GEOScapeDepartment of Geosciences Alumni and Friends Annual Newsletter Fall 2019 Ph.D. students Juli Scamardo (foreground) Message from the Department Head and Celeste Weiting (background) in a RICK ASTER Cottonwood gallery forest along the Green River in Canyonlands National Park, Utah. 2 | GEOScape Fall 2019 Message from the Department Head RICK ASTER 2019 marked five years serving as CSU Geosciences department head, a milestone that invited even more In This Issue than the usual level of reflection on where we’ve been, the state of today’s department, and the exciting and impactful directions that we realize in a 21st-century CSU 4 Message from the Dean Department of Geosciences department. 7 Alumni News As with the majority of our U.S. peers, the popularity of geology as an academic major has waned since the ener- 11 Student Highlights gy industry jobs boom that peaked around January 2014. 19 Faculty and Staff This has predictably trimmed our undergraduate numbers (112 undergraduates this semester, down from around 33 Departmental News 180 in 2014). We’ve weathered this scenario before – our department history shows that we had around 300 majors at one point during 40 Departmental Honors the early ‘80s oil boom. Interestingly, essentially all of this recent undergraduate numbers decline has occurred in our “traditional” geology concentration, while 42 Development Focus Areas we have been holding our own in our geophysics, hydrogeology, and environ- mental geology concentrations. 46 Thanks to Our Supporters On the positive side, our graduate student accomplishments and numbers show consistent strength thanks to strong external funding and dedicated faculty ad- vising. Our on-campus introductory courses also continue to hit enrollment caps. These courses now serve about 2,000 students each year, including 900-plus undergraduates in our intensive hands-on introductory geology laboratories. Our expertly delivered 100-level courses are a demanding operation – kudos to our superb introductory teaching faculty who coordinate the large lectures, extensive grading, and long hours (Sean Bryan, Dan McGrath, Lisa Stright, Sean Gallen, and Mike Ronayne), and to our graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants who contribute so importantly while honing their own teaching skills. These courses are of course, fertile ground for recruiting geosciences majors. To continue to attract and retain talented undergraduates to geosciences, we will also be expanding our recruiting efforts on and off campus to continue to raise awareness of geosciences and our profession’s diverse and satisfying professional opportunities. A particular joy in assembling GEOScape is seeing anew how the department as a whole exceeds the sum of its impressive individual and group contributions – our research and teaching substantially span the applied and fundamental geo- sciences, including where and when our interests interact with the atmosphere and oceans. This is reflected in outstanding education, research, and engage- ment in geomorphology; sedimentology; petroleum, structural, and, economic On the cover geology; hydrogeology; geodynamics; geochemistry; tectonics; geophysics and Department graduate students install seismology; and glaciology, increasingly pursued in innovative and multidisci- geophysical equipment on Lake Agnes plinary ways. Our annual newsletter provides a unique (certainly non-exhaustive, rock glacier to image subsurface but valuably representative) snapshot of department excellence while showcas- properties, including ice thickness. ing a formidable breadth and depth. After reading, I hope that you feel the same way. Photo by Dan McGrath Finally, it’s once again a pleasure to recognize our alumni and other friends who critically enrich our students’ success and our department culture. Your engage- GEOScape is the annual newsletter ment this year continued to span substantial and critical student philanthropy, produced for alumni and friends of the service on our Geosciences Advisory Council, participation in the classroom, Department of Geosciences at Colorado field trip leadership, department seminars, and a solid offering of evening (typ- State University. We appreciate your ically pizza-enhanced) mentorship talks. Should any of you wish to be involved continued support and welcome your (or more involved) in these sorts of fostering pivotal experiences and support thoughts. opportunities for future CSU geoscientists, please contact me. Sincere thanks to our far-flung CSU Geosciences community! Rick Aster, Ph.D. Geosciences Department Head GEOScape Fall 2019 | 3 A Note from the Dean JOHN P. HAYES Greetings from Fort Collins! It’s also an exciting for the University. This year marks our 150th anniversary as Colorado’s land-grant institution, a What an exciting year for Warner proud tradition that has long included the fields of geosci- College