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A L e t t e r F r o m t h e D e p A r t m e n t h e A D

Summer 2006

DepArtment GiFts

Meet Our New Faculty:David Boutt Page 2Qian Yu Page 2

Morale is high! Tribute to John Hubert Page 3

Faculty Notes Page 5

FAcuLty news

ALumni news

Alumni Notes Page 8

Alumni Spotlights: Steve Carey, BSc ‘75 0

Linda Tompkins, BSc ‘80, MSc ‘83 Page 10

Peter Scott, BSc ‘91 Page 11

Margaret Carruthers, MSc ‘96Page 11

in memoriAm

Tom Rice Page 14Charlie Pitrat Page 15

ArounD the DepArtment

News from the State GeologistPage 16

Student Research and AwardsPage 17

Thanks to our Donors Page 18

Giving Opportunities Page 19

The UMass Amherst Geosciences Department tradition of donning field boots and fancy clothes on April Fool’s Day continues. Photo by Chris Condit

The Connecticut River from Mt. Sugarloaf in S. Deerfield, MA. Visit www.geo.umass.edu for photos in all four seasons by Richard Wilkie.

We have come to theend of another academicyear. Faculty and graduatestudents have dispersed forsummer research, and thepace in the Department hasslowed a bit. Jim Hafner isheading to the Philippines;Julie B-G has already beento Russia and Svalbard;Laurie Brown is in Norway.Researchersandstudentsfromthe climate group have gonetotheArctic;SheilaSeamanispreparing for a Five-CollegetriptoIceland;PiperGaubatzand Stan Stevens have goneto Tibet; and I headed tonorthernCanada.Theisotope,microprobe, biogeochemistry,Quaternary,andXRFlabsaregoing strong as students andfacultymakethemostoflongdayswithnoclasses. TheDepartmentisthrilledto welcome two new facultymembers. David Boutt, ourhydrogeologist, joined us inJanuary, 2005. Qian Yu, a

specialist in GIS and RemoteSensing,joinedusinJanuary,2006. DavegothisPh.D.atNew Mexico Tech and thenwas a Postdoctoral Fellow atSandia National Lab. Davecombines field hydrogeologywith numerical and analyticalmodeling in a way that willkeep our program modernandbroad.Qian(pronounced“Chen”) Yu received aPh.D. from the Universityof California, Berkeley. Shehas broad interests in usingGIS, remote sensing, andspatial modeling to studyenvironmental systems.Herspecialty involves “VHR”(very high resolution) multi-spectral image analysis andinformationextraction. It seems that thepaceofstudent and faculty researchhas only increased in recentyears, and that means evenmore travel, more meetings,and more visibility for thedepartment.MicheleCookeis

nowwellintoherNSFCareerGrantresearchwithfieldwork,newsandboxexperiments,andnumerical fault simulations.RobDeContoisgearingupfortheANDRILL Project, amulti-university drilling effort in theAntarctic. Piper Gaubatz willbestudyingthechangestakingplace inChinaas itpreparesfor the next Olympics. RayBradleyandtheclimategroupare going strong, despite thebesteffortsofsomepoliticiansin Washington. Laurie Brownis well into a new fundedpaleomagnetism project inSouth America. GeorgeMcGill has several NASAgrants, and Tony Morse isstill working on experimentsatSmith. Whosaidanythingaboutretirement? Everyone in thedepartment and all alumniare saddened by the loss ofTom Rice and Charlie Pitrat.Theybothhelpedtomakethe

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AMherst

m e e t o u r n e w F A c u L t y m e m b e r sD A v i D b o u t t , A s s i s t A n t p r o F e s s o r o F h y D r o G e o L o G y

Q i A n y u , A s s i s t A n t p r o F e s s o r o F G i s A n D r e m o t e s e n s i n G

IarrivedinJanuaryof2005after a postdoctoral positionin New Mexico at SandiaNationalLaboratorieswhere Itaughtandperformedresearchinthefieldofhydrogeology.Ihail fromMichiganoriginally,and received my Ph.D. fromNew Mexico Tech (NMT)in Socorro in Hydrologywith Brian McPherson. AtNMT I studied the role offluid pressure, maintenanceand origin in the genesis ofopeningmodefracturesintheshallow (< 5km) crust. Thiswork combined theoreticaland numerical analysis ofthe conditions conducive tofracturingaswellaslaboratoryexperiments. We have beenpursing the suitability of anew technique to model thecoupled fluid-solid physics ofrock.This technique“builds”rocks from the grain-scale

on up and is successful atcapturingavarietyofcomplexbehaviors (such as stresssensitive permeability andporoelasticphenomena)usingrelatively simple interactionlaws. I will continue toworkwithanddevelopthesemodelsandalgorithmsforapplicationto geological phenomenawhileatUMassAmherst. My interests in hydro-geology range from the roleoffluids invariousgeologicalprocesses to aspects ofwatershedhydrology,includingtheinfluenceoflandusechangeon physical hydrologicalprocessesinurbanizingwater-sheds. Ispecialize in theap-plication of discrete basednumerical models (such asthe discrete element modelandlattice-Boltzmannmodels)to geological problems. Asalluded to above, discrete-

based simulation of certaingeological phenomena moreaccuratelycapturestheinherentvariability and heterogeneityfound rocks compared tocontinuum-basedmodels.Mygroup is currentlyusing thesetypes of models to simulatethings like the transport ofcolloids through real fracturegeometriesand the formationof fractures in overpressured

sedimentarybasins. LaurelGoodwin(Universityof Wisconsin Madison) andI are combining a laboratorybased analysis of naturalhydraulic fractures with acoupled numerical analysisof the fluid-rock system.Work with collaborators atSandia National Laboratoriesis currently focused on

Spring 2005 stream gaug-ing lab at Am-ethyst Brook. Dr. David Boutt is on the right.

Qian Yu, a recent Ph.D.fromtheUniversityofCaliforniaBerkeley, joinedusinJanuaryas an assistant professor ofGISandremotesensing. QiangrewupinLanzhou,along the Yellow river inNorthwest China. In 1995,

shestartedherundergraduatestudy inaprogram forhonorstudentsinphysicalgeographyat Nanjing University insoutheast China. After fouryearsofstudy,sherealizedtheimportance of a new spatialtechnologyinGeographyand

decided toc o n t i n u eon for hermaster’s inGeographicInformationS c i e n c e s .In herthesis, sheproposed aspatial datastructure toimplementthe storageof spatialdata in atradi t ionalr e l a t i ona lda tabase .

The 1990s was the decadeofGISboom.The integrationof GIS (spatial data analysis)and RS (spatial data source)became an importantresearch topic. More andmore applications requiredusers to have knowledge inbothfields.Her interestswereextended to remote sensingimageanalysis.QiancametotheU.S.inthefallof2001forherPh.D.attheDepartmentofEnvironmental Science, PolicyandManagementatUniversityof California-Berkeley. HerresearchfocusedonVHR(veryhigh resolution)multi-spectralimageanalysisandinformationextraction. VHR remotesensing imagery had justbecome available in the late1990s and the methodologyof information extraction wasin the exploratory stage. Herdissertation was on object-based image classification

for vegetation, which extractsspecies information andbiophysical parameters fromimagesbasedonGISpolygons.Her work also involves theimagespatialvariationtheoryand classification uncertaintyanalysis.ShereceivedagrantfromtheNationalParkServiceamong others to support herresearch.HerworkinthisareaappearedinPhotogrammetricEngineering and RemoteSensing and the InternationalJournalofRemoteSensing. Qian has broad interestsin using GIS, remote sensingand spatial modelingto study environmentalsystems.Besides herdissertation topic, she alsohas journal articles publishedin Hydrological Processes:Cellular Automata approachof modeling the impactsof animal trampling on hill



Page � UMass Amherst

JohnFrederickHubert (b.November28,1930,Quincy,MA) attended Newton HighSchool inMassachusetts,andHarvard College, where heplayed “first board” on thechess team (meaning that hewastheirbestplayer).Havingnever collected rocks before,John’s interest in geologywas nonetheless set in stonein Harvard’s GEO 100 classtaught by Kirtley F. Mather.“Harvardhadthebestteachersteaching the intro classes,which stressed lab work andthe importanceof field trips,”John relayed during a recentconversation–arationalethathewishescollegestodaywouldfollow. John graduated fromHarvard in1952,obtainedaMaster’sfromtheUniversityofColoradoin1954,andPh.D.in mineralogy and petrologyfrom Pennsylvania StateUniversityin1958. AtPennState,Johnmethisbelovedwifeofmorethan50years,MaryAlice,atadancefor graduate students, forwhichtheadvertisement,Johnwhimsicallyrecalls,was,“comeand meet your future wife!”

MaryAlicewasworkingonherMaster’s degree and is nowa retired pre-school teacher.John studied under Paul. D.Krynine, a famous pioneersedimentarypetrologist, train-ed by the igneous petrologistAdolphKnopfatYale.Nearinggraduation, Johnwasoffereda job in an oil companyresearchlab,buthistruelovewasteaching,sohedeclined.Subsequently John acceptedan Assistant Professorship atthe University of Missouri in1958,advancingtoAssociateand Full Professor. He cameto UMass Amherst in 1970.John, and Mary Alice, whooften goes in the field withJohn, have two daughters,Amy Susan and Nancy Beth,ason,JohnFrederick,Jr.,andfivegrandchildren. John learned much fromPaul Krynine and John C.Griffiths, and he blended thebestof their teaching into theexcellent courses he taughtat University of Missouri andUMass Amherst, includingIntroductoryPhysicalGeology,Sedimentology, StatisticalGeology, Sedimentary

Petrology, andS e d i m e n t o l o g ySeminar. John’scourseswerealwaysofthehighestorder,and underscoredJohn’sbeliefoftheimportance of theprofessor teachingthelabsandleadingthe field trips asopposedtohavingtheir graduatestudents take onthis responsibilitythemselves. AsJohn’s TA for Sed-imentology I sawfirst hand someof John’s habitsthat made him abeloved teacherandanoutstandingresearcher. As

John’s last Ph.D. student, Ibenefitedfromhistremendousinsight,wisdom,expertise,andpatience.Thephrase:“teachbyexample”couldwellhavebeen written about John,whosepreparation for classor the field was unmatchedandfromwhomhisstudentslearnedmuchnotonlyaboutthe subject matter but alsoaboutlife. John hassupervised 55graduate students,including 48 master’scandidates and 7 doctoralcandidates. All benefitedfrom John’s help in writinggrant proposals and theirtheses. All learned aboutthorough preparation ofconcise annotated graphics,around which one writes thedissertationorarticle.Indeed,one of the hallmarks of theJohn and his students’ workthroughtheyearshasbeentheeffectiveuseofcarefullydraftedfiguresandwell-writtenororalsummaries of sedimentaryprocesses.Johnisamasterofthis technique, and my friendand colleague Richard Baileyin the Department of EarthSciences of NortheasternUniversity,saysthathealwaysseeks out presentations byJohn or his students becausetheyare“alwaysofthehighestqualityever.” John’s 60 papers andguidebookscovermany typesof sediments, concentratinginrecentyearsontheNewarkSupergroup, with 15 fieldseasons studying the Bay ofFundy strata: eolian, fluvial,playa-sandflat, alluvial fan,lacustrine, debris-flow, andpaleosol.John’sPh.D.disser-tationontheFountainArkose,waspublishedin1960bytheColorado School of Minesas a Monograph and quicklysold out! For several years,John studied the MorrisonFormation, and one of his

favorite articles is the 1996interdisciplinary study of thetaphonomy, petrology anddiagenesis of dinosaur bonetissueasittransformstofossilbone.JohnhasservedformanyyearsontheeditorialboardofSedimentary Geology. When I asked Johnwhat his retirement planswere, somewhat expectingan answer that involvedtravel and vacations, Johnimmediately shot back: “I’mmoving into 254” a smallroomofftheStudentCommonRoom, where there will be a“DonandJohnShow,”asheand another great geologist,DonWise,educateevenmorestudents and continue doingresearch. Indeed, John has had alongandfulfillingcareer,andwhenJohndoessomethingheis“allin!”TwoofJohn’sfavoriteexpressionsare:“You’vegottogointhefield!”and“Ismoralehigh?” which he often askedstudentsatcriticaltimesinhisclassesandfieldtrips.StudentsimmediatelyknowthatJohnisconcernednotonlyabouttheireducationbutalsoabouttheirlife and well being. Thankyou,Johnforcaring,forbeingsuch an exemplar, for youroutstanding contributions toSedimentaryGeologyand foryourinspirationtothoseofuswholovetoteach!(Prepared by Ken Galli, Boston College).

