2016 News Archives

LSU Fall Commencement 2016

December 16, 2016

The Department of Geology & Geophysics would like to congratulate the following students for completing their degrees:

Suraj Bajgain, PhD
Advisors: Bijaya Karki and Barbara Dutrow
"First-Principles Simulations of Structure, Density, and Diffusivity of Silicate and Oxide Melts: Implications for Deep Mantle Magma"

Jillian Banks, PhD
Advisors: Sam Bentley and Sophie Warny
"Examining the Holocene Paleoenvironment of Okak Bay, Labrador, Canada using Microfossils and Sedimentary Indicstors"

Justin Hayles, PhD
Advisor: Huiming Bao
"Theory and Utility of the Triple Isotope Relationship"

Randall Paylor, PhD
Advisor: Carol Wicks
"Particulate Inorganic Carbon Flux in Karst and Its Significance to Landscape Evolution and the Carbon Cycle"

Ethan Hughes, MS
Advisor: Sam Bentley

Erin Walden, MS
Advisor: Darrell Henry

Andrew Webb, MS
Advisor: Alex Webb and Carol Wicks

Ziran Wei, MS
Advisor: Huiming Bao

Bachelor of Science in Geology Degree Recipients:

Mohammad AL Jindan
Andre Benoit
Jacqueline Brewster
Shelby Campoblanco
Patrick Carpenter
Dominic Ciaccio
Daniela Colmenares
Collin Creel
Peter Farmer
Suyapa Gonzalez Rodriguez ^CxC
Ronald Hoefeld III
Jaber Mhrag
Rachel Oliphant
Rodney Stieffel Jr.

Heather Lee, BS in Business Management

LaSPACE Graduate Student Research Assistance (GSRA)

November 21, 2016

Congratulations to David Susko and Don Hood for being awarded an $8,000 grant from the LaSPACE GSRA to pursue their research projects during the summer of 2017!

David doesn't need an advisor to promote him, because his work already does this. Since joining Dr. Karunatillake's lab in August 2015 for graduate study, he has one manuscript on Elysium Volcano's geochemistry currently under review at Scientific Reports, and another nearing submission. He also presented one abstract at the primary venue for the planetary community, the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) in 2015, and already completed his abstract for the 2016 LPSC.

Don has progressed rapidly in his PhD program since joining Dr. Karunatillake's lab in August 2014 for graduate study. J. Geophys. Res. recently published his work, which assessed competing models of a continental-scale landslide versus primary igneous processes in the Greater Thaumasia region of Mars. He also presented two abstracts at the primary venue for the planetary community, the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) in 2016, the maximum allowed.

Congratulations again!

AASP Endowed Chair in Geology & Geophysics

November 11, 2016

Congratulations to Dr. Sophie Warny for being named the first AASP Endowed Chair in Geology & Geophysics by the Board of Regents!

AASP – The Palynological Society was founded to promote the science of palynology. Sophie has clearly established an excellent international reputation in the field of palynology and her research is advancing the science of palynology. External letter writers commented that her research focused on “unraveling the events related to abrupt climatic and vegetation changes during the end of the Eocene has gained widespread attention” and called her research “transforming our understanding”. Sophie’s research productivity is outstanding as she has published 32 refereed articles, has served as a book editor, has published three book chapters, and has published 14 articles as a member of large multi-disciplinary science teams,  all since 2008.  Dr. Warny has received ~$1.7M in research funding (as a PI) and has been awarded an additional ~$300K in grants (as co-PI). Dr. Warny was awarded a highly competitive NSF Career Award. Sophie has mentored numerous graduate students to successful career paths of their own. She leads the field of palynology and has a forward-looking vision for the LSU Center of Excellence of Palynology. Her vision for the Center will foster development of the new generation of palynologists and promote the science of palynology.

Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research Conference - See more at: http://a.cms.omniupdate.com/files/content?site=www&path=%2Fscience%2Fgeology%2Fnews%2Fcurrent_news%2Findex.pcf&target=www&edit=true&nonce=1478878855379#sthash.PgAMAVjR.dpuf

AASP - The Palynological Society Undergraduate Award

May 16, 2016

Congratulations Patrick Baudoin for winning the AASP - The Palynological Society Undergraduate Award at LSU.  This award recognizes Patrick's performance in a course with significant palynological content. The AASP is the largest palynological society in its field, with members from all around the world.

- See more at: http://a.cms.omniupdate.com/files/content?site=www&path=%2Fscience%2Fgeology%2Fnews%2Fcurrent_news%2Findex.pcf&target=www&edit=true&nonce=1478878855379#sthash.PgAMAVjR.dpuf

AASP - The Palynological Society Undergraduate Award

May 16, 2016

Congratulations Patrick Baudoin for winning the AASP - The Palynological Society Undergraduate Award at LSU.  This award recognizes Patrick's performance in a course with significant palynological content. The AASP is the largest palynological society in its field, with members from all around the world.