and the Department of ence. We’ve also welcomed our 15th University President, Geosciences! Each year, I look Joyce McConnell. forward to digging into anoth- er exciting issue of GEOScape President McConnell arrived this past summer and has and learning more about all the already made great strides in stewarding the University’s tremendous work being accom- success for its next 150 years. Of particular note, and pride plished by our geosciences’ fac- for our College, President McConnell holds her tenure home ulty, staff, alumni, and students. in Warner College, and so she, like many of you, is a proud Warner Ram! As a College, we’ve continued making strides in a number of important areas this past year. Our program to strengthen Every time I get the chance to wander through the depart- teaching and research at CSU’s Mountain Campus has really ment’s halls, I’m astounded by the breadth not only among taken off. the faculty’s work, but also in the posters the students proudly display. Geosciences truly is a forward-thinking, in- We will be breaking ground on a new donor-funded Re- novative, department that cares deeply about educating the search and Education Center there this spring, which will of- next generation of geoscientists and making an impact on fer state-of-the-art facilities for both teaching and research. the world. I’m proud to be a part of a college that is home to With the help of a number of the Geosciences faculty such a great program. members, we’ve continued to deploy research infrastructure throughout the campus as well, including a new seismome- As always, if you’re in the area, we hope you’ll stop by and ter, multiple groundwater wells, and stream instrumentation. say hello! These tools will not only add to our basic understanding of John P. Hayes Ph.D. the area’s physical environment but are also contributing to international datasets. I’ve delighted in checking in to find that the seismometer is picking up seismic events from all over the world. You can see some of these data displayed at datavis.warnercnr.colostate.edu. Dean, Warner College of Natural Resources M.S. student Stewart Williams doing fieldwork in the Coastal Cordillera of northern Chile with the Pacific Ocean and the town of Taltal in the background. 4 | GEOScape Fall 2019 Torres del Paine National Park, Chile, GEOScapePhoto by FallEllen 2019 Wohl | 5 Coastal Cordillera in northern Chile. Photo by John Singleton 6 | GEOScape Fall 2019 ALUMNI NEWS Our alumni are contributing to geosciences work and research all over the world. GEOScape Fall 2019 | 7 ALUMNI NEWS Respect, Responsibility, A lifelong relationship and Gratitude with hydrogeology Robert L. Stollar, M.S., geology Saturday nights; loading and unloading trailer trucks for a trucking company; and being technical director of Theatre with a specialty in hydrogeology, ’69 Workshop at Hunter College. In my senior year, I asked this professor what I needed to do to make geology a career As a kid, I was always interested in science and went to and he informed me that graduate school was necessary. a special engineering and science high school, Brooklyn I also missed some of the analytical approaches of engi- Technical. In my senior year, I was informed that I needed neering and he gave me some textbooks on geophysics to go to college to pursue a science career. In those days, and hydrogeology. I couldn’t afford to go to a private college, so I chose Hunter College of the City University of New York. It cost It didn’t take long to realize that hydrogeology seemed $25 a semester! The problem was that I lived in Brooklyn to fit exactly with what I wanted to do. In 1966, very few and the campus was in the Bronx, one-and-one-half hours schools offered a specialty in hydrogeology, so it was a each way on the New York City D train. Long commutes choice between Arizona and Colorado State University. are not conducive to success in college and it took a toll Whoa ... CSU, the Rocky Mountains ... are you kidding? on my study habits. I started as an engineering student, This was a dream come true for an East Coast big-city boy taking math, physics, and chemistry. Not at all fun. One who couldn’t afford even summer camp. My grades were day, a subway friend of mine suggested I take a geology a disaster and I doubted I would be accepted; but thanks class. I had no idea what geology was, but he enlight- to recommendation letters from my Hunter professors I ened me and added that it was a fun, easy A. Sign me up. was. So, in July 1966, I bought a beat-up 1956 Plymouth My Geology 101 professor was from Rutgers, and it was and drove to Fort Collins with $250 in my pocket. I was on obvious that he loved teaching that course. It was fun and Highway 14 in Sterling when I first saw the sign “Welcome interesting; therefore, in my junior year I changed my major to Colorful Colorado.” I stopped, got out of the car, and to geology.