“ m o r A L e i s h i G h ! ” A t r i b u t e t o J o h n F . h u b e r t

John in the early 1970’s standing in front of the central Connecticut caliche soils in redbeds.

1952

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Qian teaches introductory and advanced GIS and remote sensing courses. She is also planning a course of quantitative environmental data analysis and geostatistics. All her courses emphasize both theory and computer implementation to enable students to put what they learn into practice. She actively encourages students to link quantitative skills to the geographic phenomena that interest them in their final projects.

departmentwhatitis,andwewillmissthem. Wehavehadabusyyear(or two) of renovations inMorrill. Ceilings and lightshavebeenreplacedinmanyparts of the department.Asbestoshasbeenremoved,and new fire alarms andhigher-speed networkinginstalled.Iamafraidthatwehave lost the stained recordof some of the great Morrillfloods of the past. It’s nota brand new Geosciencesbuilding,buttheoldplaceislookinggreat. During the spring 2005semester,wehadourperiodicreview.Theso-calledAQADreview involved five outsidereviewers and a completeevaluation of departmentactivitiesfromundergraduateand graduate teaching toresearch and the use ofdepartmentspace.Thereviewwas very positive, and thereweresomegreatsuggestions,the results of which you will

be hearing about in futurenewsletters. Of course,we welcome comments,suggestions, and newsfrom all alumni and friends.Please check in on the websitewhenyoucan.Wehavea new look and informationabout happenings in thedepartment. It was great to seealumni and friends at theUMassAmherst-Geosciencesreception at GSA in SaltLake City. We hope to seeas many people as possibleat the GSA in Philadelphiathis fall.TheUMassAmherstGeosciences reception willbeMondaynight (10/23)at8:00PM,andyoudon’tneedtoattendtheGSAmeetingtocometothereception.Pleasestop by and say hello. Also,watchfor thesecondannualDepartment of Geosciencescalendar, coming this fall.Bestwishesforfallandwinterof2006.

D e p t h e A D L e t t e r ( c o n ’ t . )

understanding grain-scalemechanical behavior ofsiliclasticrocksthroughdetailedlaboratoryexperimentswithanemphasisonrockporosityandpermeability.Thisisfundedbya grant from the Departmentof Energy’s Office of BasicEnergy Sciences. This workhasimportantimplicationsforthingslikecompressivestorageinlargeaquifers.Ialsoplanto expand my research tothe fractured bedrock of theregion.Iamsetting-upalabtoexploredetailedaspectsoffluid flow and mass transportin fractured rock. Thisresearch looks at the role of

anisotropicstressinafracturedrock’s ability to transportcontaminants through bench-scale experiments in naturallyfractured crystalline rock.Together with the Officeof the State Geologist, mygroup is studying the roleof groundwater storage inbedrockandsurficialaquifersonthewatershedhydrologyinthe Deerfield River watershednearCharlemont,MA.Ihopetohearfrommanyofyousoonand encourage you to visitmy facultywebpage formoredetails of my research andteachingatUMassAmherst.

land sustainability and onsurface runoff, AtmosphericEnvironment:ModelingspatialallocationofPM2.5Emissionsfrom Residential WoodCombustion in the State ofCalifornia,andtheSoilScienceSociety of America Journal:Quantityandspatialvariabilityof soil carbon and analysisof controlling factors in theconterminous United States.Basedonherquantitativeandspatial analytical strengths,shespecializesinusingspatialand temporal modelingto understand spatialvariation and their interactiveprocesses. Since Qian started herwork at UMass Amherst, shehasendeavoredtocollaboratewithcolleaguesingeosciences.She is involved in a project

linking remote sensing andstorm water modeling inorder to quantify the spatialand temporal distributionof dissolved organic carbon(DOC) from landscapes tocoastalwatersincollaborationwithUMassBoston.Also,shehasrecentlystartedtoexplorevegetation-aided bedrockmappingincollaborationwithMillersvilleUniversity,PA. Qian serves as the GISlab manager and makes aneffort to promote the GISprogram on campus. Sheis also the vice president ofthe International Associationof Chinese Professionals inGeographic InformationSciences. She enjoys servingin the GIS community andpromoting the exchange ofideasandknowledge.

D A v i D b o u t t c o n ’ t

Q i A n y u , c o n ’ t

Dr. Boutt is teaching several graduate-level and undergraduate courses. these include a seminar on hydrogeologic Processes and intro and advanced level hydrogeology courses. the advanced courses will emphasize the numerical modeling of groundwater flow and transport of contaminants using state of the art software.

D i n n e r H o n o r i n g J o h n H u b e r t

S e p t e m b e r 1 5 a t 6 : 0 0 p mC a m p u s C e n t e r A m h e r s t R o o m

( 10 t h F l o o r )

P l e a s e c o n t r i b u t e r e m i n i s c e n c e s a b o u t J o h n

e v e n i f y o u c a n n o t a t t e n d .

R S V P o r f o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n : l o r n a @ g e o . u m a s s . e d u o r 41 3 - 5 4 5 - 1 8 0 6


Ray Bradley was recentlyelectedaFellowoftheAmeri-can Geophysical Union. Abookheco-edited(withHenryDiaz),The Hadley Circulation: Present, Past & Future,wasre-centlypublishedbyKluwerAc-ademic.HereturnedtoElles-mereIsland,northernCanadathis summer to continue hisresearchonvarvedlakesedi-ments.

Julie Brigham-Grettecontinues to focus on severalprojects.TheLakeEl’gygytgyn(Lake E) Drilling program ison the cusp of being fundedbyNSF,given themomentumfrom a $1.5M award fromthe International ContinentalDrilling Program. Alongwithcolleagues from Germany,Russia, Austria and Canada,JulieplanstodrillduringJan-May2008torecoversedimentcores dating back to 3.6Mafrom NE Russia. Eleven pa-perssummarizingresultsfromthe pre-site survey work arenow“inpress,”fillinganentireissueof the Journal of Paleo-limnology.InJuly2005,JulieparticipatedinapilotResearchExperience for Undergradu-ates program (REU) basedout of Ny Alësund, Svalbardrun jointly with alums SteveRoof andMike Retelle, alongwith Al Werner (Mt. Holyoke)and Ross Powell (Northern Il-

linoisUniv-NIU).SeniorLukeTrusel finishedanhonors the-sis basedonmodernprocessresearchofanactivetidewatermargin near Ny Alësund andisnowoff tograduateschoolatNIU. Graduate students con-tinuetoteachJulienewtricks.Zach Lundeenworkedon thedeglacialhistoryof theChuk-chi shelf and is now at theUniversityofUtah.BethCais-siefinishedherM.Sc.andwillcontinue on for a Ph.D. onthesea icehistoryof theBer-ingStrait. CaitlinMajocka isfinishingupherM.Sc.onun-derstanding variations in themagnetic susceptibility recordfromLakeE. A past president of theAmerican Quaternary Associ-ation,JuliecontinuestoserveaschairofthePAGESInterna-tional Science Steering Com-mitteeuntil2009. Chris Condit contin-ues to work on his DynamicDigitalMapproject -visit theDDMwebpageathttp://ddm.geo.umass.edu where youcan download more than 10DDMspostedthere.He’llbeteachingacourseonmakingDDMsthisfall.Asyoucanseefromthedepartmentcalender,Chris is still flying hisCessna170B and shooting pictures.Hecontinues tobe interestedin volcanic rocks out in thesouthwestern United States,andtookatripouttoArizonainJunetoassessthepossibilityofcontinuedworkinthesouth-central Springerville field,wheremappinghasnotbeendone.Healsohasaccompa-nied Laurie Brown on severalpaleomagnetic sampling tripsto Chile and Argentina, andlooks forward to another tripinJanuary. Michele Cooke contin-uestoworkonactiveandan-cientfaultsystems.WithPh.D.candidate Ryan Shackleton,

she is investigating fracturesalongafault-coredfoldintheSpanishPyrenees—awonder-fulregiontodofieldworkin!Intherealmofactivefaulting,sheandPh.D.candidateScottMarshallareinvestigatingfaultgeometryandsliprateswithinthe Ventura and Los AngelesbasinsofCalifornia.Althoughthere is not much field workthere, they enjoy helping toconstrain seismic hazards inthe region. To better under-standtheseancientandactivefaults,postdoctoralresearch-erMarioDelCastelloandMi-chele have developed a newprojectofanalogexperimentsoffaultsystemevolutionwherethey grow faults in sand andclay. This last project has afabulousoutreachcomponentand they have been runningsandbox workshops and fieldtripsforstudentsfromsixhighschools for the deaf aroundthe country. This project hasbeen described in Geotimes, SignNews, AP news and theUMassAmherstwebpage.

Julie Graham has anew book, A Postcapitalist Politics, co-authored with herlongtimeAustraliancollabora-tor, Katherine Gibson, undertheir pen name J.K. Gibson-Graham, and published bythe University of MinnesotaPress. Julie and Kathie con-tinuetheirworkonalternativeeconomies (see www.com-munityeconomies.org) andhavegivenmanykeynoteandpubliclecturesduringthepastyear,includingtheProgress in

Human Geography lecture atthe Chicago AAG in March.Julie’scurrentresearchfocusesontheextraordinaryprolifera-tion of alternative economicactivity in the Pioneer Valleyover the last several years. InJanuary, students joined herin forming the CommunityEconomies Research Group(CERG), to analyze andchronicle the local commu-nityeconomy.TheyreceivedasmallgrantfromtheAmericanSociological Association tostudycommunityenterprisesinthePioneerValleyasacontri-butiontoalargerinternationalstudy of community-orientedenterprises. CERG research-ersandgeographyPh.D.can-didates Janelle Cornwell andTed White are documentingthe localeconomic impactofthe “buy local” campaign ofCommunity Involved in Sus-tainingAgriculture,asuccess-fulNGOthataskedCERGtoassistthem.AnundergraduateCERG researcher also par-ticipatedinatelephonesurveyof potential depositors in theCommonGoodBank,acom-munity-oriented bank that isstartingupintheValley.Julie’sPh.D. student Stephen Healyrecently completed his disser-tationonthecommunityecon-omy and health care reform,withaverysuccessfulandwellattendeddefense. The Eastern MindanaoConservation Collabora-tive (EMCC),directedbyJim Hafner, supportsabiodiver-sityarchiving project inMin-danao, Philippines. EMCC isworkingtofinalize18monthsof analysis of endangeredspecies distribution, habitatcharacteristics, and threatsto the sustainability of thosespeciesandhabitats.Thishasbeenacollaborativeeffortwiththe Philippine Eagle Founda-tion and theUniversity of thePhilippines Mindanao who

F A c u L t y n o t e s


Michele Cooke signs with a stu-dent during “Faults in the Field”

Ray Bradley received an hon-orary Doctor of Science from Lancaster University, England


are responsible for field datacollection and hosted a twoweek GIS training programrun by the UMass AmherstG e o s c i e n c e sdepartment inJune 2005. Thedepa r tmen t ’ scontributions tothis project canbe credited pri-marily to SeanFitzgerald, Lec-turer (Geogra-phy,M.Sc.),DonSluter (Geogra-phy, M.Sc.) andAlicia Johnson( G e o g r a p h y,M.Sc.candidate). John Hubert will retirethis summer after 36 hap-py years in the department.Thankstoeveryonewhomadethis possible! He remains ac-tive,continuingworkwithJimDutcher on an ongoing proj-ectontheearlyMesozoicflu-vial redbeds of the SugarloafArkose, and supervising MattWalshwhoisamaster’scan-didatedoing sedimentarype-trologyonthearkose. Lynn Margulis spokewith many colleagues includ-ing Vandana Shiva at CondeDuqueCulturalCenterinMa-dridat Banquete, an interna-tional program on “Commu-nicationandevolution.”Ban-quete,atwoyearcelebration,createsadialoguebetweenart,science,technology,andsoci-ety. A catalyst of dynamic re-lationships,theBanquetesym-posiumstookplaceinsidevol.2ofMiquelCervante’sbook,Don Quixote (1605-2005).Some 300 artists, scientists,authors and other intellectu-alsparticipatedinresponsetoa sixteenpage supplement inthenewspaperEl Pais,distrib-utedto130,000readers.Herarticle, “Gaia and the Evolu-tion of Machines,” receivedtwo full well-illustrated pagesinthiswonderfulsupplement.