- See more at: http://a.cms.omniupdate.com/files/content?site=www&path=%2Fscience%2Fgeology%2Fnews%2Fcurrent_news%2Findex.pcf&target=www&edit=true&nonce=1478878855379#sthash.PgAMAVjR.dpuf

AASP - The Palynological Society Undergraduate Award

May 16, 2016

Congratulations Patrick Baudoin for winning the AASP - The Palynological Society Undergraduate Award at LSU.  This award recognizes Patrick's performance in a course with significant palynological content. The AASP is the largest palynological society in its field, with members from all around the world.

- See more at: http://a.cms.omniupdate.com/files/content?site=www&path=%2Fscience%2Fgeology%2Fnews%2Fcurrent_news%2Findex.pcf&target=www&edit=true&nonce=1478878855379#sthash.PgAMAVjR.dpuf

Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research Conference

August 25, 2016

Congratulations to Jade Lawrence on being awarded the Best North American Poster at the 2016 Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) conference. This 1,000 person international conference was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Congratulations Jade on such a big honor!

  

Greetings from Bangladesh!

Touching base with Carol Wilson

May 24, 2016

Greetings from Bangladesh! We arrived on the ground just in time to experience Cyclone Roanu that came ashore on Saturday. It ended up being a weak storm, not quite Category 1, but we had to delay our field work due to the marine conditions and it was bad enough that there were some embankment failures and drownings. Really brings home why we are working here and the importance of our work, to understand the delta elevation and sediment dynamics.

We have felt very lucky on several aspects, 1) that the storm wasn't worse, and 2) that we were able to retrieve instruments that monitor water level and quality from a dock that was damaged over the past few months. It took about an hour to find our instruments buried in the mud (we were diving for them, and racing as the tide was coming in and current getting stronger). But alas it was a success and we even got great data from the instruments to boot!

Today we enter the Sundarbans forest. We're looking forward to being in the shade of the mangrove trees as it's been very hot and humid. We're taking 2 forest guards with us to protect us (keep watch for tigers, boar) and make sure the forest is protected, too. We'll be racing the tide again today as it'll flood the platform around noon, so we've got to work fast and efficiently. 

  

AASP - The Palynological Society Undergraduate Award

May 16, 2016

Congratulations Patrick Baudoin for winning the AASP - The Palynological Society Undergraduate Award at LSU.  This award recognizes Patrick's performance in a course with significant palynological content. The AASP is the largest palynological society in its field, with members from all around the world.

LSU Spring Commencement 2016

May 13, 2016

Happy commencement day! This ‪#‎LSUGrad‬ class is a record-breaker, with over 4,000 degrees awarded, representing 61 Louisiana parishes and 46 states. It's also LSU’s most diverse class ever, with a record number of African-American and Hispanic graduates. Congratulations, grads, and a big G&G thank you to our donors for supporting these Tigers throughout their journey. YOU DID IT!

The Department of Geology & Geophysics would like to congratulate the following students for completing their degrees:

Cindy Colon, PhD
Advisor: Alexander Webb
"Intracontinental Neotectonics: Case Studies from the Tian Shan Orogen and Kuqa Fold-Thrust Belt""

Caroline Broderick, MS
Advisor: Carol Wicks

John Callen, MS
Advisor: Achim Herrmann

Derek Goff, MS
Advisor: Juan Lorenzo

Ben Krogmeier, MS
Advisor: Phil Bart

Alesha Morabito, MS
Advisor: Gary Byerly

Cody Schulte, MS
Advisor: Achim Herrmann

Eleanor Smith, MS
Advisor: Barb Dutrow and Darrell Henry

Kexin Zhang, MS
Advisor: Alexander Webb

Bachelor of Science in Geology Degree Recipients:

Daniel Paul Babin ^{Honors, SRT}
Megan E. Borel
Agathe Everett Carrier ^SRT
Ryan Christopher Clarke
Frances Reade Crawford ^SRT
Sarah Peyton Decoteau
Stephen Asher Gowdy
Ross Ingram Harrison
Jennifer An Kenyon ^{Honors, CxC}
Evan Gerard LeBlanc
Ruari Mckenzie Mallon
Robert Thomas Narmour
Ashton Marshall Robinson
Erin Michelle Schwartz
Cory Austin Treloar

LSU EnvironMentors Science Fair

April 18, 2016

Over the course of the fall and spring semesters G&G graduate students Jeff Bomer, Caroline Broderick, and Ben Krogmeier have been a part of the EnvironMentors program through LSU. Through the program they helped A'Shonte Reed, a sophomore at Scotlandville Magnet High School, develop an environmentally focused research project. After some deliberation, they decided to focus on how the Mississippi River impacts the environment and surrounding communities as it evolves through time. Using access to LSU resources, they were able to find literature and other sources of information about the channel migration of the Mississippi River and how it impacts Louisiana.  

