives and impacts. Students explore news media claims about climate change, then access the observational data underlying the story, and evaluate how to communicate Earth science findings clearly and cogently. Coding really is better together!
Sediments in conflict. Drone footage of a virtual GEOL 225 field trip to the Tully Valley mud boils shows silt and clay oozing out the subsurface and into Onondaga Creek. The mud boil discharge has been accelerated by the legacy of salt mining in the Syracuse region and the perfect storm of subsurface saline springs, ancient glacial lake deposits, and regionally fractured stratigraphy. GEOL 225 students grapple with how to make sense of complex geological problems at the heart of questions of equity, justice, resources, and environmental protection.
DJI_0352_clip.MP4
Environmental science in action! GEOL225 students measure discharge and sediment transport on the Chenango River.
(Right and below) Students explore the Shawangunk conglomerates at Mohonk Mountain House and Sam's Point. The Lemon Squeeze and Labyrinth trails let the class get inside the stratigraphy to see the rocks from within.
Photos from Recent Courses: The Cryosphere
Exploring glacial outburst flood potholes in Little Falls, NY.
This two-day field trip traced the drainage of ice-age Lake Iroquois from its source in the Ontario basin, through its spillway, and down the modern Mohawk River to its ultimate sink in a delta stranded outside of Albany. Students sampled sediments to help improve our understanding of the regional geological history at the end of the last ice age and built up a comprehensive interpretation of the rise and fall of glaciers in central NY.
Simulating debris-covered glaciers on Mars...with gack.
Two feet of fresh powder turns into a spontaneous snow core lab out on the quad!
Photos from Recent Courses: Environmental Geology
Combusting peat, coal, and liquid fuels to understand the fuel sources that power our civilization.
Students sample precipitation from across the state of New York uncover the impacts of acid rain and acid snow events on local watersheds.
Photos from Recent Courses: Field Methods in Polar and Planetary Science
Our classroom: the Galena Creek Rock Glacier in the Absaroka Range, WY.
Students plan a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey on the debris-covered glacier.
Rain or shine, students take measurements on a borehole to understand permafrost and active layer properties.
High-resolution GPS surveys help the class determine how quickly the glacier is flowing—a key measurement for understanding its morphology and internal structure.