Her most recent publica-tionsinclude:“OnSyphilisandNietzsche’s Madness: Spiro-chetesawake!” inTheAmeri-

can Academyof Arts and Sci-ences, Daeda-lus, and “SerialEndosymbioticTheory(SET)andComposite Indi-viduality: Transi-tion frombacte-rial toeukaryotegenomes”,intheUK publicationMicrobiology To-day.WithDr.Mi-chaelDolanand

UMassAmhersthonorsunder-graduate Hannah Melnitsky“CystsandsymbiontsofStau-rojoenina assimilis Kirby fromNeotermes,” their researchpaper appeared in the latestissue of European Journal of Protistology. After two yearsof work, Dr. Michael Dolan,JessicaH.WhitesideandLynnsubmittedtheircomprehensivepaper“OriginoftheNucleus:AttractionspheresandtheChi-meric Karyomastigont” to thespecial2005issueofPaleobi-ologyinmemoryofStephenJ.Gould:Macroevoluton:Diver-sityanddisparity. This summer Bill Mc-Coywillcontinuehisloessre-searchinEuropewithDr.EricOches (pastM.Sc. andPh.D.student). He will be pick-ing up ground temperaturedataloggersatseveralsites inCentral Europe and collect-ing snail shell samples fromloessatsitesinHungary.Theground temperature data willbe useful for understandingthekineticsofaminoacidra-cemizationinfossilsnailshells,for determining differences inpresent-day temperatures be-tweensites,andforestimatingtherangeof thermaldiffusivi-ties of loess at various sites.Fossilshellswillbecollectedatmanynew(forRickandBill,at

least)loessexposuresinHun-gary with the cooperation ofDr.ErzsebetHorvathofEotvosLorandUniversity(ELTE)inBu-dapest.Ofparticularconcernthis year is collecting shellsnear the middle-PleistoceneBag Tephra horizon found inmany sites from Slovakia toSerbia.Afterthefieldseason,Dr.Oches, anAssociate Pro-fessor of Geology and Chairof the Department Environ-mental Science and Policy attheUniversityofSouthFlorida,willbespendinghissabbaticalyear (2006-2007) in our de-partment. George McGill writes:Ihavebeenamong the“work-ingretired”fornineyearsnow,and very little has changed,except I keep getting older (Ihit75 in Juneof2006). HisNASA grants support his re-search,andalsothreegradu-ate students: twoPh.D. can-didates (Dianna McMenaminand Eileen McGowan), andone M.Sc. candidate (FarihaIslam). There were two suc-cessful defenses in the pastyearorso,M.Sc.forCarolIv-ers,andPh.D.forDebraBuc-

zkowski. Carol teaches highschool in Milford, CT, andDebra has a post-doc at theAdvanced Physics Lab, JohnsHopkinsUniversity. His three

current graduate students allwanttostudyMartiangeology,whereasheattemptstotackleresearch problems on bothMarsandVenus.SomeofhisMars research is as a Co-PIonagranttogeophysicistSueSmrekaratNASA’sJetPropul-sionLabandhethinksthatin-teractingwithageophysicistisratherfun.Heenjoysworkingwithgraduatestudentsandex-pectstocontinuedoingsoforatleastafewmoreyears.Hewritesthathisoverallhealthisgood,buthehasbeenphysi-cally slowed down somewhatbyacoupleofdramatic falls,oneofwhichbrokehislefthip.This has not affected his re-searchorgraduatementoring,however. Rud Platt was the key-notespeakerattheTenthAn-niversarycelebrationofChica-goWildernessattheFieldMu-seuminChicagoonMay17.ChicagoWildernessisanalli-anceof over190public andprivate organizations workingto restore, protect, and man-agenaturalecosystemsinthegreater Chicago region. Itsmembership includes federal,state,county,local,andprivateagencies which collectivelymanage over 225,000 acresof protected natural areas.Rudorganizedaseriesoffourspeakers on “Disasters, Envi-ronment, and Public Policy”held on the UMass AmherstcampusbetweenFebruaryandMayofthisyear.Hegavetheconcluding talk in the series:“Learning fromDisasters:TheSynergy of Geography andPublicPolicy.”Hepresentedashorter version of this talk atthePhiBetaKappagraduationceremoniesatUMassAmherstonMay27. Under his direction, theEcologicalCitiesProject(www.ecologicalcities.org)hascom-pleted an edited book: The Humane Metropoli: People and Nature in the 21st Cen-

F A c u L t y n o t e s c o n t .

Durian Fruit in the Philippiunes

18 km wide image from the Mars Odyssey orbiter.


tury City,tobepublishedwithacompanion22-minuteDVDinOctoberbytheUniversityofMassachusettsPressinassoci-ationwith theLincolnInstituteof Land Policy. Launch eventsare planned for the BostonareaandNewYorkCityinNo-vember. 2004sawthepublicationinG-cubedofMike Rhodes’mammoth paper on Phase-2of the Hawaii Scientific Drill-ingProject.This isamulti-in-stitutional,multi-nationalproj-ect thathehasbeeninvolvedin for the last six years. Theidea behind this project is todocumentchangesinvolcanicoutput andmagma composi-tion as the Island of HawaiimovesovertheinferredHawai-ian plume. Inthepaper,MikeVollinger (gradstudent) andRhodes reporton the geo-chemistry ofsystematicallysampled lavasfrom the 3.1km diamond drill hole. Thetop245mprovidedinforma-tiononMaunaLoa’seruptivehistoryoverthelast100thou-sandyears,whereastherestoftheholeprovidedinformationonabout400thousandyearsof Mauna Kea’s eruptive his-tory. The most exciting part oftheresearchistherecognition,nearthebottomofthehole,oflavasthatarechemicallysimi-lar toLoihi lavasinter-layeredwithtypicalMaunaKealavas.Loihi, a submarine volcanosouth of the Big Island is thenewestadditiontotheHawai-ianchain.So,whatdoesthismean?Staytuned,drillingwillhopefully resume sometime,andtheyexpect tobeanalyz-ing more samples within thenearfuture. Lastsummer (2005)Mike

organizedtwofieldtrips.OnetoHawaiiforFiveCollegestu-dents taking his Volcanologycourse,andtheothertoMaineforseniorpetrologistsinterest-ed in magma chambers andlayeredintrusions.Thetripforthe scientists, which was or-ganizedandleadbyMarshallChapman and Mike Rhodes,was to lookat the interactionofmaficandgraniticmagmason Isle au Haut and Vinal-haven, Maine. The problemwaslogistics.Howtoaccom-modateand feed thirty scien-tistsand their spouses,not tomention transport them fromislandto island.Theanswer:charteraschooner! At the end of last sum-

mer, Mike wasinvited to givea keynote talkataconferencein Fort William,Scotland, onthe geochemi-cal argumentssupporting amantle plumefortheoriginoftheHawaiianIs-

lands. Sheila Seaman isenjoy-ingworkingwithfivegraduatestudents on a variety of proj-ects.SheisworkingwithPh.D.studentPaulLowongeochem-istryandmineral chemistryofultramaficrocks in theGrandCanyonandwithPh.D.studentChris Koteas on magma dy-namicsandcrystallizationhis-toryofthebimodalplutonsonthecoastofMaine.WithM.Sc.student Anna Keskula-Snydersheisstudyingthebehaviorofwaterasatracecompoundinfeldspar,witha focuson lavaflows in Iceland. Anna hasbecomeanexperton theuseof Fourier transform infraredspectroscopy at BrookhavenLabtomeasuresmallamountsof water in minerals. M.Sc.studentKatieNiman’swork isalso based in Iceland, where

she’sstudiedthegeochemistryofhotspringsandsinters,andhow it reflects the local igne-ous rock compositions. DonLac’sM.Sc.researchisastudyof the oxygen concentrationof magmas, also using thefacilities at Brookhaven Labon Long Island, in collabora-tion with Darby Dyar of Mt.Holyoke College. Sheila ranaFive-CollegefieldtriptoIce-landfor39studentsandfac-ultyinAugust2006. Dick Wilkie hadayearofffromGeographyGradPro-gramDirector,butwillresumethe post this fall. He taughtUMass Amherst courses inSwitzerland(July’05)andSin-gapore (March ’05 & Jan.’06), as well as his regularclasses.Hischapter“Danger-ousJourneys:MexicoCityCol-legeStudentsandtheMexicanLandscape: 1954-1962” waspublished in Adventures Into Mexico: American Tourism Be-yond the Border, (Rowman &Littlefield2006) in theJaguarSeries on Latin America. Fiveof his grad students finisheddegrees in thepastyear--fourMaster’s (DonaldSluter,Mer-edithGray,WalkerKorbyandJenniferBonin)andonePh.D.(GeorgeRoberson).TwoofhisPh.D. students (Jeffrey Blan-kenship and Alan Marcus)have advanced to the ABDstage. Mike Williams contin-uestostudylowercrustalrocksexposedinnorthernSaskatch-ewan,mid-crustalrocksinthesouthwestern U.S.A., and thespectacularPaleozoicrocksofwesternNewEngland. In ad-dition, he is heavily involvedwith the effort to develop thetechniques of microprobegeochronology(withMikeJer-cinovic). The new techniquesallow ages to be determinedforsmallportionsofmonazitecrystals,andconstraints tobeplacedontimingofdeforma-tionandmetamorphism.Kevin

Mahanhas finishedhis Ph.D.andisworkingonapost-docat Cal Tech. Ph.D. studentGregDumondisdoingsuperbresearchinCanadaandintheSouthwest.M.Sc.studentNan-cyPrice is spending the sum-mer in northern New Mexicotakinganewlookatthethickquartzites and Mn-horizons.Post-doc Philippe Goncalveshasgonetoapermanent jobinFrance,butCallumHether-ington(post-doc)isnowgoingstrongonthemonazitedatingresearchprojects. Don Wise has contin-uedhis “retirement”bybeingaround the department mostdays and now has his officeinMarieLitterer’solddraftingroom.Inthelastyear,heman-agedtogetoutpapersonnewinterpretationsofriftandgraininthebasementoftheRockies,useoftheBiemsderferplotter,and the Pequea Silver Mine.Healsohelpedorganizethreedifferent runnings of a fieldtrip across the PennsylvaniaPiedmont,anda twoday tripfor the department (ChickiesRock, Rheems Quarry, etc.).He was outside examiner ontwo Ph.D. committees at theUniv.ofRomeand,whilethere,becomeinvolvedinsomenewinterpretationsofthestructureoftheAntarcticicesheet.Thissummerheagain taught fieldcamp at the Yellowstone Big-horn Research Association(YBRA)inRedLodge,MT.

F A c u L t y n o t e s c o n t .

Mike Rhodes working in Hawaii.

