Spring 2006 Colorado School of Mines

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geophysics Colorado School of Mines Spring 2006 From the Department Head geophysics n spite of the fact that our enrollment is perennially strong and growing, we are Spring 2006 having trouble supplying the high Colorado School of Mines I recruitment demand for our students. It’s a great time to be graduating with a degree in 3 Hot Topics geophysics! In this newsletter, as always, we introduce the activities of our Department by focusing 10 Collaborations on its people – students, faculty, staff, visi- Terry Young tors. What a pleasure to welcome new faculty members Paul Sava and Feng (Suzie) Su this 14 Crossing Borders year, and to have Martin Landrø spend his sabbatical year with us. We have enjoyed watching our students thrive in their internships, study-abroad experiences, summer field 18 Study Abroad camp, research activities, and extracurricular pursuits. A bonus this year was the field venture in Hawaii, organ- 19 Faculty Spotlight ized by our junior class to do geophysical measurements over active lava flow fields. Our international connections are as strong as ever, with both faculty and students cir- 22 Alumni Focus cling the globe, and international students joining us from all over the world. I hope you have as much fun reading the articles about current hot topics, student life, research col- 24 Internships laborations, and much more, as we have had in writing them for you! 26 Visiting Committee

27 Honors & Awards

28 Campus Life

30 Jobs: The Road Less Traveled On Our Cover

31 Graduation

32 Faculty Retreat

GP students Dustin Lanci and Kristen Schmidt pose during 2005 Field Camp in Chaffee County, Colorado. The story and more pictures are on page 3.

2 H RBE IHWATER WITH PROBLEM THE is expectedtoincreaseby70%inthenext30years. this areawhichreliesongroundwaterandwhosepopulation per Arkansas Valley. Water availabilityisacriticalissuein areas wasnearSalida,inChaffee CountyColoradointheUp- ed theirtimeonproblemsintwoseparateareas.Oneofthe This wasatwo-in-oneexperienceforstudentsastheydivid- ent sitefrompastyears,dealtwithafamiliarissue–water. The 2005FieldCampsession,thoughlocatedonadiffer- GOAL Field Camp practices learnedinclass. important concepts and experience andtoreinforce To providestudents withfield

geometry. characterize andquantifytheregionalsubsurfaceaquifer area wellsarose. The CSMstudentsperformedsurveysto the drought,andquestionsofgroundwatermovement recreationallake disappearedduring and wildfireactivity. A Colorado. This areahassuffered theeffects ofrecentdrought Trails Ranchat The NaturePlace,justsouthofFlorissant, future. be vitaltothecountyandmunicipalitiesastheyplanfor is thefirstsuchsurveyofvalleyandinformationwill zones andthedepthofsedimentsfillingbasin. This to accuratelymapthestructureofvalleyfloor, thefault

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I Plate Tectonics Out of this World – Warren Hamilton The Distinguished Senior Scientist largest of Warren Hamilton, Distinguished Se- from the base of the planet's mantle, these basins nior Scientist, came to Mines after re- and that the magmatic products of has an inner-rim tiring from the these plumes have wholly resurfaced diameter of 2000 km, and is one of the USGS 10 years Venus within the last billion or half- youngest of the structures that is older ago, and contin- billion years. These plumes are as- than the unmodified young craters. ues active re- signed behaviors and products quite Analogy with the Moon, whereon search in geody- unlike those of hypothetical terrestrial the last giant impact is well dated at namics through plumes, which Warren regards as 3.91 billion years, indicates the Venu- time. He works imaginary; and the overwhelmingly sian structures to be that old and older. with data across circular structures assumed to be prod- Venus is almost as dead as the Moon the spectrum of ucts of the Venusian plumes are unlike and Mars, and much of its surface Warren Hamilton geology, geo- anything known on Earth, or other ob- dates from end-stage main planetary physics, and geochemistry, and regards jects in the Solar System, except for accretion. impact craters and basins. popular hypotheses of geodynamics as Warren’s past contributions to geo- controverted by much empirical infor- Only a thousand small, unmodified science have been honored with the mation. craters and basins on Venus are widely Penrose Medal of the Geological Soci- Where most see plate tectonics as accepted as of impact origin. (Most in- ety of America, and with membership driven by whole-mantle convection, coming bolides are destroyed in the at- in the National Academy of Sciences. Warren sees it as enabled by internal mosphere, which is almost 100 times Time will tell whether he has more heat, but as driven by top-down cool- denser than Earth's.) winning concepts. ing: the density inversion caused by The postulated products of Venusian chilling of asthenosphere to oceanic plumes are the lithosphere is righted by subduction, several thousand which provides the primary drive for circular structures both subducting and overriding plates, that saturate much and the 3-D circulation is limited to the of the planetary upper mantle. surface. (See fig- Where most assume plate tectonics ure.) Warren’s to have operated throughout geologi- evaluation of cal time, Warren sees products of plate- these old circular like processes (and those significantly structures is that different from modern ones) only in they are variably terrains younger than 2.1 billion years, eroded and sedi- earlier tectonics having been con- ment-buried im- trolled by quite different heat-loss pact craters and Synthetic-aperture radar image of Venusian surface saturated mechanisms. basins; they com- with circular structures conventionally attributed to young monly have rims plume magmatism but interpreted by Warren Hamilton to be H Warren has expanded his studies to ancient impact craters and basins. Venus is shrouded in mist, steepest on the in- O Venus, which is almost as large as and its surface is seen with satellite radar imagery. Area T Earth and which, all agree, lacks plate side, broad outer shown extends from 40 to 47 degrees North Latitude, and is tectonics. Conventional explanations ejecta blankets, centered on 222 degrees East Longitude. Mosaic provided by T assume that Venus must lose as much and central peak U.S. Geological Survey O and peak-ring up- P heat as does Earth, and postulate that I this hypothetical heat loss occurs as lifts, and many are multiring. C plumes, columns of hot material, rise S

4 Learning about Volcanoes

MonitoringMonitoring Mt.Mt. St.St. HelensHelens– Roel Snieder, Professor n 2004 Mount Saint Professor Roel Snieder is IHelens in Washington studying these seismic was active again. This vol- events in a collaborative cano erupted violently in project with Stephanie Pre- 1980 when part of the jean of the Alaska Volcano mountain was blown away. Observatory of the US Ge- ological Sur- vey. The figure here shows seismic events recorded on Mount Saint Helens Mt. St. Helen’s erupting over a period Coda wave interferome- of 24 hours. It try, developed by Snieder, is day. is striking a technique to analyze how repeat- minute changes in seismic The waves recorded on Mount Saint Helens able these waveforms. Snieder and that are generated by small earthquakes. seismic Prejean showed that the These waveforms are shown at hourly inter- events are. A changes in the waveforms vals, indicated on the vertical axis. closer analy- can be explained by a The activity in 2004 was ac- sis reveals that these wave- movement of the source of companied by seismic forms slowly change over these seismic events over a events in the volcano. time. distance of about 100 m per SeniorSenior DesignDesign ProjectProject ExaminesExamines KilaueaKilauea – Rich Krahenbuhl, Postdoctoral Fellow & Alicia Hotovec, GP Junior In March 2006, a group designed and implemented report/proposal, and as a projects and study on Ki- of undergraduates and fac- the geophysical surveys, formal presentation at Col- lauea. The first group tack- ulty traveled to Hawaii Vol- and processed and interpret- orado School of Mines. led the problem of identify- canoes National Park to per- ing subsurface structure as- form geophysical investiga- sociated with lava-tubes, tions on the world’s most caves, and old lava ponds active volcano, Kilauea. beneath the current caldera The surveys were part of a floor. The second group Senior Design course re- helped to map active lava quired for all undergraduate tubes throughout the active students in the GP Depart- flow field to identify the ment. hidden route(s) of lava As part of the course re- transport from the active quirements, a few select vent Puù Òò to the Pacif- students took a leading role ic Ocean. H in identifying geophysical The students will use O Littoral Cone on Kilauea in 1998 – photo R. Krahenbuhl problems of interest to the their geophysical data to T ed their data. The final National Park and USGS The students, while work- calculate lava-flux through T Hawaiian Volcano Observa- product was presented to ing as one large group for tubes, thus predicting the O tory (HVO), chose appro- the faculty and members of part of the study, also divid- amount of growth to the big P priate geophysical methods the USGS Hawaiian Vol- ed into two sub-groups for island of Hawaii. I for tackling these problems, cano Observatory as a final separate Senior Design C S 5 A Powerful force Island Magnetism – Todd Meglich, MS Student Center for Gravity, Electrical & Magnetic Studies (CGEM) Unexploded Ordnance netic susceptibilities may Hawaiian Islands. Along and (UXO) contamination is potentially mask the signal with highly magnetic soils, all of Todd Meglich one of the most dangerous of buried UXO items in several islands have UXO our gear to the island. Con- environmental problems magnetic data. Current dis- contamination problems trary to popular belief, we faced by the United States crimination methods are not dating back to World War II. did work while on the island as well as over 80 other suited to recover the correct With the help of the Hawai- collecting electromagnetic countries in the world. source parameters in these ian State Government and and magnetic data as well as There is an estimated 11 noisy environments. Elec- American Technologies, over 70 soil samples. million acres of UXO-con- tromagnetic methods may taminated land in the U.S. be negatively influenced by Since the mid 90's, geo- the presence of viscous re- physical methods including manent magnetization magnetics, electromagnet- (VRM). Soils with VRM ics, and ground penetrating may exhibit multiple relax- radar have been used to help ation times when placed in locate and identify buried an external time-varying ordnance items in clean-up magnetic field, such as that efforts. The Geophysics generated with electromag- Department at CSM is cur- netic induction instruments. rently researching multiple Multiple relaxation times projects involving the im- introduce unwanted noise in proved detection and dis- electromagnetic data and crimination of UXO. One can mask the signal meas- project in particular in- ured from buried UXO. volves the detection of The camp on the western end of the island: the dining room The soils around Golden on the left and the weight room on the right. UXO in magnetic environ- happen to have very little or ments. Magnetic soils may no magnetic material pres- Inc., and in collaboration In addition to work per- pose difficulties for both ent. So, where could a poor with the University of formed on Kaho'olawe, we magnetic and electromag- graduate student convince British Columbia, New have collected geophysical netic methods, the two most his advisor to send him to Mexico Institute of Mining data and over 150 soil sam- common geophysical meth- obtain samples of magnetic and Technology, Sky Re- ples from the Island of ods used for UXO detec- soils? As it turns out, there search, Inc., and the US Hawaii and at Chevalier tion. Soils with high mag- isn't a better place than the Army Corps of Engineers, Ranch outside Helena, MT. we were able to collect geo- Although the other trips physical data and soil sam- proved to be both scientifi- ples from the Islands of Ka- cally and visually interest- ho'olawe (pronounced kah- ing, the trip to Kaho'olawe ho-oh-lah-veh) and Hawaii. is in a league of its own. It's From 1941 to 1993, Kaho'o- not often you have an entire lawe was used as a weapons beach to yourself and have testing area for ship and air- this type of view while eat- H craft weapons. Full-scale ing dinner. O UXO clearance operations T began in 1997 and conclud- ed in 2003. Helicopters T O were used to transport us P I C S After a brief rain shower.

