P_ Basement 2014-2015 Volume XVI www.ColoradoCollege.edu/academics/dept/geology Cover Photo: Spanish Peaks, CO, where students worked on an indepen- dent research project for GY308 Introductory Geophysics during Block 3. Photo by Emily Beckham (`16). The Precambrian Basement 2014-2015 Editors-in-chief: Lauren Dangles & Vikki Crystal Department of Geology The Colorado College 14 E. Cache La Poudre St. Colorado Springs, CO 80903 Contact:
[email protected] Facebook: GeoDept ColoradoCollege P_B vol. XVI Letter from the Chair 1 Hello Everyone! It is time once again for a new issue of the Precambrian Basement. For good or for bad, it is the last one that will include a letter from me as Chair of the department. After three and a half years of herding cats and signing forms, I am retreating back to the life of a ‘gentleman scholar’. I won’t say I will miss the job, but I will admit that it has been a really good learning experience. In particular being Chair has given me an opportunity to learn what current students think of their studies, what alumni have been doing since leaving CC, and what my colleagues have been doing behind my back. The most recent example of how being Chair can be a learning experience came in the form of our recent External Review. In preparation for this review, I spent a lot of time gathering student & alumni survey data (thanks to all of you who participated!), going over graduation statistics, reading curriculum vita of the faculty, tapping Eric’s ‘institutional memory’, and putting everything into a summary document for the external reviewers to consider prior to their visit.