Look for notes from the following facullty members in upcoming newsletters: Laurie Brown, Steve Burns, Rob DeConto, Piper Gaubatz , Mark Leckie, Tony Morse, Peter Panish, Steve Petsch, Pete Robinson, Stan Stevens, and Richard Yuretich


Bob Walker (M.Sc., ‘66) After twenty years doing oiland gas exploration in theGulf Coast and Mid-Conti-nent areas, I tried the envi-ronmental/geotechnical field;firstasadrillingcontractor inDallas,thenBatonRouge,andfinallymigrating toLosAnge-les. This month I celebratedtenyearsattheArmyCorpsofEngineers working flood-con-troldesignandenvironmentalprojectsinNevadaandsouth-ernCalifornia.Within the lastmonthIfoundmyselfinitiatinga groundwater study at Ed-wards Air Force Base (MurocLake) and reconning a hugealluvial fan in the PahrumpValley of Nevada for a floodcontrol structure. Both areasarebuta“stonesthrow”fromBigSmokyPlayainNyeCoun-ty (NV) where Ward Mottsguided my field work in thesummerof1965.Whowouldever guess thatI would retracemy steps fortyyearslater?Myemail is rob-ert . f.walker@u s a c e . a r m y.mil for any-onewhowouldcare to write.Tom Baillieul (B.A., ‘71; M.Sc., ‘76)Just receivedthe latestnews-letterfromtheDepartment;mycompliments toall thosewhocontributedandputittogether.I especially appreciated TonyMorses’ eulogy for HowardJaffe.IwasoneofHoward’searlygradstudents,andTony’swordsbroughtbackarushofmemories. As an update, I retiredat the end of 2003 from 25years’servicewiththeFederalGovernment.Overthatspanof time Iworkedas ageolo-gist with the Botswana Geo-logical Survey (Peace Corps);

helped with the siting studiesof high-level nuclear wasterepositiories; served as thegovernment’s geology andtunnelingexpertinthesitese-lection for the Superconduct-ingSuperCollider,and ledamulti-yearproject tocleanupformernuclearresearchfacili-tiesincentralOhio. I thought I was going tohave more time for art, butthese first threemonthsof re-tirement have kept me busybattlingtheOhioBoardofEd-ucationwhichhasfallenundercreationistinfluences.Wearestarting to see the unravelingof the success achieved twoyearsagowhenanew setofpublicschoolsciencecurricu-lumstandardswereapprovedwhich—for the first time everinOhio—mentionedevolutionandmadeunderstanding it acentral theme of 10th GradeBiology.

Iwouldurgeeverystudenttobecomefamiliarwiththeculturalwar betweenrationalismandconse r va t i v ereligion that isbeing foughtin this countryon many dif-ferent levels.How soon willitbebeforewehave political

appointees with anti-evolu-tionandanti-scienceleaningssittingat theheadofgovern-mentalfundingbodiesliketheNIHortheNSF? Deb and I are still goingstrongafter31+years;eldestson,Alex,hastakenupnuclearengineeringandbrewingbeer(a Geologist’s dream cometrue!). Younger son, Ben, isfinishingupatOhioUniversityasaPhilosophymajor(Earth-FriendArts.tripod.com). George McGill had anote from Bert Stromquist

(M.Sc., ‘77).Hewrote,“To-day Iam living inAbuDhabiand working for the CrownPrince, Sheikh Mohamed binZayed al Nayhan, within acompany he chairs calledMubadalaDevelopmentwww.mubadala.ae.Longgonearethe days of practicing geol-ogy. Today I am in the fastpacedcorporateworldofhighstakes project developmentandmergersandacquisitions(theEnroncollapsewasthefi-nalstraw–after19yearswithEnron’s E&P businesses). Istillhaveaveryactivehandintheenergy industrymanagingand building this company’soil and gas portfolio, but it’sequal measures of aviationand aerospace, automotive,petrochemicals, basic metals,preciousmetalmining,andalotofadvisoryonre-inventingand re-engineering the gov-ernmentofAbuDhabi. My biggest preoccupationduring the last yearhasbeento lead thedevelopmentofanew economic sector in AbuDhabi centered on renew-able energy and sustainabledevelopment and creating inAbuDhabi,aglobalcenterofexcellence in this space withsupportedR&D,newgraduateuniversityprograms,thewholeworks. It’s a go. While inNewYorklastFallataColum-biaUniversityconference, thePresident of Iceland took measide,satmedown,andsaid,“Albert,wouldn’titbesexy(heusedthewordsexy) if IcelandandAbuDhabicouldcombinetheirrespectiveexpertisein developing naturalenergy resources fromunderground, and withAbu Dhabi’s stature intheMiddleEast,AfricanandSouthAsianregion,bring low grade geo-thermalpowertoaidthedevelopment of impov-erishedpeoples,aprop-ositionthatIthinkwould

be irresistible.” “Phenomenalidea Mr. President,” I said.“Letmecheckwithmypeopleandgetbacktoyou(wink!).”Iamnowleading-withmyUAEnationalcolleague,nextweek,thefirstofficialUAEdelegationtoIceland-ever-attheinvi-tation of President Grimsson.It’sgoingtobegreat…” Rusty Gilbert (M.Sc., ‘80) isworkingforChevron’sEnergy Technology Co. (ETC)in San Ramon Calif. and isteam leaderofETC’sshallowmarine (clastic and carbon-ate)stratigraphygroup.“Mostoftheworkweareinvolvedinis internationalbasedand in-cludes sequence stratigraphystudies (utilizing core, logs,seismic, biostrat.), field work,andleadingfieldschools.”Healsonoted,“FYI,Alan Reed (B.Sc., ‘73) (Bakersfield)is working in my team andBrook Olsen (M.Sc., ‘02)will report soon, both alumniof UMass Amherst. Say hi toall includingDr.Hubert.SorrytohearaboutJohnretiringbutit will be good for him. He’sone of the few professors Ihave seen who really under-standstherocks.” Peter Jacobson, (M.Sc., ‘80) wrote, “Thank you forsending the UMass AmherstGeosciencescalendar;itisex-citingtoseethevarietyoffieldactivities underway in the de-partment….Greetingstoall.Ihavepracticedintheenviron-mentalconsultingfieldforthepast26yearsand the field isas stimulating, challenging

A L u m n i n o t e s

Laurie Brown is held up by Art Goldstein (now at NSF) and Bill Kelly (now State Geologist of NY) in the late 70’s.

Jack Wishart hones his Brunton skills in Geo231--Field Methods.


andvariedasitwasinthebe-ginning.IhavethepleasureofworkingwithotherUMassAm-herst geo-grads (e.g., Scott Laird (M.Sc., ‘74), Bob D a y - L e w i s (M.Sc., ‘80)amongst theprofessionals Iinteractwithreg-ularly. I hopeother geosci-ence graduateshave the samerobust careeropportunities Ihave enjoyed.My wife, Ju-lie, and I havethreeboys:Jas-cha (21, juniorat RIT), Alex(15), and Sam(11). All threeare very different, which, to-gether with their age spread,hasmadeourlivesfrenziedattimes, but almost always fun.WeliveinthesuburbsofPhila-delphia,PA. Iwelcomehear-ingfromothers!” Jane Bolton (B.Sc., ‘81) writes: I really enjoyreadingthedepartmentnews-lettersandhearingaboutwhateverybody is doing. I am inmy sixth year working as acivil engineer for the ArmyCorps of Engineers in Sacra-mento,CA.Workwiseit’sthebest job I’ve ever had, but IdoubtIwillfinishupmycareerhere. My male co-workersare so rednecked they makeOmaha, Nebraska look likeSanFrancisco,andthecentralCalifornia heat makes out-door recreation in the sum-mer virtually impossible for acold-bloodedYankeelikeme.Irecentlyreturnedfromanad-venturetourofNewZealand’ssouth island. AWESOME,although I had to skip theglacier hike due to knee sur-gerysixweeksbeforethetrip.Keep the newsletters coming! We enjoyed seeing Jim

Davidson (B.Sc., ‘85) atourDenverGSAreceptionlastyear. He isaSeniorManag-ing Scientist, at Exponent inBoulder, CO, specializing in

hydrology.Lee Allison (Ph.D., ‘86)is now theState Ge-ologistofAri-zona. Con-gratulat ionsLee … not inKansas any-more! Rob Mc-Clure (B.Sc., ‘86) writes:It makes mefeel old thatso many ofthe professorsIhadtheplea-

sure of learning from haveretired or passed on. I hadclasses with Steve Haggerty,andDavidAlexander.David’sGeomorphology class was afavoriteofmine.Iamgladtohear Don Wise is still takingthestudentsoutintothefield.Hewasagreatteacher,andalotoffuntobewithoutinthefield. IwassaddenedtohearofHowardJaffe’spassing. I re-member Howard Jaffe fondlymostly because after havingdonewell (A- Ibelieve) inhisPetrologyclass,hesaid Ihada good chance of leavingUMass Amherst with a Geol-ogy degree. I still rememberthe Steinman Trinity, and hisdiscussions about “AmericanRiceBeer.” After graduation, I was aBombardierintheUSAFflyingB-52aircraft. IamnowlivinginNashville,TNandworkasasalesmanforNalco,aspe-cialty chemical company thatprovides chemicals for boilerandcoolingsystems. I am very sad to hear ofTom Rice’s passing. I took aSurficial Mapping class with

him insteadof going to FieldCampinthesummerofmyJu-nioryear.Hewasworkingona Pleistocene glacial depositsmap for the quadrangle thatcovers UMass Amherst downtowards Northampton. I hadasectionofthequadrangletomapsouthofUMassAmherstthatcoveredthenorthsideofthe Holyoke range. I remem-ber a time I spoke with Tomaftergraduation.Iwashomeon leaveandmadea visit tothe campus. I ran into Tomin the department and toldhim I was flying B-52’s. Hewasveryexcited.HegrewupnearWestoverAirForceBaseinSpringfield. Itwasabasefor B-52s until the early 70s,so Tom remembered watch-ingtheaircrafttakeoffandflyin the local pattern as a kid.Hewassohappytofinallygetsome answers about the air-craft he had seen years agoastheyfewaroundhishome.That conversation will be mymemoryofhim. JoeHartshornwasmyfirstprofessor (Geo 101), and heisprobablywhyIchangedmymajortogeology.Hewasalsoabomberpilot,andhadalotofgreatwarstoriesabouttheRAFand8thAFinEnglandduringWWII.Healsotaughtakick-ass Glacial Geology course. Mike O’Connor (BSc, ‘86), a registered geologistin Oregon and Washington,has launched Assessment As-sociates,Inc.,anenvironmen-talconsultingfirminPortland,Oregon. He’s been in Port-landsince’88,andismarriedwith two children. He wouldlove to hear from his UMassAmherst friends. Please emailhim at [email protected] or visit his website atwww.aaiconsulting.com. Greg Walsh (B.Sc., ‘86) wrote, “I am continuing bed-rock mapping efforts for theUSGS in New England. I’mcurrently finishing some work

in 7.5-minute quadrangles inConnecticut andVermont. Incooperation with Steve Ma-bee,IrecentlystartedmappingagaininMA:theGrafton7.5-minutequadrangle.Myeffortsin New England are focusedon ground water in fracturedbedrock, tectonics, and geo-chronology. I’malsoworkingintheAnti-AtlasMountainsofMorocco as part of a multi-agencygeologicmappingef-fortfortheMoroccanMinistryofMinesandEnergy.Ifyou’reever in Morocco, I stronglysuggestatriptotheAnti-Atlas,thegeologyisspectacular!”

Peter Mazzone (Ph.D., ‘88) is the co-founder andpartner of Phillips and Maz-zone, Lawyers in downtownEverett,WAwherehefocuseshis practice on criminal law.OnFebruary2nd,2003PetermarriedAmyMonnin inBocaRaton,Florida.PeterandAmycurrently live in Mill Creek,Washington. Peter also re-cently co-authored a bookentitled “Pages From AnotherWorld” in2002which is cur-rently available on the inter-net. Itwasgreat to seeSteve Herzog (B.Sc., ‘87) whenhewas in theDepartment foravisit inJune.Heand familyare now living in Petersham,MA. On the side, Steve andLynn work as host/guides attheFisherMuseumatHarvardForest. Mark Leckie heard from

A L u m n i n o t e s c o n ’ t .