6 A Worldwide Overview – Amy Hinkle, MS Student &Mike Batzle, Professor

Heavy oil has recently become an important resource allow them to be distinguished direct- as conventional oil reservoirs have limited production and ly. AVO techniques show some prom- oil prices rise. More than 6 trillion barrels of oil in place ise in identifying lithologies. have been attributed to the heaviest hydrocarbons. This is more than three times the amount of combined world reserves of conventional oil and gas. Of particular interest are the large heavy oil deposits of Canada and Venezuela, which together may ac- Amy Hinkle count for about 55-65% of the known < 20 degree API (density > 0.93 g/cc) oil deposits in the world. Heavy oils cover a large range of API gravities, from around 20 degrees for the lightest heavy oils to less than 10 degrees ( > 1.0 g/cc) for extra heavy oils. This wide range of values means that heavy oils will vary greatly in their geophysical properties and extensive research will be required before these properties can be properly understood. There are several prevailing issues that are seen repeatedly in various fields around the world includ- A chart comparing heavy oil reservoirs from around the ing measurements on unconsolidated sandstone cores, production world: 1) Bakersfield, 2) Ugnu, AK, 3) West Sak, AK, 4) of sand with oil and its effect on the formation, exsolution gas Duri Field, 5) Athabasca, and 6) Faja del Orincoco. drive of heavy oil, and monitoring of steam recovery processes. (Note: The OOIP for Venezuela, and Canada, and the viscosity for Canada extend off of the chart.) Heavy oils usually began as lighter oils (30 to 40 degrees API; = 0.876 to 0.825 g/cc) and are then altered, often by bio-degradation. With aero- As alternative energy resources be- bic biodegradation, meteoric water supplies nutrients and oxygen and bacteria at- come increasingly important in the tack the lighter alkanes near future because of declining con- (straight chains) by ox- ventional reserves, it will be impera- idation, leaving the tive to quantify the properties of heavy more complex com- oil, one of the largest alternative fuels pounds such as resins that remains largely unexplored. and asphaltenes behind. This is the most common mechanism for shallow heavy oils. Oil sands can be quite complex, so pre-production reservoir descrip- Heavy oil reservoirs are broadly distributed across the tion can be a primary earth. goal of geophysical in- H vestigations. In recovery processes such as SAGD (steam assisted gravity O drainage), sand continuity can be critical. The mobilized oil resulting from in- T jected steam in an upper horizontal well must communicate with a lower produc- T ing well. However, in fluvial depositional environments typical of many of the O oil sands, shale lenses and layers are common. Geophysical techniques must be P able to differentiate zones of high shale content. Unfortunately, the difference in I compressional velocities of the shales and sands may be very small, and may not C S

7 ESERVOIR CHARACTERIZATION PROJECT Celebrating 20 Years – Tom Davis, Director The Reservoir Characteriza- Energy research features promi- tion Project (RCP) celebrated nently in the mission and vision of 20R years of progress during the Fall RCP Meet- Mines and RCP has been a leader in ing 2005. Remarkably, RCP continues to flour- this effort, according to President ish with strong support from approximately 25 John Trefny, featured speaker at industry and government sponsors. RCP oper- the RCP 20th Anniversary Gala. ates in phases that are two years in duration and The celebration took place at is currently wrapping up Phase X, a study of Fossil Trace Golf Club in Gold- tight gas at Rulison Field, Colorado. Tight gas en, led by master of ceremony is the current “hot spot”, especially in the Rock- Sue Jackson from GX Tech- ies, and RCP has been working on research to nology, a division of find “sweet spots” in on-going field develop- Input/Output. Sue, along ment in Western Colorado through time-lapse with Rhonda Duey from multicomponent (9-C) seismology. Hart Energy Publishing, Approximately 70 students have obtained ad- carried the day with Sue vanced degrees while working on RCP. Over organizing the gala and Rhonda 150 industry and government sponsors have producing and publishing a supplement to brought 15 million dollars of funded research to E&P magazine featuring the 20 years of RCP. Mines during this 20-year interval. In addition, The event was filled with fellowship and at least 10 million dollars have been provided goodwill, toasts and roasts. Commemorative through in-kind services and participation. RCP beer steins, with the RCP logo, were provided continues to support students from geophysics, as a memento. Mugs and hugs were the features geology and petroleum engineering to work to- of the evening, reflecting RCP’s strongest asset gether on reservoir characterization research in – people. an integrated team-oriented environment.

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T O P I Part of RCP’s 2005-06 cast of characters: (front l to r) Michael O’Brien, Donald Walker, Lauri Burke, Liz LaBarre, Max C Peeters; (middle row) Rodrigo Fuck, Tom Davis, Eldar Guliyev, Matt Casey, Bob Benson, Brent Riley, Shannon Higgins; S (back row) Jim Emme, Gerardo Franco, Afolabi Babalola, Steve Hill, Michael Rumon, Marin Matesic and Donald Keighley. 8 How do our students find their way to the study The Path to of geophysics and to the Colorado School of OLDEN Mines? Two of our students describe their G particular research interests CSM Good Match for Geomechanics Shannon Higgins, MS Student Reservoir Characterization Project As an under- find and produce more oil and gas. I learned graduate at the I am working with the Reservoir that there are University of Characterization Project (RCP) study- a number of Rochester I de- ing the integration of seismic proper- geoscientists cided to seek a ties and geomechanics. The RCP con- involved in bachelor’s de- sortium has shot multi-component space re- gree in geome- time-lapse seismic surveys over a tight search. I chanics. Yes, gas sandstone field called Rulison looked into geomechanics Shannon Higgins Field, located near Rifle, Colorado. the field and I was an actual degree program. In my My challenge is to integrate this cut- liked what I The planet Mars graduating class there were three who ting edge seismic technology with the saw. I decided to pursue a career in earned this degree. fairly new concept of geomechanics. geophysics. As a senior in college I had no idea To accomplish this goal, I am build- When I came to CSM I began to what I was going to do, because no one ing a one-dimensional geomechanical search for a campus job. I didn’t think model for four wells in Rulison. any professor would want to hire a For these four wells I am mod- freshman who had been at the school eling stress and building empiri- for only two weeks, but department cal correlations to determine head Dr. Terry Young introduced me to elastic moduli from well logs. Dr. Gary Olhoeft. After learning that I With this modeling, I will be knew how to solder and had some ex- able to show how stress relates perience as an auto mechanic, he hired to elastic moduli and essentially me. sonic and seismic properties. In Since then I have worked on a Example of a 1-D geomechanical model of a the end, I hope my research will NASA project researching the electri- well at Rulison Field. show how geomechanics can be cal and magnetic properties of Mars used to better characterize and soil. The ultimate goal of this research I knew had ever heard of this degree. understand an unconventional resource is to help develop a ground penetrating Little did I know then, that in the oil like tight gas. radar (GPR) system to find subsurface and gas industry, geomechanics is one water on Mars. I enjoy this work im- of the hottest industry buzz words. To- Searching for mensely because it fits so well with my day I find myself in the geophysics de- interest in planetary science. partment at CSM pursuing a master’s Water on Mars Brianne Douthit, GP Junior Many of the concepts and skills I degree in geomechanics with a career have learned during the past three already lined up in the same field. I have been in- years have helped me in my classwork. Geomechanics has many definitions terested in astron- Not only have I learned about GPR, and applications. For simplicity, I like omy since I was but I have become better at working to think about it as understanding the very young and with tools and electronics. PhD student stress in the earth and the role stress as I grew older I David Stillman and I launched a web- plays in all aspects of hydrocarbon re- learned about the site about a year ago, and in the covery. Geomechanics is used to pre- field of astro- process I learned HTML and am main- H dict optimal mud weight during physics, which taining my own website. Another pos- Brianne Douthit O drilling, solve wellbore stability prob- greatly appealed itive aspect of my job is that I have T lems, prevent reservoir compaction, to me. However, after meeting a few been able to see what graduate research and help design better completions. astrophysicists and looking further into is like, and it has helped me decide that T the field, I decided it was too narrow I want to attend graduate school. In O What does this mean in non-techni- P cal terms? The more we understand for my taste. There were very few ca- short, I recommend undergraduate re- I what’s happening to stress under- reer options, and I didn’t want to risk search work to anyone C ground, the better chance we have to getting into a career that I didn't like. S 9 USGS / CSM Partners – Learning by doing

