Winter, 1994/95 Volume 16

Fall, 2002 Volume 24 UMD Geological Sciences Newsletter for Alumni & Friends Editors: Charlie Matsch, Claudia Rock, Colleen Wergin have just come back from GSA where I met a department will remain vibrant and committed to our few of you who graduated in the early 80‘s. mission of teaching and research. I You asked me how the department was doing. As you can imagine, with three new faculty we I can only say that we are doing REALLY well. We had to do rearranging of offices. Dick had to leave his saw JC retire in 1999, Charlie in 2001, and this year, office(s) and move into a small office (used to be the Dick (as if any of them can retire—they are all in all the microscopy lab for those of you who remember). That time). We were worried that we wouldn‘t get Dick‘s was quite a feat! Dick can barely squeeze into the position back; however, we did. I also went to the dean space. There isn‘t an inch of space left in the and asked for a ―Freshman Seminar line‖, and he took department. Hopefully, by the year 2006, we will get that forward to the vice-chancellor. We were given some more space up on the third floor of Heller Hall, permission to hire two new professors. The department but right now we are cozy. decided that we needed to hire a sedimentologist and a Let me explain about ―Freshman Seminars‖. The structural geologist. Howard ably took over the chair University established freshman seminars so that of the search committee, and we started advertising and experienced faculty would teach first year under- looking about GSA time last year. graduates. This was first established on the Twin Cities In the spring we brought in eight people for Campus, but our campus has benefited from a few of interviews. What a month that was. We measured the these lines. We have to teach five seminars a year. day by whose house we were eating at, and who was Right now Jim Grant and Tom Johnson are teaching picking up whom. Colleen Wergin kept us all on task one each, and next semester John Goodge, John by making sure that each of us did our jobs. We were Swenson, Vicki Hansen and I are all scheduled to teach extremely fortunate to have eight excellent candidates. one. I know, that is six, but you know we never do Out of that pool, we managed to hire three! Talk about things by half measure in this department. the luck of the draw. We hired Tim Demko as Dick‘s This past summer was the last for me as field replacement. He comes to us from ExxonMobil, where camp director. I have turned over the reins to Andrew he spent six years in the oil patch. His areas of Wulff (late of the University of Iowa, now at the specialization vary from sequence stratigraphy to University of Western Kentucky) who has been out at paleontology to climate change. He is a great addition camp for two of the last three years. However, I must to the department. We also hired two faculty in the admit that it was a great last summer. Ron even came freshman seminar line. They are Vicki Hansen and out to teach. He turned out to be the soft sell and the John Goodge, both of whom came from Southern students would always go to him to have their maps Methodist University in Texas. Vicki is a structural graded! When we got back from camp, we had to get geologist who is interested in tectonics both on Earth ready for our move to a new house up the shore. We and on Venus! John is also a structural geologist- now live close to John Green. We have ten acres in the petrologist who is working in Antarctica in the country and a much smaller house—hopefully easier to Transantarctic Mountains. Now, why could we hire maintain. But packing and moving in two weeks was two? Vicki and John came as a married couple, and we rather stressful, to say the least. were able to persuade the administration to make an All the best in the coming year. Keep in touch. exceptional hire. So exceptional, in fact, that we We love to get your notes and e-mails! managed (with the dean and the chancellor‘s help) to offer a McKnight Professorship to Vicki. That is quite a coup. These additions to our faculty ensure that our 2 UMD GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES NEWSLETTER - ERIK BROWN Another year has gone by and it's agrees well with other data, including data from Taiwan time to summarize some of the highlights. corals presented at this meeting. Leah has found Sabbatical year in Aix-en-Provence, France. subannual records of sea surface temperature in several My family and I spent the 2001-02 academic year in corals that grew over 100,000 years ago. Sue has southern France. We all miss the warm weather and the combined 14C and U-Th dating measurements on deep- outdoor pools at Set Club. I also miss good olives and sea corals. Both Leah and Sue will present their results little local wines. Barbara's and my big event for the at Fall AGU this year, after which Kristin will join us to year was the arrival of Matthew Etienne Brown on April attend a workshop on submerged coral studies. 6. For the record: he is a "natural-born citizen" of the JIM GRANT Coming back from Australia a year United States and is thus eligible for the Presidency, ago, I was all ready for summer, but instead bought new should he choose to run; he does not have French cross-country skis and hardly used them. Too little nationality, but is permitted to request it at age 16; at the useful snow and too much lethargy. However, the whole present time he travels on a US passport. The other kids family went across to the UK in January to my sister-in- (Andrew-6 and Lianna-4) attended our neighborhood law Niki's graduation with her Ph.D. in Education of pre-school and learned French and Provencal, and had Gifted Children! She is three months older than I am, classes in horseback riding and fencing (budding and we were very proud of her. Summer saw us off to pentathlon competitors?). I received a Fulbright Grant D.C. for a family wedding, and it was the first time I'd for work at a university research lab for paleoclimate been there other than for AGU, and I was really taken by studies using African and Central Asian lake records, as the area. From Langley to Mt. Vernon and one well as studies of geomorphology using cosmogenic Smithsonian to another and all along the Mall, it was nuclides. It went well enough that the French Academy refreshing to see people enjoying our capital. It of Sciences has invited me to present some of the results certainly made the recent sniper attacks so much more obtained during my sabbatical at a symposium in Paris personal: These were places we recognized, with in early December. friends and relatives in harm‘s way. Continuing work on Lake Superior. Within a At the beginning of the summer, Executive few days of getting back to Duluth in August, I was out Director Christabel announced, ―You WILL be a on the lake for more fieldwork on the University's volunteer for the Bong WWII Heritage Center.‖ So the research vessel Blue Heron. The project focuses on summer was 0.5 FTE Bong Center, 0.5 FTE getting out dispersion of sediments delivered to the western end of my paper on experimental melting, and the rest of the the lake by the Nemadji River. Cabin. We got up to the cabin with the kids time getting compost fired up to 160˚ F and putting in only a few times since we got back from France, but we and taking out the dock and ski boat. At the Center, I‘m are hoping to get up there for cross-country skiing and in charge of the Commemorative Tile wall, where folk snowshoeing a few times during the winter. The kids can honor those who participated in WWII. See love it and never want to come back into town. Can't www.bongheritagecenter.org. The grass roots support say I disagree with them! for this, and the expressions of thanks for the opportunity to honor Grandpa or Mom make it all Winter fun. We just bought family passes for th Spirit Mountain and are waiting patiently for good snow. worthwhile. The Center opened on September 24 , during the only decent 24 hours of weather for a month CHRISTINA GALLUP I write this from either way, and Christabel could relax in a job really Barbados, where I've come for a meeting on Quaternary well done. At least that‘s the theory. Sea Level Change and for some fossil coral collecting. Ian is still doing well in his imported furniture and Even though I've written two papers on Barbados corals, objects d'art business, and we have a splendid trunk at there is still more to do! Currently, I'm collecting the foot of our bed as proof. Fiona now has her own samples that I hope will help me better understand what communications firm - with her mother as a significant happens to uranium and thorium isotopes in fossil corals employer. A nice twist on parenting.

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