Continued on page 12

Eric Oches (Ph.D. ’93) examines a loess/paleosol exposure in Ruma, Serbia with his grad stu-dent Richard Walther (standing).

History of the Earth field trip to Canajoharie, NY in April 2005.

UMass Amherst

During my studies atUMassAmherstIwastheoddone out in wanting to workin minerals exploration. Myopportunity came soon aftergraduating with an M.Sc. in1983 when I was offered ajobwithBPMinerals,Braziltowork in their diamond explo-rationprogram.Ididn’tevenhave to think about the offer–Ijustwent. IendedupspendingsevenandahalfyearsinBrazil, thefirst fiveworkingasanexplo-rationgeologistfull-timeintheBrazilianbush. Ididn’t knowawordofPortuguesebeforeIstarted.FormyfirstfieldtripIwassentintothebushwithfiveBrazilian workers who didn’tknow a word of English andtold to “go find kimberlites”and basically don’t call backuntil you find one. Needlesstosaythefirstfewmonthswereincredibly difficult but within

D r . L i n D A A t o m p k i n s , b s c 1 9 8 0 , m s c 1 9 8 3three months I could com-municateone-on-oneinPor-tuguese. I am absolutelypetrified of snakesand for me fieldwork in Brazil wasa great step for-ward because, incontrast to WestAfrica where Iworked withHaggerty asan M.Sc.student, atleastthesnakesin Brazilwereontheground(andnotin the trees). A good “nosnakeday”wasonly seeingabout six to eight snakes inandhearingaboutthesamenumber squirming in thebush.Butonsomedayswewould encounter dozens ofsnakes. I am amazed thatnooneevergotbitten. DuringmytimeinBrazil

Imanagedtoseequiteabitof the country. Althoughwe

never found any kimber-lites our teamdid find

many alkaline rockintrusions somewith close affini-tiestokimberlite.Mostofmy timewas spent work-ing on diamond

explorationp r o j e c t sthroughoutBrazil but

I also worked for one yearonagoldproject inwesternMattoGrossoneartheBoliv-ianborderwithintheAmazonproper. Politically,thetimeIspentin Brazil was also very inter-esting as the country wasemerging from a dictator-ship and moving towards ademocracy. These transitionyears were very difficult for

all involvedasBrazil re-wroteitsConstitutionandjustaboutevery single piece of legisla-tion including its Mining law.This time of uncertainty ledmanyminingand explorationcompaniestoleaveBrazilandinvestelsewhere. I then moved to Perth tobegin my Ph.D. at the Uni-versityofWesternAustralia in1990.BeforeleavingBrazil Iorganized to have the 5th In-ternationalKimberliteConfer-enceheldinBrazilin1991.Itwasafantasticsuccess. I completedmy Ph.D.onaMississippi-ValleytypeZn-PbdepositintheKimberleyregionofWesternAustralia. Ichosethisprojectfortworeasons:itwasanewdepositthatnoonehadworkedonyetanditwashalf way between the ArgyleandEllendalediamonddepos-its. Imanaged to getmyselfinvitedtobothdiamondareas

I entered UMass Amherstin the fall of 1971 intent onbecoming a geologist eventhoughIreallywasn’tsureex-actlywhattheydid.IonlyknewthatIdidn’twanttositbehindadesk in someoffice for therestofmy life.MyexperiencewithbackpackingintheWhiteMountainsofNewHampshirehadsparkedmycuriosityoftheprocessesthatformsuchinter-estingfeatures.Theearlysev-entieswereavery stimulatingtimeingeologybecauseofthedramaticplatetectonicsrevo-lutionanditsimpactonvirtual-lyallfieldsofgeoscience.Onecould sense that somethingexciting was happening butbeinganundergraduateoftenlimitedmysenseofthescopeof its importance.During thattimeIalsohadakeeninterestintheoceanandwhenIfoundouttherewasacoursecalledmarine geology, it sounded

liketheperfectmatch. I graduated from UMassAmherst in 1975 with what Inowrealizewasaremarkablybroad background in earthsciences. I was fortunate tohave selectedmymajor earlyand consequently was ableto takeseveralgraduate levelcourses from Pete RobinsonandTonyMorse inmy senioryear. I applied and was ac-cepted into the marine geol-ogy program at the Gradu-ateSchoolofOceanography,UniversityofRhodeIsland.Myadvisor, Haraldur Sigurdsson,wasavolcanologist fromIce-landwhohad recently joinedthe faculty.Thiswouldbe thebeginning of a collaborationthat has lasted for some 30years. I initially beganworkingonvolcanic ash layers in deepsea sediments around theLesser Antilles island arc. We

had severalcruises andfieldtrips tothe area.This rein-forced myinterests involcanologyand petrolo-gy. In 1980,as I wasworking onmyPhD,Mt.St.Helenserupt-edandwewereatthevolcanoabout a week after the bigevent.Thiswasareal turningpoint formy career. Standingwithin the blast zone of whatlooked like a nuclear explo-sion I realized that explosivevolcanismwaswhat Iwantedtostudy.IgotmyPh.D.in1983andcontinued on as marine re-search scientist (which is justafancytermforsomeonewhohas to raiseallof theirsalarymoney).DuringthattimeIwasa visiting scientist at Cam-

bridge University in England.Ithoughtthiswasprettyexoticbutwasquicklybroughtbackto Earth when I walked intotheircomputerlabonmyfirstdayandtherewasTonyMorsesittingatoneoftheterminals.Youcannevergetaway fromthe long arm of UMass Am-herst! Turns out he was thereforasabbatical. In 1987 I joined the fac-ulty at the Graduate Schoolof Oceanography, URI andhave been here ever since.I crossed paths again with

s t e v e c A r e y , b . s c . 1 9 7 5A L u m n i s p o t L i G h t



Department of Geosciences

Aftergraduatingin1991,I drifted west to help an oldfriendbuildacabininthePack-saddlesnearDriggs,ID.Thecabinhasadirectviewofthe

Tetons,soIstayedandspentmostofthenexttwoyearshik-inguporskiingdowneveryhillI could find. IworkedmostlyfortheUSForestServiceasafirefighter and field hydrolo-gist.Thenextthreeyearswerespent in Bozeman, MT in thegraduateprogramatMontanaStateUniversity.Icontinuedtofight fires in the summer andworked for a groundwaterengineering firm off-season,doing mostly site inspections,whichconsistedofsoil testingandsomeGISbasedmodeling. Every fall Jeremiah Ray-mond(‘91)visitedforsomeflyfishingandscenery.InMarch,1996, Jeremiah came out tobe my best man. That wasthe last time I saw him. Jer-emiahdiedofcancer the fol-lowingSeptember. I’ve neverstoppedmissinghim.By that

A L u m n i s p o t L i G h ttimewewerelivingnearPort-land,Oregon,because IhadtheideaofgoingtolawschoolandbothSuzanandLewisandClark College decided to letme.Weendedupstayingforfive years so I couldclerk forPaul DeMuniz at the OregonSupremeCourt.OursonTedwasborninJuly,2000.Afterten yearsof college, Ihad togetareal job,soI talkedtheJudge into signing a favor-able letter of recommenda-tion and applied to a bunchof firms (stranger things havehappened, Tony Morse suc-cessfully recommended mefor an NSF funded researchproject once by expressingsuspicionaboutmycheckeredpast--takesonetoknowone). Anyway,itworkedandwemovedtoSpokane,WAinAu-gust, 2001. I’m working forPrestonGates&Ellis,aSeattle-basedfirmwithagreatrecord

ofpublicservice.Mypracticefocusesonenvironmentallaw,landuseplanningandrelatedlitigation,withanemphasisonwater rights and water qual-ity. I am working to build amining practice too. I haveseveral clients (gold miners)and justgotmyselfelected toathree-yeartermasTrusteetotheNorthwestMiningAssocia-tion.It’sfunny,Imovedawayfrom geology because therewere so few opportunities forhardrockers;nowI’mworkingwiththemallthetimeandtheydon’tseemtomindthatI’malawyerbecausetheyknowtheUMass Amherst geology pro-gram. Simon, was born lastApril.I’mareallyhappymanthat is both proud and hum-bled to be recognized as analumnusoftheUMassAmherstGeosciences Department.

Contact Peter at: [email protected]

p e t e r s c o t t , b . s c . 1 9 9 1

m A r G A r e t c A r r u t h e r s , m . s c . 1 9 9 6


Unable to ignore thedis-tractionsofAmherstandcom-plete thewritingofmymaarson Mars thesis, in the springof 1995 I decided to retreatto the quiet hamlet of Man-hattan. (Myapa r tmen t stherewasac-tually quieterthan the oneonNorthEastSt. next doorto the Bawbsand acrossfrom the all-nite combineh a r v e s t e r. )There I tooka lowly yet glamorous job asscientific assistant in the De-partment of Earth and Plan-etarySciencesattheAmericanMuseum of Natural History(AMNH). In addition to dusting offrock samplesbeautifully chis-eledtoshapesevenDonWise

would admire, I was also in-volved in the development ofAMNH’s new Hall of PlanetEarth. Heeding Don’s adviceto never miss a chance at aboondoggle, Iputmyremote

sensingandim-age processingskills to workmapping andharvesting theblack smokerchimneys ofthe Juan deFuca Ridge.Thesechimneysnow reside atAMNH, alongwithahugepol-

ishedboulderofbandediron,handselectedbyme(andtwoothers). It was at AMNH, whenI was asked to edit a num-ber of Earth science booksfor children, that I began tofully appreciate all that I wastaughtatUMassAmherst.Pete

Robinson’s crystal chemistry,for example, came in handywheneditingarockidentifica-tionguidefor5thgraders.Per-hapsmoreimportantly,Ireal-izedwhyGeorgeMcGillmadesuch a big deal about writ-ing. It turns out that very fewchildren’ssciencewritershavemasteredthefineartofputtingsentences together tomakeacoherent story (let alone thatofgoingtothelibrarytolearnsomethingabout thesubject).SlowlyIwasabletowormmyway into science writing andscienceeducation. In the fall of 1999, I leftNYCforOxford,England,onthe armofmy new husband,thehandsomeandbrilliantDr.RichardAsh.WhileRichardva-porizedrelicsof theearlySo-larSystem,Itookonasteadystream of writing and editingjobs. Among other things, Ifinally completed Pioneers of Geology: Discovering Earth’s Secrets,abookofbiographiesfor young adults, and wrote

the Earth science portion oftheOxford Illustrated Encyclo-pedia of Science. In 2001 we decided tomove to a place with a bitmorehistory.LosAngeleswaseverythingwethoughtitwouldbe, and more. While Rich-ard worked at UCLA, I spentmy time rollerblading at thebeach, walking with our newdog in the Hollywood Hills,andhangingoutonthecornertryingtogetdiscovered.Inmyfree time I wrote The Moon,and The Hubble Space Tele-scope. Nine months after wemoved to Los Angeles, Rich-ardgotarealjobattheUni-versity of Maryland, and wefled. Not longafter that,wemoved into a 12-foot-widerowhouseneartheInnerHar-bor in Baltimore. The houseneeded many improvements,and after working on it for ayear, we decided it was a bittoo big for just two people