Seismic in the Grand Tetons – Jeff Fox, MS student The summer before I began my Grand Teton National Park. I had to coming from graduate program at Mines I was for- learn all about the Guralp broad-band seismic sta- tunate to obtain an internship with the seismometers, as well as the RefTek tions that I in- USGS at the National Earthquake In- 130 data loggers and how all these stalled myself. formation Center (NEIC). Lucky for electronic devices work together. The USGS Jeff Fox me the USGS was just starting up a Computer networking was also a big has afforded new project and needed help. Thus be- challenge. All of the stations, even me a great opportunity to do field work gan my adventures in Grand Teton Na- though they are remotely located, have as well as analytical work in the lab us- tional Park and the northern Rocky direct line-of-sight to broadcast their ing real time data. I have learned a Mountains. data to a receiver site that is connected great deal in the short amount of time For the past two summers I was giv- to the internet. This is how the real- that I have been here and it has com- en the responsibility for the installation time data are transmitted back to Gold- and maintenance of the Jackson Wy- en at NEIC. oming Regional Seismic Network. Working in Jackson Hole is great! I Only five days after beginning em- had never been out west before mov- ployment at the USGS I was headed to ing to Colorado, and having the chance the field in Jackson Hole! I had a lot to work in such an amazing location to learn and in very little time. That has been exhilarating. Almost all of the first summer we were to install the first stations are very remote, so it has giv- four of nine seismic stations within en me a chance to see parts of the Tetons most people never see. Some of the stations are located on the west side of the range in Idaho and are very difficult to get to. The work does not stop after the summer. I have had to visit some of the stations in winter for routine maintenance. That was my first introduction to snowmobiling, since it is the only way to get to the sites during that time of the year. Due to the remoteness of these seis- Learning to snowmobile is part of the C mic stations, they are among the qui- job. Here Jeff is snowmobiling to seis- O etest in the country, with respect to mic station REDW south of Grand L background noise. I am also working Teton National Park. L A on my master's thesis with the USGS plemented my graduate education im- B and I am using data from these stations mensely. I look forward to my contin- O for calculating earthquake focal mech- ued employment with the USGS, as R anisms. I am able to do moment tensor next summer I will be in the Caribbean A inversions for very low magnitude T doing field work as part of the tsuna- I earthquakes in the intermountain west mi warning project! O Checking data flow and the health of a region with these data. It is comforting N station via a palm-pilot at station to know that the data I am using are S TPAW, up on Teton Pass.

10 USGS / CSM Learning Together GGROUNDROUND PPENEENETRATRATINGTING RRADARADAR – Justin Rittgers, GP Senior This past summer three formance and applicability Throughout the course of undergraduate students par- of GPR over lossy (conduc- the project, the students' re- ticipated in a joint research tive) media through the use sponsibilities included project at the USGS located of a low frequency signal hardware fabrication, col- within the Denver Federal and powerful electronics lecting and processing data, Center. Justin Rittgers, Ali- that allowed for real time and seemingly endless sys- son Meininger and Trevor digitizing of the data. Ac- tem troubleshooting. Some Irons had the unique oppor- cording to Justin Rittgers , of the highlights included tunity to work with the “The Federal Center in the fabrication and deploy- Crustal Imaging and Char- Denver offers the perfect lo- ment of a mobile radar Justin Rittgers acterization Team (CICT), cation to test this system flotation device (MRFD) ®, developing a low-frequency due to its naturally lossy numerous local field tests, how difficult it can be to surveys during the 2005 keep such a prototype sys- CSM geophysics field ses- tem running properly in sion in the Rocky Moun- variable field conditions. tains, and a glorious trip to Trevor Irons notes “I got a the Idaho National Labora- good appreciation for how tory (INL). much R&D would be re- In fulfillment of obliga- quired to bring an idea into tions to the DOE, partial a fully functional and com- supporters of the project, mercially viable product.” the MRFD was taken for Overall, the internship testing to INL, in the heart proved to be a good experi- of the Idaho badlands. ence for the three under- There, the group spent 11 graduates who were ex- At The Nature Place, (left to right) Trevor Irons, Chuck Oden, days conducting surveys at posed to a talented USGS Alison Meininger. various sites, including a research group, and had a ground penetrating radar soils and the presence of nu- geophysical test cell and lot of fun, while making (GPR) prototype. merous known utility lines two of the US’s first-run- many friends. This system was devel- that function as good targets ning nuclear reactors. oped to improve the per- in GPR surveys.” This trip demonstrated

EARTHQUAKE MAPPING PROJECT – Tanya Slota, GP Senior Through a classmate, Matt Donnelly, about ground shaking following significant earthquakes. I was recommended for a project that GP adjunct professor David Wald was From this web site, it is possible to report earthquakes working on at the USGS in Golden. you may feel yourself, or to find information about other re- This Earthquake Hazards Program proj- ported incidents. Since beginning work, I have developed ect is called “Did You Feel It?” the relational database and interface, and have expanded this C system from what was originally a collection restricted to “Did you Feel it?” is a rapid commu- O the United States into a worldwide resource. Check out the L nity internet earthquake intensity map- web site for yourself (http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/shake/). L Tanya Slota ping system to collect information A B O San Francisco Earthquake, 1906 R A T I O N S 11 USGS / CSM Learning Together Project: Building and Calibrating a GPR System – Chuck Oden, PhD Student In a collab- and reduces image orative effort resolution. between the The principal in- USGS and vestigators were Dr. CSM, a pro- David Wright and totype ground Dr. Michael Powers penetrating of the USGS, and radar (GPR) Chuck Oden Dr. Gary Olhoeft at system was CSM. A number of designed and built. students played a This radar system, the real time dig- major role in the itizing GPR (RTDGPR), is designed project. The project was the basis for Justin at the INL site– now this is four wheelin'. Chuck Oden's PhD work. Graduate student Bill Woodruff These pictures describe some of the and undergraduates Justin Rittgers, finer moments of the project. Al- Trevor Irons, and Alison Meininger though most of the calibration work were invaluable assets in building, cal- was done at the USGS offices at the ibrating and testing the RTDGPR. Denver Federal Center, we also spent The RTDGPR is unique because it a few days at Big Soda Lake in Lake- has a large dynamic range for better wood, CO. There’s nothing like doing penetration in lossy soils, and because geophysics in a beautiful setting. We a major effort was spent calibrating the made two major field outings with the system. The response of radar systems RTDGPR. The first was at the CSM using ground coupled antennas geophysics field camp at Sanborn changes as a function of the soil prop- Ranch, Colorado. The second was at erties under the antennas. This means the Idaho National Laboratories near that the response changes as the anten- Idaho Falls, ID. nas move across the ground. With the This GPR project taught me how dif- RTDGPR, we are able to estimate the ficult it is to design a field-worthy geo- Bill, Craig Moulton (USGS), and electrical properties of the soil beneath physical instrument that produces Chuck conducting a calibration experi- quality results in many different field ment at the Denver Federal Center. the antennas, and calculate the response of the antennas. This enables situations. Many of the geophysical infor use in lossy or conductive ground. data processing techniques to make struments that we routinely use truly Conductive ground is a major problem higher resolution images and better es- are technical marvels. with GPR because it limits penetration timate the properties of buried objects.

C O L L A B O R A T I O Working on site at the Idaho National Laboratories. N A calibration experiment. A day in the life of a GPR system S – just relaxing at the beach. – photos courtesy of the USGS

12 Heriot Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering GEOPHYSICS ON TOUR Our students often have opportunities to travel abroad for exchange programs, collaborative projects or even just for fun! Sometimes all of these things are rolled into one experience. Seeking Common Ground in Time Lapse Collaboration – Matthew Casey, MS Student Reservoir Characterization Project (RCP) When I first arrived at CSM I knew This research objective is little of what was in store for me be- a daunting one that involves sides that I was to do research with the bringing together aspects of Reservoir Characterization Project wave propagation, multi- (RCP). Just two months into the se- phase fluid flow in porous mester of heavy course work my advi- media, and the dark art of sor, Tom Davis, suggested that I travel rock physics! Thus, it must to Edinburgh, Scotland, to visit Heriot a collaborative effort be- Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineer- tween the people who pursue Matt Casey ing. it. Initially, it may involve solving reservoir specific problems, very exciting to be involved in cross- While there I visited with Dr. Colin which may not be a bad way to go. In disciplinary integrated research and to Macbeth and Dr. Karl Stevens to dis- the words of the famous statistician collaborate with people from other cuss collaborating on mutual research John Tukey: “An approximate answer parts of the world. objectives of coupling time-lapse seis- to the right problem is worth a good mic anomalies to geomechanical reser- deal more than an exact an- voir simulations. Their research group, swer to an approximate prob- the Edinburgh Time-lapse Project lem.” (ETLP), is roughly the same size as RCP (12-15 students). They focus their I found that Edinburgh is a research on local regional problems beautiful old city with a such as North Sea reservoirs, much as prominent towering castle atop RCP does research on tight gas sands a volcanic neck. From the cas- in the Rocky Mountains. tle, a street called the Royal Mile extends a mile and a I was able to meet with all of the quarter toward the Queen of ETLP students, post-docs and faculty England’s palace. The Royal and discuss their respective research Mile is full of wool garment projects and objectives It is very in- stores, secret passages, pubs structive to see how others think and and whiskey shops. Edin- approach similar problems, lending in- burgh also has many modern sight into one’s own methods of re- art and sculpture museums and search and problem solving. is truly a unique place to ex- C plore. O The ETLP is sending L L two students to the Spring 2005 Edinburgh street scene A RCP meeting in order for them to B see what we do and what life is like O in Golden and on the front range. R The next step is to organize an ex- A change for a semester or two. It is T I O N S