A'Shonte presented at LSU EnvironMentors Science Fair on April 18th where she took 1st place  out of 15 competitors. A'Shonte has been invited to present her research in Washington D.C. with her classmates who took second and third place. There they will compete at the national level this June.

A'Shonte is a very bright student who plans to go to college in Louisiana and eventually law school.

EnvironMentors is a great program open to graduate students at all levels. Mentors spend every Monday afternoon (~2-3 hours/week) helping design a project for their students and building their experiments. This program also offers field trips to various places such as the Stennis Space Center and Audubon Insectarium and Aquarium over a few weekends.

Jeff Bomer, A'Shonte Reed, and Ben Krogmeier at the 2016 LSU EnvironMentors Science Fair

2016 Choppin Honors Convocation

April 19, 2016

Congratulations to the following G&G faculty and students who won awards at the 2016 Choppin Honors Convocation:

• Dr. Amy Luther - TAF Undergraduate Teaching Award
• Daniel Babin - College of Science Dean's Award and Outstanding Senior in G&G
• Jennifer Kenyon - NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Recipient and Outstanding Senior in G&G
• Kate Gutterman - Outstanding Sophmore in G&G
• Hunter Songy - Outstanding Junior in G&G

2016 Exxon Mobil Field Course

April 3-9, 2016

Each year, ExxonMobil organizes a field trip for the top 10 percent of the graduating undergraduate, master’s and Ph.D. students that they have interviewed for jobs during the previous fall interview period. The trip is taught by the company’s top experts and exposes the students to modern methods of petroleum exploration. This year three G&G graduate students were invited to participate in the week long course.

G&G students Kevin Gryger, Liz Olsen, and Ben Krogmeier participating in the Exxon Mobil field course at the Guadalupe Mountains, the Guads, in Texas.

2016 GSA South Central Section Meeting

March 21-22, 2016

Please join us in congratulating Elly Smith and Crawford White for winning awards at the GSA South Central Section meeting held in Baton Rouge.

Elly won the award for best graduate student poster presentation for her work "Phase Equilibrium Modeling of Peraluminous Gneisses from the Sawtooth Metamorphic Complex, ID: Implications for the Middle-Lower Crust.”

Crawford White was the runner-up for excellent graduate student oral presentation "Influences of Hurricanes, Floods, and Organic Production on River Delta Evolution."

Chair Peter Clift presenting outstanding student awards at the end of the GSA-SC meeting.

2016 Ocean Sciences Meeting

February 21-26, 2016

LSU researchers presented the latest findings on the most critical coastal and oceanographic issues at the 2016 Ocean Sciences Meeting in New Orleans. Seventeen scientific talks, 56 research posters and two press conferences were presented by LSU researchers at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center from Feb. 21-26. G&G students were well represented at the meeting.  Read more about the conference here.

Former G&G PhD Student Receives Marie Curie Individual Fellowship

February 22, 2016

G&G Alumnus Bryan Killingsworth has been awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship. The Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellowships are the most prestigious in Europe. It comes from the European Commission and is designed to enhance the career of experienced researchers (those having a PhD) with funding to work on a project in a different country from the researcher's home country, and in liaison with a host institution, to the benefit of all parties.

Killingsworth's fellowship is for 2 years, starts this April, and is hosted by Université de Bretagne Occidentale (UBO) (English name: The University of Western Brittany), in Brest, France at the European Institute for Marine Studies (IUEM). His project was developed with the involvement of two French isotope laboratories. The project investigates the processes that affect the preservation and disappearance of geochemical signals (e.g. isotopes in the rock record) of an anoxic Earth atmosphere just after the "Great Oxidation Event" (GOE), where the Earth first transitioned to a permanently oxygenated atmosphere, at ~2400 million years ago.

During the project he will build on the specific isotope skills in sulfur and oxygen that he learned during his time working on his PhD with Dr. Bao at LSU. Killingsworth also hopes to learn new isotope and geochemical skills with training from French researchers and laboratories. Congratulations Bryan!

New Robot to Probe Yellowstone Lake

January 27, 2016

Machine to yield info on thermal activity, microbes, and more.  Read about Karen Luttrell's research in the full article here.