� UMass Amherst

Gary Jaroslow (B.Sc. and L.R. Wilson award win-ner, ‘90). Gary went on tothe MIT-WHOI Joint ProgramforaPh.D.inmarinegeology.He is working and “happily”teaching in the SEA programatWoodsHole. Larry Tanner (Ph.D., ‘90) wrote, “After spendinga year as a Visiting Profes-sor in theDepartmentofBio-logical Sciences at Le MoyneCollege in Syracuse, I havebeen offered a tenured posi-tionthere.So,myassociationwithBloomsburgUniversityofPennsylvania has come to anend. I am continuingmy lineofresearchandpublicationin

the paleoclimate, paleogeog-raphyandbioticeventsoftheearly Mesozoic, but my mainfocus is now the documenta-tion of the effects of climatechange in themodernworld,specificallyonsoils.Iwillstartresearchon this topic in fieldsitesasdiverseasIcelandandCosta Rica. Overseeing andcoordinating thisworkwillbea new Global EnvironmentalChangeInstitutethatIwilldi-rect.Climatechangeand theecological consequences areat the heart of the new un-dergraduate major in Natu-ralSystemsScience that Iamhelping todevelop.All inall,thisaveryexcitingopportunity.Wishmeluck!Bestregards.” Howard Frank (B.Sc., ‘91) is currently working foranenvironmentalfirminSouth

Carolina (General Engineer-ing&Environmental,LLC). We see Bart Martin (Ph.D., ‘91) now and thenwhenheis intheDepartmenttousetheXRF.Thebignewsis thathewaspromotedfromAssociate to Full Professor ofGeology at Ohio Wesleyan.CongratulationsBart. Ed Weagle (B.Sc., ‘91)isaProjectManageratOReil-lyTalbot&OkunAssociates,asmallenvironmentalengineer-ing company in Springfield,MA. Rebecca Buswell-Woolley (B.Sc., ‘92)hassuccessfullyusedherGeologyandGeographydegrees(plusa subsequent Masters degreein Management) in the envi-ronmentalconsultingworldforthepast12years.SheisaLi-censedSiteProfessionalandaManageratAMECEarth&En-vironmentalinWestford,MA. Christopher P. Ham-ilton (B.Sc., ‘92) has beenseen around the Departmentlately. He is Coordinator &Marine Science Instructor forthe SEAmester Program, nowatUMassDartmouth. Agnes Fung (M.Sc., ‘94) is still working for C.F.Mineral Research Ltd. inKelowna British Colombia.Shewrote,“Ijustreceivedthedepartmentcalendar.ItlooksgreatandremindedmeofthegoodolddaysatUMassAm-herst.Itisgreattoreadaboutthe exciting research you aredoing,particularlytheonesbe-ingcarriedoutbystudents.” Frederick Goodrich (B.A., ‘95) Greetings fromSeminolecountry.Myperipa-tetic career continues, as I’verelocated to sunny Florida. Iam now a Planner with theFlorida Department of Com-munity Affairs in Tallahassee.I’menjoyingthewarmweath-er,butI’mnotlookingforwardtotheextremeheat(butitdoesgetcoolhere).Mybesttoall.

Rud Platt received a notefromGinny Haller (M.Sc., ’95) who took his Water’sEdgeclassintheearly1990s.She did her thesis with JulieGraham. Ginny is now a se-nior planner with the city ofKeyWest,FL. Margaret Caruthers (M.Sc., ‘96) and husband,Richard, had a baby daugh-ter lastyear,AbigailSomersetWoolverton Ash. Congratu-lations! (See featured alumnipages). Rumor has it that Erwin Melis (B.Sc., ‘96) has suc-cessfully completed his Ph.D.attheUniversityofMaine.Healso has an M.Sc. from NewMexicoTech.CongratulationsErwin! Nathan Bridges (Ph.D., ‘97) is still at JPL. Hewrote, “Thanks for sendingme theUMassAmherstGeo-sciences calender. It’sonmywallhereatworkandremindsmeofallthegreatthingsgo-ing on in the Department.From tundra to volcanoes tothelowercrust(andmaybetoMarsoneday?),thingssoundgood.” Dan Mackie (B.Sc., ‘97) wrote recently. He isworking as a Hydrogeologistand consultant at SRK Con-sulting Inc. in Vancouver, BCCanada. Julie B-G heard fromAmy Patrick (B.Sc., ‘98).“Amy was our first Earth Sys-temsmajorwhoalsomajoredin Geology. To combine herlove of writing with geology,shereceivedaM.A.inEnglish(University of Nevada) and isfinishing a Ph.D. in Environ-mentalScienceWritingat theUniversityofMinnesota (DeptofRhetoric).Shehashadsev-eraljoboffersandinterviewstoworkasanAssistantProfessoratplaceswithstrongenviron-mentalsciencesprograms.” George McGill recentlyheard from Beth Adding-

ton (M.Sc., ‘99) and Dave Korejwo (M.Sc., ‘99)“Daveand Iaredoinggreat!We wanted to introduce youalltoourdaughter,ZoeEliza-beth, born on October 12th,2004.I’m still working forEarthSat doing mostly GISsupportthesedays,andDaveis loving his job at the FBI(workinginthecrimelabasageologist).LivinginArlington,VAisstilllotsoffun—noplansto relocate in the near future(althoughI’mstillholdingoutfor ending up in the PacificNorthwesteventually).” Chris Condit heard formMelinda Kennedy (B.Sc., ‘00), “I recently got email athome and checked out theUMassgeoscienceswebpage.IwasthrilledtoreadthearticleaboutMicheleCookeleadinga group of deaf students ona geological study. I felt thearticledidawonderful jobatdescribingAmericanSignLan-guage (ASL) and how it canhelp understand some of thethree dimension explanationsin geology. Anyway, it tick-ledmetoseethedepartmentsparking some geological in-terestsinthedeafculture.RightnowIamastayathomemomwiththreebeautifuldaughters,but I recentlyapplied tobeamiddleschoolscienceteacherataprivateschool.” Howie Koss (B.Sc., ‘01)wasbackforavisitthisspring.Howie has been working asan environmental geologistinNewYorkCity, but thebignewsisthatheisheadingbacktograduateschool.Ifallgoeswell,heplanstogotoQueensCollegetoworkonANDRILL-related research, and he willprobablygotoAntarcticanextyear.GoodluckHowie. RudPlattheardfromKar-en Olson (M.Sc., ‘01) justasshewasheadingofftohelpwithTsunamireliefinSomalia. Martin Briggs (B.Sc., ‘02) “Uponarecenttriptomy

A L u m n i n o t e s c o n ’ t .

Mike Hamilton (Ph.D., ’93) runs the geochronology labs at the University. of Toronto.

� Department of Geosciences

parents’ house I discoveredyour newsletter, and I reallyenjoyed it. Itdefinitelyboost-edmysenseofconnectiontotheDepartment,which seemstobedistantsometimeslivingoutinBoston.Iamespeciallyhappy that thingsworkedoutforSteveMabee;hehascer-tainly accomplished much in15months.ForthepastyearIhavebeenworkingatabio-techfirminSouthBostondo-ing lab work.It’s interesting,but I really miss dealing withthenaturalworldandjustbe-ingoutside.” And inamorerecent update, he wrote: “Iam currently working on adive boat in the Florida keyswhichhasbeengreat,butitisdefinitelygettinga littlewarmdownhere.IwillbeattendingtheColoradoSchoolofMinesin the fall after a two monthstream study in Montana thissummer. I am really lookingforwardtothisnextstep” Lesleigh Anderson (Ph.D., ‘05) is nowworkingat the USGS-Earth SurfaceProcesses Team in Denver.SeeyouatGSAandAGU! Christopher Mira (B.A., ‘05) wrote, “Heythere Geoscientists, I thoughtIwould sayhi fromSkagway,Alaska.” He says, “Enjoy thesemester. Thanks to all thosewhoinspiredmetofollowmydreams!” Anja Mueller (M.Sc., ‘05)wrotefromNewZealandwheresheisbeginningaPh.D.program.“Ithasnottakenmelongtosettleintomynewen-vironment. The departmenthas a wonderful British touchin that morning tea is a veryimportant socialevent forall,professors,staffmembersandstudentsalike- thereis,how-ever,nosafetycommittee, forthose who were wondering).Afterworkingongeochemistryand hazards of basaltic lavaflows, I nowhave to tunemybraintophysicalprocesseson

A L u m n i n o t e s c o n ’ tvolcanic slopes focusing onemplacement mechanisms ofvolcanicdebrisavalanches. Ialsotookonteachingstructurelabs-haven’tdonemuchstruc-turalgeologysinceGoettingenthusit’llbequiteachallenge.I have encountered a lot ofnewandexciting things sinceplacingfootonNewZealandshores.And it isnotallworkand study(!): I thoroughly en-joy vegemite toast for break-

fast,ridingmybiketoUnionthe wrong side of the road,thecloseproximitytobeachesand volcanic hills, Speightsale, a lovely city centre withlots of parks and, of course,theweeklyrugbygames(mayevengowatchthelocalteamplayinthestadiuminsteadoffollowing the events on bigscreens in the greatest sportsbarever). Itwasawonderfultime (almost three years!) atUMassAmherst. Michele Kelly (Brow-er) (MSc. ‘00) wrote to thedepartment office: “I gotmarried in September 2000andnowhave threechildren.MarenandStephen (Girl/Boytwins)arefourandMichaelis15monthsold.MyhusbandisintheNavyandwehavemadeVirginia Beach, Virginia ourhome. I am currently enjoy-ingmytimeasastay-at-homeMom.”

duringmystudiesandwasof-feredaSeniorGeologistposi-tionwithAustralian diamondexplorer Ashton Mining (alsoJVpartnerintheArgylemine) SincefinishingmyPh.D.Ihaveworked full-time india-mond exploration for severaldiamond exploration com-panies. Two of these yearsinvolved traveling back andforth to China; however,mostofmyexplorationeffortshave been in the Australianoutback which is the harsh-estandmostdifficultarea toexplore of anywhere I haveever worked. There are fewanimal predators or snakesbuttheAustralianbushitselfisvery unforgiving and there isnoroomformistakesorerrorwhenyougetintoahelicopterorToyotatogosampling. In2000Idecidedtoputseveral new irons in the firewhichincludedstartingupmyown exploration company toexplore for diamonds in theNorthernTerritory(alsoknownasthe“redcenter”)andbeginalawdegree.IamcurrentlyTechnicalDirector of ElkedraDiamondsNLapubliclylisteddiamondexplorationcompa-nyontheAustralianstockex-

change.Iamalsowrappinguplawschool. My undergraduate yearsat UMass Amherst were cer-tainlymyformativeyears.Thefield mapping, geology andnavigation skills I learned in“FieldandStructureI&II”aswellasinothercourseshaveproventobeaverysolidandreliable foundation duringmy geology career. Despitetoday’sworldofGPSnaviga-tion and satellite technologyI still have had to revert tobasicmapreadingandcom-pass navigation methods togetmyselfbacktocamp.Un-fortunately many universitiesdonotteachthese“primitive”skills and today’s generationstrongly relies on moderntechnologyonlytocompletely“freak out” and require res-cuing when the batteries runout. TofuturegraduatesIcan’tstressenoughtheimportanceof getting as much practicalfield experience as possible.Myexperiencehastaughtmethat satellites come and goand batteries often fail butthe Earth’s magnetic field isalwaysthereanditwillneverletyoudown.

L i n D A t o m p k i n s ( c o n ’ t )

m A r G A r e t c A r r u t h e r s ( c o n ’ t )and a dog. In May, 2005,our daughter Abigail Somer-setWoolvertonAshwasborn.Wecouldnot haveasked foraniceraddition. Ihave sincepublishedtwomorechildren’sbooks,Glaciers(withthehelpofDougHardy)andTsunamis.My first “adult” book, Beach Stones, came out this pastApril. I also now have a realjob—as Executive Editor forscienceatWords&Numbers,an educational developmentcompany inBaltimore.Words& Numbers is contracted bymajor educational publisherstowritetextbooks,workbooks,standardized test questions

(thanksPresidentBush!),andothereducationalmaterials.Itisagreatjob.WheneverIgetachance,Iwriteaboutmaars,nappefolds,andlightswitch-platedesign,butIdomisstheafternoons spent scatteringcolored pencils throughoutthe woods while remindingmyselfthatskinis,infact,wa-terproof. UMass Amherst ishardtoforget,especiallywithMarshallChapmanbombard-ingmewithbadjokesseveraltimesaweek.