13 Crossing Borders International students make up an important part of our department. These students are a long way from home and many of them do not return until after they complete their degrees. We asked a few of them to write how it feels to be in Colorado and at CSM. Afolabi Babaloa Shahir Adnan Homeland: Nigeria Homeland: Malaysia I was born in to take the road less traveled by others. In January a small town Before I decided to come to the 2003, I packed called Akure, United States, I researched in depth my bags and in Ondo State, where in the world I could receive the came to the Nigeria, into a best education. I chose the United USA. Arriving family of six. States. alone, I didn't Following my I studied Americans during my think I could tertiary educa- search and discovered that no other survive with- tion in Akure, I out guidance Afolabi Babaloa people in the world have such great Shahir Adnan gained admis- self-esteem. I want to know the secret and assistance. sion to the Federal University of Tech- behind this, which added to my moti- However, as time went by and I met a nology, Akure, to study geophysics. vation to study in the States. few people, I learned to do things on My dad is an associate professor of my own, and I did survive. physics there. I chose CSM because the department of geophysics here has the best pro- The first thing I noticed here was the I am a very passionate and focused gram in exploration geophysics in the weather; it is nice and not too hot com- person with a lot of enthusiasm. I have world. pared to Malaysia. The second thing I a strong religious background, which noticed was the people and culture, My plans for the future are to work motivated me to read lots of motiva- which is very different from my own. in the oil and gas industry for a while, tional books. These readings gave me The final thing that was hard for me before venturing into consulting. I will insight into how life operates and the was the loneliness of being away from be going into consulting because there best ways to make it work on the road my family and friends. to success. are still many untapped mineral resources in Nigeria. For instance, Nige- My experience studying abroad has I am from a country where one has ria has the second largest deposit of bi- made me a better person by opening to struggle for everything. I have come tumen in the world. my mind to new cultures, beliefs and to understand, however, that there are ideas. As time goes by, I appreciate I also have passion for the people of two things that make you in this world: more and more seeing new things and my country; so I intend to go into pol- the friends you make and the books meeting new people. With all the ben- itics in order to be an influence. I be- you read. By books, I don’t mean geo- efits of experience comes maturity. Be- lieve strongly that this is one of the physics. I mean articles or books out- ginning to learn about another culture C best ways to affect the greatest number side your primary area of academics and gaining global perspective and un- R of people. Maybe one day I will be the that will inspire, propel and shape you derstanding is challenging, but also O first Mines alumnus to become a Pres- S for future challenges and opportunities. worthwhile. ident. S I am always optimistic about life; I I can't wait to graduate and pursue N and I dare never to give up on my my career as a geophysicist. The geo- G dreams. I am a dreamer and I try as physics department at CSM is great much as possible to see things from and the teachers are very helpful and B different perspectives. In fact, I prefer wise. I am grateful for my friends who O R are always there and my family and my D girlfriend who support me through my E journey. R S Flags are courtesy of www.theodora.com/flags. Used with permission. 14 England and the Rocky Mountains pretty boring, but Golden has its own The Leeds Trio have an even better reputation with the charm. This peaceful town has proven Homeland: United Kingdom skiers and snowboarders. to be the best place for me to study, re- After the novel experience of buying lax, and enjoy the nice view. During a one-way ticket to another continent my spare time I like to walk along came the decision of what to pack. The Clear Creek, free my mind from any essentials were obviously a guitar, a problems, and just let some philosoph- snowboard, and a jar of Marmite. Our ical questions about the meaning of life first impressions of Colorado were of (for which I will never find answers) a hot, dry, flat, and above all, brown fill my mind. landscape, but the sight of the Rocky The main difference between big Mountains behind the Denver skyline cities and small towns are the people – took our breath away. (Although on re- here, the warm atmosphere can be felt flection, this may have been the lack everywhere. People living in Golden Helen Kershaw, David Thompson, and of oxygen.) Sunshine, also, was a are kind, friendly and willing to help. Tom Blanchard, strange new experience for us English The surrounding nature and geo- It is little things like finishing the people. graphical location holds many oppor- last of the whole tube of toothpaste you Leeds University itself has about tunities for outdoor activities. I dis- brought with you, or needing a haircut, 30,000 students and its School of the covered for myself hiking, biking, or driving on the wrong side of the Earth and Environment is one of the kayaking and, of course, skiing, which road as if it were normal that make you largest in the country. Lectures can be was my first and most unforgettable realize you have been in a foreign in theatres with a hundred and fifty experience with winter activities. country a long time. people, so arriving for classes of ten at One might think, what is so unusual We are three exchange students from Mines was a welcome change. in all of this? I come from a country, the UK, who are half-way through our Being at the School of Mines has where we hardly see snow or actual year abroad. This article is about our given us an opportunity to make new winter. My home town is a modern in- experiences of studying abroad, but friends, see new places, and learn in a dustrial city. Only after coming to first a little about ourselves. completely different teaching environ- Golden, have I appreciated the quiet- We are all students from the Univer- ment. When it comes time to leave, we ness of a small town and those mar- sity of Leeds in England studying for will be looking forward to going home, velous views that Mother Nature cre- degrees in geophysical sciences. Tom but with great memories of Colorado. ated. I was amazed when one night I Blanchard is from the Lake District in saw a deer in my back yard. Cumbria. This is a damp, dreary place, The seasons in Colorado are distinct. which is one of the most beautiful ar- Eldar Guliyev During the winter months the snow- eas of England. Tom plays rugby and Homeland: Azerbaijan capped Rocky Mountains are majestic enjoys winning at any thing at any I arrived in and provide the best snow in the coun- cost. David Thompson is from Ripley, try for skiing or snowboarding. a midland town. Dave also plays rug- Colorado from Spring brings new beginnings when by and is a cricketer for the University Baku, Azerbai- C the snow starts to melt and fills the R of Leeds. Helen is from Yorkshire, jan, as an in- rivers and the creeks, trees blossom O which naturally makes her a mean per- ternational stu- and birds begin chirping. When sum- S son (brutal in fact) and extremely tight dent about two S mer comes around, the weather is hot with her money (never tips). years ago. I Golden, my and dry — the time for vacations has N Our journey began in Leeds in No- “home” for the come. I find that autumn is the best G vember 2004 when we all chose which Eldar Guliyev next two years, season in Colorado. The aspen trees in B American University to go to. We all turned out to be a small, cute, western- the Rocky Mountains glistening with chose Mines. After weighing the pros O style town, in a valley bordering the golden leaves is a spectacular sight. R and cons of each university, CSM Rocky Mountains. If you have never been to Colorado, D stood out as the best educational and I hope my description will inspire you E recreational choice. The school has a The city has two main sights: CSM to visit this beautiful, colorful state. R great reputation with employers in and COORS brewery. At first it seems S 15 Thanks mainly to my parents’ influence, I had a very di- Ivan Vansconcelos verse education that included not only school work, but also Homeland: Brazil strongly emphasized the humanities and arts. As a result, I can never really detach myself from appreciating and per- I first came to forming some form of art. CSM as a visiting student from the Every day I face the task of dividing my time between re- University of São search work and all the other things that equally matter to Paulo, Brazil, to me. work with Ilya At CSM, I’ve dedicated my free time to different activi- Tsvankin on an un- ties. Playing the Great Highland Bagpipe, has always been a dergraduate thesis major interest, so I continued that hobby in Colorado. I even project. I was also participated in solo competitions, which allowed me to for- mally rise through technical levels (called “grades” by the Ivan Vasconcelos on vacation in Spain. using that opportunity to decide piping community). whether or not to pursue a PhD Little did I understand then I also joined the Mines Little Theater (MLT) drama group. the magnitude of the decision. During my two-semester participation with the group, I Going through the PhD program at the geophysics depart- played a singing priest in a musical and directed two short ment at Mines has shaped, not only my professional charac- one-act plays. ter, but truly my entire life. It was here at CSM that I found Performing was of course very fulfilling, but the best of my calling as a seismologist. I owe to my CSM instructors MLT was the interactions with the great friends I made from both my current knowledge and my interest in the problems the cast. of wave propagation in anisotropic heterogeneous media, pa- But the most refreshing experience for me is taking every rameter estimation and wavefield reconstruction in depth. chance I can to travel. After perhaps a semester into the program, I came to realize that not only would I face technical challenges, but also the challenge of living a balanced life. Max Peeters Appointed Dutch Consul Just when Max Peeters, Baker Hughes Professor of Petrophysics and Borehole Geophysics, considers retirement, he accepts anoth- A highlight for Max this er responsibility. year will be a meeting in Max was appointed by May with the Prime Minis- royal decree of Queen ter and the Queen during a C Beatrix, Honorary Consul consul conference in The R of the Kingdom of the O Professor Max Peeters and his Netherlands. Netherlands for the Rocky S wife Lilian. Meanwhile, on campus, Mountain states of Col- S Max is in the middle of I orado, Wyoming and New Mexico, effective June 1, 2005. what CSM calls “transition- N Consul General of the Netherlands David van Iterson trav- al retirement,” which means G eled to Colorado to administer the Honorary Consul oath to Dutch Consul Max (and HM he spends one semester Max. B Queen Beatrix) in his each year with us, and we O As Dutch Consul, Max carries out routine consular duties Denver consular office. still get to enjoy his pres- R and attends official functions, as well as assists Dutch ence in the Department, as D tourists who encounter difficulties. Max reports that though E we complete the search for R diplomatic license plates do not prevent speeding tickets, his successor. S they do allow him to park wherever he likes! 16 Colorado – a Natural Place for a Norwegian to Visit The Depart- squeeze rocks in ment has been different ways pleased to have with Mike Bat- Martin Landrø zle and his co- from the Norwe- workers in the gian University of Science and Tech- Center for Rock nology (NTNU) as a visiting professor Abuse. for the 2005-06 year. Martin reports Martin is par- that he and his family, Ingjerd (wife), ticularly eager to Heidi (17) and Helene (10) are enjoy- measure the dila- ing life in Golden and in Colorado. tion factor of a Ingjerd enjoys hiking in the moun- compacting rock tains around Golden as well as the so- and to measure cial neighborhood in north Golden. how CO2-injec- Daughter Helene had a hard time tion changes the “Norwegians love ice, rocks and water.” learning English for the first couple of seismic properties of various reservoir – photo by M. Landrø months, but is now doing well at rock samples. So far, two papers have been submitted during his stay at CSM, and the hope is that more will be com- pleted. Martin allocates weekends for family time. The photo here is from one of the family hikes into the Rocky Moun- tains. Norwegians love ice, rocks and water. The Department gained “two for one” with Martin’s CSM visit. Mar- Martin Landrø and wife Ingjerd at the tin’s student, Amir Ghaderi, and his Department’s fall welcome picnic. family are also spending the year at CSM as Amir continues work on his Mitchell Elementary School. She is PhD thesis, “An integrated study of also taking riding lessons as well as pi- Visiting student Amir Ghaderi and his seismic monitoring of CO2-injection children in a picture-perfect Colorado set- ano. Daughter Heidi is enjoying high using laboratory measurements and ting; but, where’s the snow? school life at Golden High, and has time-lapse seismic data.” He is in been participating in the sports pro- Golden with his wife, who is also at grams there. The Landrø’s have two CSM as a postdoc in the Department C other children still at home in Norway. R of Material Sciences, and their three O Martin is working on several proj- children. S ects at CSM. One research topic is to S estimate azimuthal changes in I anisotropy utilizing critical seismic re- N flections. Other activities are to G B O R D E R S 17 Studying Abroad Where in the World is Wollongong? – Stephanie Cook, GP Junior

