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Welcome to the Albion Geo department! 

Albion geology students and faculty have wide-ranging interests in the Earth, from ultra-high pressure rocks formed in intensely deformed mountains to the evolution of vertebrate fossils to recent and modern climate and environmental change.   In the past year, we have been doing field research in California, Wyoming, South Dakota, Svalbard, and Antarctica.   In May 2008, our regional geology class went on a 9-day field trip to around Lake Michigan, spending time near Baraboo Wisconsin (left). 

Our program provides students with hands-on experiences that prepare them for the next step in their lives whether it is to be a professional geologist, a teacher, or a graduate student.   Our comprehensive curriculum, small class sizes, and involved faculty provide our students a well-rounded education and a real advantage in their future pursuits. 

-Thom Wilch, Chair of the Geology Department

Career Opportunities in Geology

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Albion Geology News

2009 Senior Theses in Geology
Three Albion Geology majors successfully completed senior theses.   Seniors Meagan Bosket ’09 and Lara Hubbel ’09 completed senior College Honors theses on geology research.  Meagan’s thesis, Phreatomagmatic volcanism at Minna Saddle Antarctica, was supervised by Dr. Thom Wilch.   Lara’s thesis, Structural Analysis of Quartzites, Black Hills, South Dakota, was supervised by Dr. Beth Lincoln.   Kristen Mitchell ’09 completed a departmental thesis on geology research.  Kristen’s thesis, Mechanisms of Glacial Ablation at Linnébreen, Svalbard, Norwegian Arctic, was supervised by Dr. Thom Wilch.   All three presented their results at the Elkin Isaacs Undergraduate Research Symposium (see next story).  

Several students present at 2009 Elkin Isaac Research Symposium
Six Albion Geology majors presented their research at the Elkin Isaacs Undergraduate Research Symposium on April 23, 2009.   Three of the students, Meagan Bosket ’09 and Kristen Mitchell ’09, gave oral presentations on their senior theses.  Lara Hubbel ’09 gave a poster presentation on her senior thesis (see above story for titles and faculty sponsors).   Brittany Myers ’10 gave a poster presentation titled “Chemical and Mineralogical Comparison of Soils Collected on Dolomite and Granodiorite Rock from the White-Inyo Mountain Range, California.”   Brittany’s research is being supervised by Dr. Chris VandeVen.   Laura Painter ’09 gave a poster presentation titled “Interpretations of Eruptive and Depositional Environments of the Minna Bluff Volcanic Complex, Antarctica.”  Dr. Thom Wilch is Laura’s research advisor.  Carolyn Rath ‘09 gave a poster presentation titled “Lithofacies Analysis of Volcaniclastic Samples from the Antarctic Geological Drilling Program (ANDRILL) McMurdo Ice Shelf (AND-B1) Core.”  Carolyn’s research is being supervised by Dr. Thom Wilch. 

Phi Beta Kappa
Three senior Geology majors, Meagan Bosket ’09, Charlotte Painter ’09, and Laura Painter ’09, were inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most widely known academic honor society.   The top 10% of the graduating class who meet the liberal studies requirements are elected at Albion College each year.  According to the national organization, “about one college senior in a hundred, nationwide, is invited to join Phi Beta Kappa.” 

Faculty Members Win Awards at Spring Convocation
Dr. Carrie Menold was the 2009 recipient of the James and Dorothy R. Blanchard Faculty Fellowship, an endowed fund to provide financial support for a junior faculty member to undertake a summer research project.  Carrie will use the fellowship to support late-summer 2009 travel to the Tibetan Plateau in China to collect field data and samples of ultra-high pressure metamorphic rocks and to attend the 8^th International Eclogite Conference in Xining, China.   She received additional funding from a William and Flora Hewlett and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundations Faculty Development grant to support the field work and conference in China. 

Dr. William Bartels won the 2009 Exemplary Teacher Award, sponsored by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church.   The award recognizes an outstanding teacher at a United Methodist institution.   Dr. Bartels is a vertebrate paleontologist and teaches courses in Earth History, Stratigraphy and Sedimentation and Paleontology. 

Faculty Research in News
Dr. Thom Wilch is co-author of a paper titled “Obliquity-paced Pliocene West Antarctic ice sheet oscillations”, published in March 19 edition of the journal Nature.   The paper summarizes climate and ice sheet reconstructions based on the ANDRILL project McMurdo Ice Shelf drill core.  Wilch was interviewed by area newspapers and was featured on the Detroit WJR-AM radio show “Greening of the Great Lakes” on April 24.  Podcast and news story are available here. 

Albion Geology Announcements for Alumni

2009 Alumni Newsletter
The 2009 newsletter is being written and will be sent in June.  If you would like a pdf copy please email Carol Caswell, ccaswell@albion.edu. 

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Archive of Albion Geo News