P.S. If you can write well, know sci-ence, and would like a job, send me a note. I am always looking for good people.

Chris Mira helps with the post-Katrina clean-up.

� UMass Amherst

i n m e m o r i u m

TomRice,whojoinedtheGeologyDepartmentin1954,andretiredin1991,diedonDecember27,2003.TomwasheldingreataffectionintheDepartment.Hetirelesslyspentlargeamountsoftime

advisingandhelpingundergraduatestudents,bothmajorsandnon-majors.HewasresponsibleforthedevelopmentofthePhysicalGeologycourseforpotentialgeologymajorsinthelate1950s.Thiscoursewasalsopopularwithliberalartsstudentsneedingalaboratorysciencedistributioncourse.Althoughmanyfacultyhavetaughtthecourseoverthepast50years,itcontinuestoincludeimportantelementsinitiatedbyTom.Inparticular,thecourselaboratorysessions include a number of field excursions in the Amherst area. This field componentprovides important “hands-on” experience for the students in the course. The field trips

benefitedgreatlyfromTom’sintimateknowledgeofthelocalgeology,andthisbenefitcontinuestoday.Tomputhisvastfamiliaritywithlocalgeologytoworkasageologicalconsultantforvarioustownboardsandcommissions. TomwasborninSpringfield,andservedintheU.S.NavyduringWorldWarIIasanelectronic technicianonships in theNorthAtlanticFleet. He joinedtheGeologyDepartmentfacultyattheUniversityofMassachusettsAmherst,wherehethenremaineduntilhisretirement. TomwasactiveinthecommunityofPelham,wherehelivedsince1954.Heservedforthreeyearsasthetownmoderator,andforsevenyearsonthePelhamandAmherstRegionalSchoolCommittees. Oursympathygoestohiswifeof30years,Marian,tohissons,ThomasandChristopher,tohisdaughters,CorkyandMickey,andtohisninegrandchildren

andeightgreat-grandchildren.

PeterRobinsonandDonWise,colleaguesofTomRiceformanyyearsintheDepartmentofGeosciences,hadtheserecollectionsofTom’scamaraderieandscholarshipintheDepartment:

From Peter Robinson: My recollections of TomRice go way back to my firstsemesteratUMassAmherst.infall1962,whenTom,GeorgeMcGill and I were in chargeof teaching three sections ofGeology 1. At that time Tomwas already a permanentmemberoftheDepartment. Tom always impressedmeashavingagreatdealofinnateintellectualcuriosity,andalsoa strongdrive toexplainhisunderstandingofthingstostudents.Amongotherthingshe was in control of the laborganization, and it workedverywell.Inthosedays,eachofthe“Professors”alsotaughtonelabsection.Thishadthegreat benefit that we wereable to get some first-handknowledge of what was andwasnotcomingacross in thelecturesections.Tomhadalsoorganizedagoodsetof fieldtrips,whichwereverypopularwithmanystudents,although,ofcourse,wewerecontinuallymaking modifications. It

was through these field tripsthat I gained most of mybasic early knowledge ofthe Mesozoic, Quaternary,and Recent Geology of theAmherst region. Usually thethree of us got together tocoordinate joint multiple-choice examinations, andthis also was an educationalexperience for all of us. In later years Tomdeveloped a program inenvironmental geology,working one on one withstudent research problems.Throughtheyears,hekeptuphis wide interests in geologyas a whole, with particularinterest in anything relatedto the Amherst region andparticularlytheTownofPelham.Thisincludedkeepingmewellinformedwhenevertherewereinteresting water-well cuttingsto be examined, or givingideas about where to lookfor outcrops of the Pelhamdiabase dike, about whichhe was very well informed. It was Tom who first

introducedmetothemysteriesof thePelhamAsbestosMine,whichatpresent,still remainsasatectono-stratigraphicandpetrologic challenge. Thiswas only a short walk fromhis house on Butter Hill. In1972 we instituted a courseentitled “Advanced GeologicMapping”andbegandetailedbedrock mapping in theinterior of the Pelham Gneissdome, beginning on the eastlimb in Shutesbury. Eachyear for several years, withgroups of six to ten students,weworkedourwaysouthwardand then westward aroundthe southern hinge of thedome, closer and closer toButter Hill. Tom kept sayinghowmuchhe lookedforwardto the timewhenwe reachedButterHill,andcouldtellhimthecorrelationoftherockshehadbeenlivingon.Eventuallywegotthereandafteragreatdeal of uncertainty, involvingthe very complex structure (arecumbent fold with much ofthe geology upside down),

we proudly told Tom. “Yes,wehaveidentifiedtherockatButter Hill and we call it theGneissofButterHill!!”Afterstillfurtherthrashing,itispresentlyidentifiedontheBedrockMapofMassachusettsaspartoftheLateProterozoicDryHillGneiss. Aside from all thesecontactsrelatedtoourmutualinterestingeologyandsciencein general, Tom was a verykind and concerned personwhen it came to personalrelationships. I particularlyremember his present of asmall silver cup on the birthof my oldest son Chris. Hisrole especially in my earliestyears in the Departmentwas important to me andour relationship remainedclose for very many years.From Don Wise: Tom was one of thosedelightful people who goabout their business withquietgoodhumortokeepanorganizationrunningsmoothly.For many years he was the

t o m r i c e

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CharlesW.Pitratwasourcolleague, friend, teacher,andmentorintheDepartmentof Geology and Geographyfrom1964to1991.Manyofourolderalumswillrememberhis humor in the classroomand the impeccable detailof his chalkboard drawingsof fossils. Rumor has it thathe also did some goodtrilobite impersonations. Hiscolleagues remember his wryhumor, funny stories, soundjudgment, and easy-goingpersonality. When I appliedforthejobtoreplacethelateGregWebbinFebruary1984,I phoned Charlie’s office toasksomequestionsaboutthejobandwashappythatDillonScott answered the phone(Charlie’s assistant and myfuture first graduate student);I learned that his last namewaspronounced‘pee-tra’,not‘pit-rat’. Charlie was alwaysquickwithasmileandalight-hearted laugh. He died athomeonApril30,2004. CharliewasborninKansasCity,KansasonJune1,1928.He grew up in Kansas. Afterearning a B.A. degree attheUniversityofKansasin 1949, he begangraduate work atthe Universityof Wisconsin asResearchAssistanttoM.L.Thompson,a c q u i r i n gcon s i de r ab l eexpertise inT h o m p s o n ’ ss p e c i a l t y ,fusulinids, whileconducting hispersonal researchin other fields.His M.Sc.t h e s i s( 1 9 5 1 )w a s

on the rugose corals of theDevonian age Cedar ValleyFormation of Iowa. Charliestayed at Wisconsin for hisPh.D. (1953),buthemadeatemporary foray into the fieldof geochemistry to work onthe thermoluminescence oftheMississippianageMadisonGroup of the Wyomingand Montana Rockies. Thisresearch was done under anAtomic Energy Commission(AEC)contract.AfterreceivinghisPh.D.heworkedfulltimeforayearandahalfonanotheraspectoftheAECcontract:therecoveryofuraniumfromlow-gradeores.Havinghadhisfillof geochemical matters, hejoined the faculty of theNewMexicoInstituteofMiningandTechnologyasapaleontologistin January 1955. In a recentarticleaboutthehistoryofthegeology department at NewMexico Tech (www.ees.nmt.edu/TECHtonics/Jan2004.pdf),emeritusProfessorClayT.Smithrecalledadiresituationofverylowenrollmentsat theschool. According to Smith,

“the departmentwas so

small thatCharles

Pi t ratandI

taught all of the courses”.ThismayexplainwhyCharliequicklymovedontohisalmamater,theUniversityofKansas,in 1956. At Kansas he wascloselyassociatedwithfamousAmerican paleontologist R.C.Mooreintheeditingofseveralvolumes of the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology.He came to the University ofMassachusetts Amherst in1964. Charlie had a long-standinginterestinthegeneralproblem of extinction in thefossil record, and the Permo-Triassicextinctioninparticular.HehadamajorsynthesispaperpublishedinPalaeogeography, P a l a e o c l i m a t o l o g y , Palaeoecology entitled“Vertebrates and the Permo-Triassic extinction.” However,his main area of researchwas spiriferid brachiopods.This interest was kindled byhisworkontheTreatiseintheearly 1960s and remainedhis primary research activityuntil he retired from UMassAmherst.Heandhis studentsworked extensively on thespiriferidsoftheDevonianageTraverseGroupoftheMichiganBasin.Byallaccounts,Charliewas an excellent teacher. Hetaught courses ranging fromintroductory to advancedgraduate, including Historyof Life, History of the Earth,Invertebrate Paleontology,Paleoecology, and Strati-graphic Paleontology. Alsonoteworthy was Charlie’slong service to the Societyof Economic Paleontologistsand Mineralogists (SEPM;now called the Society forSedimentary Geology); heservedasEditoroftheJournal of Paleontology from January1980toDecember1985. Fred Rogers (B.A., 1980,

M.Sc., 1984) conductedresearch with Charlie as anundergraduate and thenstayed on to work with himfor his M.Sc. degree (twopapers were published inthe Journal of Paleontologyfrom their collaborations).Fred describes Charlie as an“exceptionally bright manwith a sharp intellect.” Hewas an “exceptionally kindperson,”especiallyfromFred’sperspective as a student.Charlie’s “extraordinarypatience” really made adifference in Fred’s life. Fredrecalls the always hot andhumidconditionsintheofficethat he shared with Charliewhen he was assisting witheditorial tasks for the Journal of Paleontology (Rm. 247,near the rear entrance, nowoccupied by Julie Brigham-Grette); Charlie always hadagoodsenseofhumoraboutthe “large cockroach fauna”in that office. After FredmovedontotheUniversityofIowaforaPh.D.,DillonScott(M.Sc., 1989) stepped in toassistCharliewiththeJournal of Paleontology. AccordingtoDillon,“hewasoneof themostgoodhumoredandgoodnaturedpeopleIevermet.Ourwork was pretty dry, editingpapers and writing letters toauthors and printers. But healwaysmadethetaskpleasantand was very nice to theauthors.Hewrotewonderfullypolite letters even to authorsof a few really bad papers.”JoelSparks(Ph.D.,1990)tookCharlie’s Stratigraphy course:“I loved his comment thatmostof stratigraphycouldbesummedupby‘theseassloshin,andtheseassloshout.’” TonyMorse fondly recallsCharlie’s “lovely sense of

c h A r L e s w i L L i A m p i t r A t

i n m e m o r i u m

by Mark Leckie (with input from Fred Rogers, Dillon Scott, Joel Sparks, and Professors Steve Haggerty, Tony Morse, and Don Wise)


� UMass Amherst

b y s t e v e m A b e e

TheStateGeologisthasnowbeeninoperationandlocatedintheDepartmentforfouryears.Asummaryofsomeoftheaccomplishmentsoverthelast12monthsinclude:

• A fourth year of STATEMAP funding to support fracturemapping and vectorization of thebedrockgeologicmapoftheRockportandGloucesterquadranglesandnewbedrockandfracturemappingintheMilfordquadrangle.