"Where?!" This was the usual re- friends have come to visit me already! sponse I received when I told someone I got to travel all over the place, in- I was off to University of Wollongong, cluding Tasmania and Fiji. I learned New South how to speak Australian (it really is a Wales, Australia, different language at times) and went to study abroad to class every for a semester. now and then. With such a I highly en- strange name courage every- many thought I one to study was off to the far abroad – pick reaches of the any country you outback where Stephanie Cook want, your expe- you don’t see anything but red dirt for rience will be hundreds of kilometers. But in fact, if amazing. you care to try your luck at driving on the left side of the road, the drive south to Wollongong from Sydney takes less than one hour. I instead arrived in Wollongong by train at nine in the morning, in the rain, totally exhausted, and immediately wanted to go home. That feeling quickly passed, however (unfortunately the jet lag North to Alaska didn’t), as I was swept into ori- entation week and quickly im- mersed in Aussie culture. By the time the session was over, I wanted to stay for another! I made in- credible friends from all over the world – including some from Colorado, S whom I had to go to the other side of T the world to meet. Some of these U D Y Sometimes our students travel, just for fun! GP grad student Lauri Burke (2nd from left) on a ten- A day backpacking trip in the Wrangle-St. Elias B Mountains in Alaska.With Lauri (left to right): Todd R McFadden (PE alum, Lauri's husband), Lauri, O Zack Bennet (EE alum), and Mike Schaardschmitt A (EE alum). D 18 Continuing Education Learning (and teaching) Never Stop Short Course Travels Long Distance – Ilya Tsvankin Professor Ilya Tsvankin and The popularity of the course reflects Vladimir Grechka (former CSM re- the increased attention to anisotropy in search faculty member, now with the exploration community. For a long Shell) have been teaching a two-day time, the seismic exploration method Continuing Education Course for the had operated under the simplifying as- Society of Exploration Geophysicists sumption that the earth can be de- (SEG) since 2001. scribed by isotropic models. The fact The course, “Seismic anisotropy: that the speed at which seismic waves Basic theory and applications in explo- travel might depend on the propagation ration and reservoir characterization,” direction had been considered too was in high demand in 2005 and con- complicated to be taken into account tinued to receive enthusiastic reviews in exploration practice. Work over the from the attendees. Ilya and Vladimir past decade has led to a number of CSM PhD student Yaping Zhu with Ilya and Vladimir in Beijing. taught the course for Petrobras in Rio breakthroughs that show, not only how de Janeiro, for the Bureau of Geophys- to correctly process seismic data in the The primary course handout is Ilya’s ical Prospecting in Beijing, at the presence of anisotropy, but also how to book on anisotropy that sold out in Canadian SEG, “Doodletrain Educa- estimate the anisotropic parameters 2004 and was reprinted last spring by tion Week” in Calgary, at the SEG Ed- that carry crucial information about Elsevier Science. ucation Week in New Orleans, and be- lithology and fracture networks. Teaching the course has been a two- fore the SEG Annual Meeting in Hous- In developing the course, Ilya and way street for Ilya and Vladimir who ton. Predictably, the largest crowd (60 Vladimir tried to cut through numer- have learned a lot themselves from the people) gathered for the course in Bei- ous complexities of anisotropic wave course attendees. They have also seen jing, where CSM graduate student propagation and focus on practical, some spectacular sites and made new Yaping Zhu helped with simultaneous physically intuitive approaches to friends inspired by the course to join translation. anisotropic inversion and processing. the anisotropic community.

Davis & Roche Share India Adventure – Tom Davis Tom Davis and Steve Roche (Veri- tourage. tas) travelled in January to Jorhat, In- While we were teaching, my wife dia, to present a course on 4-D Multi- Pat, along with a driver and two armed component guards, went to view the wildlife in a Seismic National Park. She was amused by the Reservoir three burley men sitting in the front of Characteri- the jeep, with herself as the only rider zation. in the back seat. F Sponsored The hospitality of the people was by the So- A phenomenal. We were treated like roy- C Steve Roche, PhD, CSM, ciety of Pe- alty. Steve commented that the people U 1997. Tom and Pat Davis at the Taj Mahal. troleum don’t rely on being entertained like we L Geophysicists of India, the course pre- do in the US; they create their own en- similar experience with the Chinese. T Y ceded the three-day Kolkata 2006 con- tertainment. We spent one evening We look forward to our next excellent vention. with people telling stories, jokes and adventure, wherever that might take S Jorhat is in a remote area of India in singing songs – a real talent show. us. P the extreme northeast, at the foot of the Steve quipped something about “trust O Himalayan Mountains. It reminded me me for an unorthodox adventure.” T of the Alberta foothills except for the L Of course, what brought Steve to I rhinos, elephants, tigers, and lions. Mines as a student, was our meeting in G Needless to say, you didn’t wander out Chengdu, China, in 1990, during a H of the compound without an armed en- T 19 19 Hearing from Far-Away Friends Check Dam Project Manika Prasad, research professor with Mike Batzle’s Center for Rock Abuse, is currently spending two years at the India Institute of Technology, Bom- bay (IITB) as associate professor of petrophysics. As she describes below, Manika is also in- This village is the potential beneficiary of the dam project. Manika and husband Günter, say- volved in a volunteer ing ‘hello’ from Mumbai, India. project to build small check dams for rural water supply. I am involved in a volunteer project to build small check dams for rural water supply. Note: in the state of Maharastra (Bombay belongs to this state), there is a lot of rainfall during monsoon. But, due to the topography of the region, most of the water is lost as run-off to the sea. The small villages suffer from chronic water shortage during pre- and post- monsoon months and severe soil depletion during monsoon. I joined a group of civil engineers and soil conservation faculty to help build check dams to harvest rain waters. Since the work was done without any geoscience input, they had gotten mixed results. I requested student volunteers to help map fractures and geology of the area. Not only did most of IIT earth science students come, but we also got students This is a successfully built dam that carries water for almost from neighboring colleges! Now, I am not going there as of- eight months! This water is useful for washing and for buffa- ten as the students – they have taken charge and ownership los (and for the kids to play in). This image was taken soon of the project! You can be involved in the project too! Check after monsoon. Note the green colors – they will soon disap- out: http://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~ctara/ pear.

F A C U L T Y

S P O T L I G H The IITB Earth Science building (multiply by infinity any In the valley proposed for the dam, students map the catch- T space and leakage problems in the Green Center at CSM). ment area and make pits to assess subsurface lithology.

20 Welcome Paul Sava Joins CWP and Geophysics Faculties Paul Sava joined the Mines faculty cause this gives him the opportu- in January 2006 as an assistant profes- nity to present seismic processing sor of geophysics. Coincidentally, from an unconventional point of Paul’s main scientific interest is in view, free from dated concepts and computational methods for wave phe- common jargon. nomena, and this makes him a natural For the fall semester, he is plan- fit for the Center for Wave Phenomena ning to offer a graduate-level (CWP), with which he is currently af- course on imaging methods, ex- filiated. As an active member of CWP, ploring connections between geo- Paul joins other faculty Dave Hale, physical and medical imaging. He Ilya Tsvankin, and Roel Snieder, as plans to approach this topic in an well as University Emeritus professors The Sava family: Paul, wife Diana, and interdisciplinary fashion of inter- daughter Iulia. Norm Bleistein and Ken Larner. est to a larger cross-section of the Paul’s main research interests in- CSM student population. ceived an honorable mention in the category Best Paper in Geophysics clude imaging and tomography, com- Prior to joining the CSM faculty, (2003) for “Angle-domain common- putational methods for wave phenom- Paul was employed by the Bureau of image gathers by wavefield continua- ena and probabilistic inversion. Economic Geology at the University of tion methods,” co-authored by Sergey In the recent past, he has developed Texas (Austin), where he was nominat- Fomel. methods for modeling wavefield prop- ed as a Jackson Young Scientist Fel- agation in complex geology, imaging low. Before that, Paul worked on his Paul shares the joy of being in Col- and velocity analysis using computa- PhD in geophysics at Stanford Univer- orado with his wife and daughter, Di- tionally-intensive wavefield methods. sity, where he was affiliated with the ana and Iulia, who are the guardians of Not surprisingly, his favorite toys are Stanford Exploration Project, the his honorable position of third-in-com- large parallel computers. friendly rival of his current research mand of the Sava clan. Paul’s teaching at Mines com- group, CWP. More information about Paul’s menced on his very first day on the job. During his student years, he received teaching and research at He is currently teaching “Introduction three awards of merit for best student http://www.mines.edu/~psava. to Seismic Exploration.” He enjoys presentations at the SEG conventions teaching at the undergraduate level, be- (1999, 2001 and 2004). He also re- Feng Su Brings USGS-Supported Program Opportunities School of Mines, she worked as an as- Mapping Project (NSHMP) at the sociate seismologist at the California USGS here on campus. Geology Survey and as a research as- NSHMP is one of the most impor- sistant professor at the University of tant programs at USGS. The national Nevada, Reno. building codes, earthquake insurance Suzie’s research interests are earth- policies, highway bridge designs, and quake ground motion simulation and many other related issues are all F modeling and probabilistic seismic based on these maps. The updating to A hazard analysis and application of the next generation of the national C space geodesy in geophysics. Her re- hazard maps is due in mid-2007, and U Feng Su (Suzie) and her cent research work on probabilistic she hopes to recruit some talented stu- L husband Yuehua Zeng. T seismic hazards in Lake Tahoe, Neva- dents to work on the project. Y Feng Su (Suzie) joined the Geo- da, was presented at last year’s annual She hopes that through close re- physics Department as a research as- meeting of the Seismological Society search interaction, the department and S sociate professor last fall, moving of America. The work received great USGS will continue to build a strong P O from Reno, Nevada, with her hus- attention there, and was reported by collaboration, benefiting the pro- band, Yuehua Zeng, and their daugh- T over 50 newspapers nationwide. She is grams for both and bringing multiple L ter, Wendy. Her husband is a research now continuing working on a seismic opportunities to CSM students. I geophysicist at USGS. hazard analysis project through a con- G Before she came to the Colorado tract with the National Seismic Hazard H T 21 A Geophysics Career from Multiple Perspectives by John Mathewson, CSM alumnus & MS Student

In 1981 I graduated from CSM with rived safely at Lake Rukwa, we stayed statics – using a computer this time! I a BSc in geophysics. Now it’s 2006 for about a year. was fortunate to work there with a cou- and I’m back, working on an MSc, When the project finished I was ple of friends from Mines, Todd Fock- again in geophysics. There ler and Clark Capes. Jordan are still a couple of familiar was more civilized than faces around, like Professors Yemen, though not as exotic. Tom Davis and Terry Young, The desert there consists of whose classes I attended – endless gravel plains, so it’s way back when. easy to get lost. Still, you’d The years since I first left be surprised how many peo- Mines have been pretty en- ple travel the desert. If you’re joyable. One of my great joys patient, someone will come is travel, and this is one of the along eventually and you can reasons why I chose a geo- ask for directions. physical career. Geophysical The really big event of the exploration often involves year in Jordan was meeting going to some parts of the my wife, Mary Ellen. It’s a world that you would never long story, but we met at a see otherwise. In my case, the wedding (of course) and fell means to this end was a ca- in love. After two weeks to- reer with Western Geophysi- CSM student John Mathewson with family: wife Mary Ellen, gether, I returned to the crew. cal. LIbby (13), Ian (15) and James (6). We communicated via letter Before that, however, I for two months until my next went directly from school in 1982, to transferred to Yemen, where my job break. We then got engaged, spent the offices of Amoco in downtown was Infield QC, calculation of refrac- three weeks together, and I returned to Denver. That was a fun year learning tion statics (by hand on graph paper!), the crew again. Two months later, an- about the oil business, but the job was and collecting uphole data. The crew other break, and we were married. Af- not to last. In 1983 there was radical was shooting 2D seismic in the area ter our honeymoon she went to Syra- downsizing in the exploration business around Marib, which is the city where cuse, I went to Jordan! After my final and a lot of us were looking for jobs the Queen of Sheba lived. During her stint on the crew she came to Jordan again. I packed all of my belongings in time, there was a city there with a pop- and I drove her across the desert to the the car and headed for Houston, where ulation of around 200,000. They creat- crew. All the boys were surprised to Western Geophysical offered me a job ed a large reservoir back then and you see her, and she was very pleased to in marine data processing. can still see the old dam. The area is see where I’d been all this time. I learned quite a bit there, but I real- now desert, with quite a few bedouin Now that I was married it was no ly wanted to get out and see the world. tribes around, and it is possible to see longer an option to work on a seismic So I talked with some people in land ruins and rock carvings. field crew, so I had arranged an office seismic acquisition. A month later, I You have to be very careful working job working in Houston, data process- A was on my way to Tanzania, where I in Yemen. The Yemenis that worked ing again. We made it about a year un- L with us would not go anywhere with- til we needed to get out again. I man- U would be working on an infield data M processing system. At the start of the out their AK-47’s. However, we never aged to transfer to the London office N job, we made a six-day camp move had any serious problems. I think it’s to work in land data processing. I from Dar-es-Salaam to Lake Rukwa, important in such situations to be po- I missed the seismic crew, of course, waving at all the people in the villages, lite and attend to your own business. but the work in London was interest- F O enjoying the spectacular scenery. Part After several months in Yemen, my ing. For the first time, I was able to C of our journey was through a game next post was again in the desert, this work with 3D seismic data, a great im- U park, where we saw giraffes, zebras, time in Jordan. In Jordan, I was once provement over 2D work. I started to S warthogs, and elephants. Once we ar- again doing data processing, refraction take an interest in the technical aspects 22 of geophysical data processing. ing the week I was working I was in the London office for four hard as a supervisor at the data years, running a data processing group processing center, where we by the time I left. One thing I enjoyed had some very interesting over- there was working on data from all thrust work. For the first time, over the world. We used to get work in the subject of prestack depth from Nigeria, Europe, Turkey, Africa migration came up. I got a kick – all over the place. Every particular out of discussing PSDM and area had its own problems where some other technical issues with things worked or didn’t. But, when clients in my pidgin Spanish. you are learning a trade, this kind of Bolivia was then heating up experience is better than seeing the a bit, as a pipeline to Brazil was same thing over and over. under construction. We opened At home our situation had changed. a processing center in Santa John at a bar in a Bolivian village where the Our son Ian was born about a year af- Cruz, which I was to manage. beer was warm due to no electricity. This spot ter we arrived there. Our daughter Lib- We moved a computer system was a beautiful seven-hour trip from the nearest by came along fifteen months later. there and were open for busi- road in a motorized dugout canoe. Mary Ellen became a full-time mom. ness. We did quite a bit of 3D areas. Later I spent most of my time I learned how to feed babies and put time processing, and some 2D PSDM. working on PSDM in the “Canadian them to sleep. Things were going very The PSDM work was very challenging Foothills,” which involved TTI well when the travel bug hit again. I on the overthrust data, and we anisotropy. achieved some good results, in spite of called Gary Jones, VP for South Amer- In the meantime, my family had set- being only a small center in Santa ica. He asked if I would like to join a tled in nicely in Bragg Creek, west of Cruz, Bolivia. field crew in Bolivia. Calgary. We learned to dress warmly in Soon I was on the field crew on the After a year or so, the market in Bo- winter, and my children started talking altiplano, and Mary Ellen and the kids livia cooled down and we decided to like Albertans. We enjoyed Canada a were living with her parents. I worked move once again. Fortunately, the Lon- lot, and hope to return someday. don office was looking for an Area on that project at 4000m above sea lev- While I was in Canada, I began to Geophysicist. Soon we were back in el for about four months, then on to an- feel that it would be a good idea to go England, and James was born a year other project in the swamp. My job back to school and try for another de- later. I don’t know what it is about the was still infield data processing and gree in geophysics. I had come pretty place, but if we had stayed in England QC. In fact, the altiplano job was run- far in my career with a bachelor’s de- we’d probably have ten children. ning the first installation of Western gree, but I felt that more opportunities Geophysical’s Omega system, so it The position in London involved would be available if I were to have was fun working the bugs out of that. solving various technical problems for more education. Throughout my career, Every few weeks I’d head up to the the production processing groups I have repeatedly found myself in tech- States to spend three weeks with my working there. My specialties were in nical positions, rather than managerial, family. Definitely, this long-distance noise attenuation and statics for the and I continue to work as a hands-on thing would have to end. Mary Ellen land groups, and multiple attenuation geophysicist. (particularly SRME) for the marine and I decided that they would join me I felt that one of the best places to groups. I also supervised projects such in Bolivia. They all loved it there. work towards another degree in geo- as a large OBC offshore Nigeria. I was working on a new project in physics would be CSM. Our Denver the Villamontes in the south of Bolivia, It was soon time to move again. By office said they’d be glad to have me. when Gary Matyas arrived on the crew this time my family was feeling it was We moved to Golden in August 2005 and asked, “So, you know how to time to settle down a bit. We couldn’t and I started my new double life, work- process 3D seismic data?” Soon there- really afford to live in London. I spent ing downtown for WesternGeco as a after the family found itself in a dumpy a couple of short stints in Abu Dhabi depth imaging supervisor, and study- A apartment in Buenos Aires, eventually (very interesting for multiple attenua- ing part time at CSM. L tion) and Assen (dedicated center at moving into nicer digs across from the Last semester I took the Digital U NAM). Fortunately, then I was invited M Bosque de Palermo. Analysis class, which did a good job of to transfer to Calgary. N Buenos Aires is a great old city. I kick-starting my brain – definitely my I used to ride the no. 12 bus to work I worked in the Calgary office as mathematical skills need more prac- every day. The kids got very good at Area Geophysicist and then as Depth tice. Anyway, we will continue on with F handling themselves around traffic, Imaging Supervisor. I found the Arctic this. I feel very optimistic about the fu- O data very interesting. We studied noise C and they’re still with us. We used to ture, and am looking forward to the U love wandering around the city. Dur- attenuation and statics in permafrost further challenges of research at CSM. S 23 I NTERNSHIPS AGLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE The Study of Water – Kristen Schmidt, GP Junior Hyporheic zone? Thalweg? Rho- damine? These were just a few of the hydrologic terms that I learned over the The results of rhodamine and salt used for the stream tracer. summer during a chance to apply geo- Creek, which flows into Bull Trout Lake. There we spent sev- physics to solve problems in hydrology eral long days setting up, performing, and taking down the ex- as a field technician. I worked in the periment. During this time I ran up and down the stream doing field with Dr. Michael Gooseff, assis- a little bit of everything, such as taking resistivity measure- tant professor of Geology and Geologi- Kristen Schmidt ments, helping with the cross-borehole equipment, collecting cal Engineering at CSM. water samples, and stirring up the giant trash can of rhodamine We spent the first week in western Montana at the Tender- and salt used for the stream tracer. foot Creek Experimental Forest. This was a field reconnaissance When the field work was over, I returned to CSM to filter and trip during which we spent time walking up and down small measure the water samples that we had taken in the field. I saw streams discussing what type of experiments should be per- all of the hard work in the field turn into information that we formed. I learned how to perform a tracer experiment with salt, could use for interpretations. a method used to determine if the stream is gaining or losing I learned that I enjoy hydrology and hope to be able to com- water. bine this subject with geophysics. Like most people, I believe We left Montana for the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho. At the that water issues will increase in importance, and I would love field site there, we were hoping to test methods to image the to be involved in that field. I also learned the difference be- hyporheic zone, which is an area under the stream where a mix- tween reading articles on the subject, and performing experi- ture of surface water and groundwater is located. We used ments. Out in the field, there is a passion and understanding that ground penetrating radar (GPR) and resistivity measurements a person can't get just by reading. to detect stream tracers of dissolved salt in the hyporheic zone. We also performed experiments along the scenic Springs

Baseball and the Real World but also because of the exposure to the comp- – Yaping Zhu, PhD Student any’s culture, which is Center for Wave Phenomena (CWP) quite different from that of academia. I cannot My internship with ExxonMobil in say how much progress Houston over the past summer was a I made in such a short positive experience for both my PhD period, but I did see that study and for my future career I was growing. I worked with the Reservoir Char- I was impressed with acterization Division on seismic for- the challenging project ward modeling of fractured rocks and that I worked on, and was financially supported by the Sub- also by the intern activ- Yaping’s ball game vantage point. Surface Imaging Division. This gave ities coordinated by the me the opportunity to interact with Yaping Zhu company. Through a series of intern forums, we learned about both groups. each other’s projects, often giving us better ideas about our own I Though going into the internship, I felt much anxiety, for- work. N tunately the project progressed smoothly, thanks to the The intern work was supplemented with extracurricular ac- T group’s carefully designed plan. My mentor, supervisor, proj- tivities, such as a Houston Astros baseball game. I don’t yet un- E ect manager and other team colleagues were always support- derstand much about the game of baseball, but I was fortunate R ive. I found that good communication is highly appreciated to make a “home-run” with a job offer kindly extended from N within ExxonMobil. During monthly presentations, I received the company, to begin following my thesis defense this spring. S constructive suggestions for improvement, just as we typi- H cally experience during the rehearsal sessions for CWP. When I stepped into the company office as an intern student the first day, I felt timid. When I stepped out of my office the I I appreciated the unique opportunity of the internship, not P last day, I felt excited, proud, and confident of my career. only because of the high caliber team that I was working with, S

24 C ALIFORNIA P ASTIME Predicting Earthquakes – Lia Martinez, GP Junior

After packing my car and driving earthquakes in Southern California. It is funded by the NSF the 1001 miles from Golden to and USGS. Every year, SCEC funds approximately 30 un- Fullerton, CA (in Orange County), I dergraduate interns from around the country to work one- was a little nervous about making a on-one with some of the world’s preeminent earthquake sci- good impression during my summer entists. internship with the Southern Califor- Although working with just one professor all summer may nia Earthquake Center (SCEC). The sound like a lonely experience, I was constantly meeting new previous semester, after applying to people, making new connections and being asked to partici- their undergraduate research intern- pate in other projects. For example, Jim Nolan, a friend of Lia Martinez ship program online, I had been ac- my mentor, knew a graduate student at USC who needed vol- cepted and assigned to work with my mentor, unteers to help her perform a seismic survey in Compton for David Bowman, at California State University, a week. Suddenly, I found myself working with Harvard un- Fullerton. But as excited as I was to participate dergraduates and graduates lugging around geophones and in some of the most cutting-edge research in swinging a sledgehammer for days on end. It was one of the earthquake seismology, my fears got the best of best experiences I had all summer. me- shouldn’t I have taken at least one class in Not only was I meeting people outside of the program, but seismology first? SCEC also arranged for multiple intern events. In June, we In actuality, I didn’t need previous seismology had an Intern Retreat in the Idyllwild area of the San Jacinto experience. Un- Mountains. During the retreat, we were taken on field trips der the mentor- to San Jacinto Mountain and both the San Andreas and San ship of Dr. Bow- Jacinto Faults where seismologists working in the area de- man, I learned scribed to us the location’s geological history and their cur- about the current rent projects. theories of In July, most of the interns attended a weekend trip to the earthquake pre- University of San Diego and made multiple trips including diction, includ- one to see Scripps’s Oceanic Observatory. In August, SCEC ing Accelerating organized an Intern Research Colloquium where each intern Moment Release presented and discussed his or her research with the group. (AMR). AMR, When I returned home to Golden in August, I couldn’t wait in a basic sense, to tell everyone about the work I’d done and my new theo- means that be- ries regarding which major Southern California fault will be fore M7+ earth- the next to break (The Big Bend of the San Andreas). But I Lia atop San Jacinto Mountain during an quakes, a period intern retreat. still wasn’t done. In September, SCEC flew all of their in- ranging from 10 terns back from their respective institutions to attend the An- to 40 years occurs wherein there is an increase in nual SCEC Conference in Palm Springs, CA. There, we pre- the seismicity surrounding the fault. sented our summer research in posters of our own creation My job for the summer was to apply a method and fielded questions from many of the leading scientists in of determining AMR created by Dr. Bowman to the field. Most of the time, the scientists didn't realize I was all of the major faults throughout Southern Cali- an undergraduate intern, and instead probed my work for fornia (the Southern San Andreas, Elsinore, and weaknesses as if I were a graduate student. I quickly learned San Jacinto), and thus try to predict upcoming how to defend my work with confidence and was able to see I Magnitude 7+ earthquakes. By “upcoming”, I other current seismological research. N mean in the next 5-10 years. Even though this re- T Now back in Golden for good, I miss the friends I made E quired a lot of staring at a computer screen, the while doing the internship and am thankful for the research R actual research was very engaging. that taught me so much about an area of geophysics in which N The Southern California Earthquake Center is I had no previous knowledge. S H comprised of a conglomeration of universities I and professors from around the country with the P mission of gathering new information about S

25 THE 2006 VISITING COMMITTEE We periodically welcome to campus a distinguished group of experts appointed by the CSM Board of Trustees as our Visiting Committee. While on campus, this group closely interacts with geophysics students, staff, faculty, and members of the administration in order to advise us of any areas of needed improvement. We are grateful to this group for taking an interest in our goal to provide the highest quality education in geophysics.

Peter Annan, President Craig Beasley, Schlumberger Rutt Bridges, CEO, Dave Cooper, Development Sensors & Software, Inc. Fellow, WesternGeco The Bighorn Ctr. for Public Policy Geophysicist, EnCana Oil & Gas

Richard Degner, Pres. & CEO, Jerry Harris, Chr., Erec Isaacson, Mgr., Gary Jones, Chairman, Global Geophysical Services Geophysics, Stanford University Proj. Authorization, ConocoPhillips Arkex

V I S I Rob Kendall, Sr. Tech. Advisor, Jane Long, Dir., Energy & Env., Jill McCarthy, Chief Scientist James Payne, Chr. & CEO, T Veritas GeoServices Ltd. Lawrence Livermore Natl. Lab Geologic Hazards Team, USGS Shona Energy Co., LLC. I N G

C O M M I T T Barbara Romanowicz, Chr., Anne Sheehan, Professor Jonathan Sheiman, George Wood, E Earth & Planetary Sci., Univ. of Geological Sci., Univ. of Colorado Geophysical Consultant, Shell President, Sercel Inc. E CA, Berkeley 26 SEG 75TH ANNIVERSARY SEGSEG HonorsHonors andand AwardsAwards forfor CSMCSM Norm Bleistein Awarded BEST POSTER PAPER Honorary Membership in SEG Michael Batzle, et al. have heightened our appreciation for Research Profes- the intricate relationships between sor Michael Batzle mathematics and the physics of seis- and co-authors Brian mic wave propagation. Norm has ex- Zadler, Ronny Hof- celled at communicating his ideas mann and De-hua and his passion to generations of stu- Han were awarded dents and industrial colleagues. He Best Poster Paper Presented at the has been generous in recognizing the Mike Batzle contributions of others, and in bring- 2004 Annual Meet- ing academic research groups closer ing for the paper, “Heavy oils: Seismic properties.” orman Bleistein, CSM Uni- together. And he has done it all with an infectious sense of joy.” versity Emeritus Professor BEST STUDENT PAPER Nand Research Professor of Among his credentials, Norm is Geophysics, received the Honorary founder and former director of the Richard Krahenbuhl Center for Wave Phenomena at CSM, Membership Award from the SEG Postdoc Rich Kra- which is recognized as one of the during the 75th Anniversary Meeting henbuhl was award- most successful industry-sponsored in Houston. ed Best Student Pa- consortia. Norm’s “tireless energy In the words of Sam Gray, author per Presented at the and selflessness continue to have a of the award citation, “Norm has long 2004 Annual Meet- dramatic impact on technology, stu- promoted a rigorous approach to seis- ing for his paper, dents, colleagues and friends.” mic imaging problems, and his efforts “Hybrid optimiza- tion for a binary in- Rich Krahenbuhl Terry Young Selected SEG President verse problem.” – Craig Beasley, Outgoing SEG President November 10, 2005, was a day AWARD OF MERIT that loomed large for GP Depart- Paul Sava ment Head Terry Young, and it Asst. Professor was no less important for me. Not Paul Sava received to be too precise, but at 1:00 PM the Award of Merit CST on that day, I passed the re- (Best Student Paper) sponsibilities of the SEG presiden- for the paper “Wave- cy to him. field extrapolation in Terry has had a lot of experience Riemannian coordi- with the events and customs of the nates.” written as a Paul Sava SEG, so he took the whole thing in student at Stanford University, stride. His time spent in various SEG will see less of him on campus because H of the many meetings he will be attend- activities, such as serving as Secre- DISTINGUISHED VOLUNTEER O tary/Treasurer and then as member of ing. The office of SEG President is N O the Finance Committee, as well as be- highly respected worldwide and I John Stockwell know that Terry’s travels will bring R ing General Chairman for the 74th An- Research Associ- S nual Meeting held in Denver, have honor and recognition to CSM and to ate John Stockwell been excellent training for the job. the GP Department. was honored as & With his year as president elect, Terry I would like to say “thank you” to 2005 Distinguished Mines and to the GP Department for Volunteer for his A is likely better prepared for the job than W many have been, and I was pleased to encouraging Terry to accept this job, creation of the A hand the office to him. and for donating his time to the Cause. “Geoscience-Geo- R I can’t predict what will happen dur- Terry, you won’t need it, but good luck, physics-Petroleum John Stockwell D S ing Terry’s year, but I expect that you anyway! Industry Timeline” poster. 27 GP Year in Review Fall 2005 Welcome Picnic

GP Day Picnic...

Celebration of Mines 2005

...and Banquet

C A M P U S Grad Student L Retreat 2005 I The Nature Center F Florissant, CO E

28 GP Year in Review

Enjoying Retirement The Youngs check in with the Alex Kaufmans in California.

Heiland Lectures

Kasper & Mila Wed Research Assistant Professor and CSM alumnus Kasper van Wijk, and PhD candidate Mila Adam were wed Summer 2005 in Cara- cas, Venezuela, with several CSM colleagues in attendance.

At left, Kasper and Mila in their Geophysicist and adventur- more usual surroundings. ist Pasquale Scaturro was Meng Ersheng, referred just one of our invited to as the “Ambassador of Kasper has accepted a position speakers. Pasquale spoke Geophysics to China,” as Assistant Professor in the of leading the first expedi- attended CSM in 1948 Department of Geosciences, tion down the Blue Nile from before being recalled to Boise State University, beginning source to sink; a trip docu- China due to impending Fall 2006. mented in an IMAX film. civil war. During his very active career (a portion of which he was chief geo- Meng Ersheng, CSM physicist of BGP), he Honorary Degree, promoted geophysical industry interaction December 2005 between China and western companies.

Anniversaries GP Office Manager Sara Summers C receives 25-year A Award from CSM M President Trefny P (above); Michelle U Playoff Madness: Szobody, CWP Pro- S gram Assistant Broncos vs. Steelers receives 15-year L I GP student Kris Davis – a brave Award as a State F fan in Broncos territory! employee (left). E 29 Job Opportunities: 3 3 A Road Less Traveled 3TAMARA GOES TO WASHINGTON Opening Doors for Geophysicists – Tamara Gipprich I never thought of myself as one who any. During that would eventually enter the oil industry experience I upon finishing my master's degree. So learned tech- why, you ask, did I join the geophysics niques for analyzing satellite imagery ment agency. In recent years, the mix department at CSM? I've realized the and I wrote an article published in of geophysics, geology, mapping and answer is that I was trying to find my Imaging Notes magazine entitled imagery skills has become highly at- niche as an earth scientist and explore “Monitoring Colombia’s Pipeline In- tractive to homeland security agencies a wide range of career options. I came frastructure – Observing Theft from and these positions continue to be in to CSM in 2003 with a geology back- Colombian Pipelines.” high demand. After extensive background and a fascination with natural I also worked for the USGS while at- ground investigations, I was granted a hazards, remote sensing and mapping tending classes and starting my thesis once-in-a-lifetime job opportunity with technology. research. This job gave me experience this agency. My time at CSM has opened doors in Geographic Information Systems Even though I started my degree at for me that I never would have imag- (GIS) and an insight into the research CSM without knowing where it would ined. Upon my arrival, I was offered a process of the federal government. lead, I feel that I have finally found my project working with Space Imaging, Finally, my master’s project, “The niche and an experience that I could a commercial remote sensing comp- Dynamic Triggering of Landslides,” not pass up. I encourage other students helped complete to grab opportunities that will expand my goal to expand their experience in geophysics – it may my knowledge of lead to the unexpected! natural hazards. You may not see my name in head- To my surprise lines, or as the next 007, but be assured one day, I was con- that following my education at CSM, I tacted about inter- have the ability to help protect our viewing for a sci- country. entific position at a large US govern-

J O B Tamara Gipprich was awarded a CSM master’s O degree in geophysics P December 2005. She P submitted this article just O as she was beginning R her new job in T Washington DC (exact U location not disclosed). N I T I E Tamara with her thesis advisor Roel S Snieder. 30 g •• r a 2005 • d • u ••• a t i • o • n Bachelor of Science Master of Science Luke Constant Bernhardt Ramzy M. Al-Zayer Salman Khalid Bubshait Hasan Hasan Asgarov William Andrew Burnett John Leif Colson John Constantine Chakalis Hans Ecke Kristofer John Davis Tamara Louise Gipprich PhD Alison Malcolm and Advisor Muhammad Firdaus Mohd Fuad Kjetil Jansen Martijn de Hoop Matthew David Gardine Mahendra A. Kusuma Brian Douglas Grade Nicole Marie Pendrigh Mason Andrew Kass Eugenia Maria Rojas Jared Roy Peacock Firuz Avaz Salamov Emily Carlson Roland Jessica Marie Schwark Paul Conrad Schwering Sarah Elizabeth Shearer Armando Jose Sosa Frederic Dje Youan Sarah Katherine Thompson Hunter Anne Yarbrough

Doctor of Philosophy Who are they kidding? PhD Matt Haney and Advisor Roel Snieder Pawan Dewangan Matthew Mattson Haney Richard A. Krahenbuhl Alison E. Malcolm Kris Davis, Salmon Bubshait & Matt Gardine

Hunter Yarbrough, Paul Schwering & Firuz Salamov & Family John Chakalis Will Burnett & Sarah Thompson Sarah Shearer

Emily Roland

G R A D U A Back row: Brian Grade, Frederick Youan, Rich Krahenbuhl, Tamara Gipprich, PhD Rich Krahenbuhl T Jessica Schwark. Front row: Armando Sosa, Eugenia Rojas, Hans Ecke, and and Advisor Yaoguo Li I Mahendra Kusuma Andy Kass. O N 31 GP FACULTY RETREAT Annual Planning Session Reinforces Team Effort

he faculty gathers informally each summer to do strategic Tplanning in a relaxed setting. This year it was a pleasure to welcome new faculty members Paul Sava and Lizet Christiansen, as well as Paul’s wife, Diana who is also a PhD geophysicist. Welcome to incoming faculty: (upper far right) Paul and Diana Sava, along with Lizet Christiansen (right) , arriving August 2006. Terry Young (far right) presents department gift to the faculty.

Faculty (front row) Terry Young, Diana Sava, Lizet Christiansen, Misac Nabighian, Adel Zohdy, Yaoguo Li; (back row) John Stock- well, Bob Benson, Roel Snieder, Norm Bleistein, Dave Hale, Paul Sava, Ken Larner, Steve Hill, Gary Olhoeft. Faculty not pictured: Mike Batzle, Tom Boyd, Tom Davis, Warren Hamilton, Pieter Hoekstra, Tom Lafehr, Ilya Tsvankin, and Kasper van Wijk.

Department of Geophysics Nonprofit Organization Colorado School of Mines 1500 Illinois Street Golden, CO 80401-1887 U.S. Postage Paid Golden, Colorado Permit No. 7