• CompletionofanewbedrockmapandfracturemapoftheAyerquadrangle.

n e w s F r o m t h e s t A t e G e o L o G i s t

underpinningofourbeginningcourse, doing the lectures,keeping the labs updatedand organized, seeing thatfield tripshit thehighlightsoflocalgeology,andalsogivingstudentstheirfirsttasteoffieldworkinhisspecialintroductorycourseinfieldtechniquesandenvironmental geology. Itwasthesecoursesthathelpedrecruit several generationsof students into the fieldof geology and geology inthe field. Many must recallwith pleasure those earlydays with Tom as instructor. Fromapersonalview,Iwasalwayspleasedtohavehimasaresourcefordetailsoflocalgeology as well as materialfor my beginning courses.He was more than generous

withhis timeand informationand always a pleasure totalk to. In addition to hisdepartmental contributions,Tom served a very importanttown-and-gownfunction.Asastateinstitution,weareboundto provide some service toour local communities andTom was one of our mostprolific contributors to theseareas,betheytownmeetings,someone’s water well, orsomebodywithaboxofrocksthat needed identification. Tom served theDepartmentlongandwellandwasagoodfriendtomanyofus:students,faculty,andstaff.Likemany,Iretainverywarmmemories of him and hiscontributions. He is missed.

m e m o r i e s o F t o m r i c e ( c o n ’ t )

Mapping in the Marlborough quadrangle

• Vectorization of 25, 1:24,000-scale, published surficialgeologicmapsandconversiontoGISproducts.Wehavenowdigitizedatotalof88publishedsurficialgeologicmaps.TheseproductsarebeingsubmittedtotheUSGSforedgematchingand compilation. This is a continuationof ourefforttoworkwiththeUSGStocompletestatewidesurficialgeologicmappingat1:24,000scaleandtobringsomeoftheunpublishedsurficialgeologicquadranglemapsuptoalevelwheretheycanbereleasedtothepublicasopen-filereportsindigitalform.

• Continuation of an ongoing study with Ph.D. candidate,AlexManda, to investigategroundwater inbedrock in theNashoba terrane. We have collected over 4000 brittlefracturemeasurementsat79outcropsacross the terrane.Discretefracturenetworkmodelingtoestimatebulkhydraulicpropertiesofthebedrockiscommencing.

• Completionofaseriesofsevenworkshopsacrossthestateto: (1) trainwaterwell drillers in theuseGPS technologyto locatewells; (2)standardize thedescriptionofsoilandrockmaterials inMassachusetts;and (3) introduceanewonlinewelldataentryprotocol tostreamlineand improvesubsurface data capture from water well drillers. Trainingprovided to over 340 water well drillers. Work done incooperation with the Department of Conservation andRecreation, Department of Environmental Protection andMassGIS.

• Compilationand releaseofdigital, georeferenced rasterimages of 1:24,000 scale, 10-foot contour topographicmapsfortheentirestate.

• Commencement of a groundwater study to better definetheextentandproductivityoftheWestCharlemontaquifer.WorkingwiththeFranklinRegionalCouncilofGovernmentsandDr.DavidBoutt,DepartmentofGeosciences.

• Continuation of a project to examine sand and gravelresourcesoffthenorthshoreofMassachusettsasasourceofbeachnourishment. Alsoexamining thepracticalityofusingmicrofaunaasaproxyofenvironmentalhealthanda tool for evaluating post-dredging recovery. WorkingwithDr.MarkLeckie,SteveNathan(post-doc)andBostonUniversity.

WearestilllookingforapermanenthomefortheMassachusettsWater Resources Authority core collection. We need about15,000to20,000squarefeetofspacetohousethe70,000linearfootcollection.Weneedanyhelpwecanget.Ifyouhaveany information thatmayhelpus findanewhome forthecore,pleasecontactme.Youcanfindoutmoreaboutthe“SavetheCore”campaignbyvisitingtheStateGeologistwebpageatwww.geo.umass.edu/stategeologist.


c o n G r A t u L A t i o n s t o t h e 2 0 0 6 s t u D e n t A w A r D w i n n e r s

o u t s t A n D i n G s e n i o r A w A r D s

Geology:AliciaM.Hetherington SeanD.MusselmanGeography:AletaJ.MillsEarth Systems:JeffreyM.SalacupExcellence in Undergrad Research:LukeD.Trusel

o u t s t A n D i n G t e A c h i n G A s s t . A w A r D s Earth Systems:CaitlinE.Stewart

Geology:ChrisKoteasGeography: JenniferL.Bonin

m e m o r i A L A w A r D sH.T.U. Smith Award

EvanC.Gearity FieldworkintheSnowbirdtectoniczone,Saskatchewan.KennethW.Christle FieldworkinIceland.

Elinor Fierman Award StevenGaurin Chemistryandisotopicanalysisofspeleothems,Bermuda.SeanFaulkner AnalysisofpossiblemicrobialitesfromMorocco.

Gloria Radke AwardMatthewP.Walsh Sandstonepetrologyasamonitorofthesourceareaforthe SugarloafArkose.CaitlinStewart HumboltFieldResearchInstitutecourseonchironomids.

Leo M. Hall Award BethE.Caissie Fieldworktodevelopamoderndiatomtrainingsettopredictseaiceduration.NancyPrice FieldworktoinvestigateorthoquartziteasanindicatorofPrecambriantectonicsintheSouthwest.JohnR.Shackleton Fieldworkandsamplecollection,St.Cornelianticline,Spain.ScottThomasMarshallFieldtripandworkshop,NorthAnatoliaFault,Turkey.KinuyoKanamaru Sedimentcoring,NorthBeringSea.

Geography Alumni Award TheodoreAllenWhite Geographyfieldresearchconcerning“Keepinglocalfarmers’moneyinthePioneerValley”.AlanPatrickMarcus GeographyfieldresearchconcerningBrazilianimmigration,Miami.BrianW.Conz Geographyfieldresearch,Guatemala.JanelleCornwell Economicgeographyoflocalagriculture.

humor and long memory.Once when I recognized thefamilyFormicidaeasants,hecried out in admiration andfrustration,“Howintheworlddoes an igneous petrologistknow THAT? He was adelight, a warm and faithfulcolleague.” Steve Haggertyoffers the following story: “Icame formy faculty interviewjust before Thanksgiving in1970 and on our way tocoffee in the Student Union,after the first round table ofintroductions (aka grillings),Charlie,onlearningthatthatIwascolonial,kickedacoupleoflooserocksinthepathwayandsaid:‘Youknowthatifthefounding fathers had landedon thewestcoast, thiswouldbe an untouched naturereserve;therearemorestonesthanpotatoes.’IttookawhiletoappreciateCharlie’spoint,

andhiscommentreverberatedthroughout the years. Ofcolleagues who preferred tokick rocks, he would alwayshave an interesting questionon what we did, and aquestionmoreover,thatwasattimesdifficulttodefend.Itwasimpossible to ask the samequestion in reverse becausehewasthesolepaleo-person,andagoodoneatthat.”DonWisecontributedthefollowingobservation: “Charlie wasone of those unsung herosthatunderpinneda lotof theDepartment’ssuccessthroughhismanyyearsofservice.” Charliewasaveryprivateperson, but he is missedby the people who had theopportunitytogettoknowhimin our Department lives. Heinspiredusbyhisintelligence,gentledemeanor,andhumor.

s t e v e c A r e y , ( c o n ’ t )

UMassAmherstgeologytypesin1995whenwewroteapro-posal for an Ocean DrillingProgramlegintheCaribbeanSea and Mark Leckie joinedthe expedition as a co-chiefscientist. The expedition wasagreatsuccessanditwasfunbeingat seawithMark. I re-turned toAmherst in1997togivealectureontheKrakatauvolcano in Indonesia. It wasgreat to see the old depart-mentandsomefamiliarfaces.WhenIleftUMassAmherstin1975IneverguessedIwouldbereturningtothecampus22years later togivea researchlecture. For the past twenty yearsIhavebeenstudyingexplosivevolcanic eruptions and theirimpactonsociety.Ihavebeenfortunate to work on the de-positsfromsomeofthelargest

events in historical times: the79AD eruption of Vesuvius,the great 1815 eruption ofTambora,andthe1883erup-tionofKrakatauinIndonesia.I’ve worked at 12 volcanoesin 10 different countries. I’mindebted to the National Sci-enceFoundationwhohassup-ported our work for so longandprovidedsuchuniqueop-portunities toexplore this fas-cinatingprocess.Idistinctlyre-memberoneafternoonwhenIwas at UMass Amherst walk-ing back to my dorm from ageologylectureinMorrillHallthinkingwouldn’titbeincred-ibletohaveajobstudyingvol-canoes. Who knew that suchdreams could come true. I’mverygratefulthatmyeducationat UMass Amherst providedmewiththefoundationtopur-suesuchaninterestingpath.

Alicia Hetherington and Sean Musselman

m e m o r i e s o F c h A r L i e p i t r A t ( c o n ’ t )

Mr. Alexander O. AbbottMs. Elizabeth Addington

Dr. M. Lee AllisonMs. Susan J. Alston

Mr. Russell W. Anderson IIIMr. Seth J. AndrewsDr. Richard H. AprilMr. Herbert L. Arold

Ms. Elizabeth R. ArriazaMr. David D. Ashenden

Mr. Steven W. BaerMr. George Baldwin, III

Bamag Industries Mr. Peter S. Barrows

Dr. Gail L. BatchelderDr. Paul W. Bauer

Bechtel FoundationMr. Edward C. BecklesMs. Sonja L. BensonBerkshire Highlands

GroupMr. Mark E. Blackey

Mr. Belden Bly IIIMr. Alexander H. Bonnar

BP America IncMs. Micaela A. BradyMr. James P. Brandon

Mrs. Susan M. BrandonDr. Randolph W. BromeryMrs. Shelley M. BrooksMr. Timothy M. BrooksMr. Stephen H. BrownMr. Jonathan M. Bull

Dr. Jonathan BurrMs. Gloria A.

Caballero-RocaDr. Joseph Caggiano, Jr.

Mr. Kerry J. CampbellDr. Steven N. Carey

Ms. Margaret W. Car-ruthers

Mr. Sean C. ChapelMr. Steven D. CharronMr. Jonas H. Chaves

ChefBill, Inc.Mr. Nicholas R. Chrisman

Mrs. Paula ClebnikDr. Sherman M. ClebnikMs. Barbara T. ClementCobble Mountain Land

ServiceCold Spring Enviromental

Cnslts.IncMrs. Laura Truettner Coles

Mr. William S. CollinsMs. Susan Corneliussen

Mr. Gilbert M. DavisMr. Robert E. Day-LewisMs. Gratia C. Deane

Mr. William F. DeLorraineMr. Douglas R. DeNataleMrs. Valerie J. DeNatale

Dr. Carol B. DeWetMr. Bruce H. DeWyk

Miss Katherine C. Dietz

Dr. Margaret M. DillonMr. Richard C. Dils

Mr. Peter M. DiscenzaDiversified DevelopmentsMrs. Mary-Frances Doiron

Mr. Robert C. DoironMr. John D. DonnellyMr. Edward A. DrabekMrs. Natalie E. DrakeMr. Dean P. DuboisMr. Bruce B. Duffy

Mr. James A. DutcherMrs. Linda D. DutcherMs. Suzanne M. DwyerMs. Karen D. DzendoletMr. James C. Eacmen Jr.

Mr. John C. EnglandMrs. Susan C. England

Mrs. Diane M.A. EskenasyExploration Services

InternationalExxonMobil Foundation

Dr. S. Page FallonMr. Oswald Farquhar

Mrs. Devra F. Feshbach-Meriney

Mr. Allan J. FilipovDr. David B. FinkelsteinMr. James Fitzgerald, Jr.Mr. Michael F. Forlenza

Mr. Howard J. FrankMr. Luis A. FuentesMs. Agnes Fung

Mr. Andrew D. GaleMr. Ralph Garraffa

Mrs. Elizabeth R. GeeMr. John R. Gilbert, Jr.Ms. Nancy B. Goddard

Dr. Matthew P. GolombekMr. Abe Gomel

Mrs. Michelle A. Gon-calves

Mr. Donald J. GoodwinLois T. W. Grady TrustMr. Gerald J. GradyDr. Lois W. Grady

Mr. Jeffrey S. GreenwoodMr. Benjamin P. Gregson

Alexander & Ljilsdna Grkovich

Mrs. Bette A. GustavsonDr. Thomas C. Gustavson

James A. HafnerMs. Virginia C. HallerDr. Susan D. Halsey

Mr. Richard P. HamiltonHangar 9, Inc.

Mrs. Diane Flint HardyMr. William H. Hart

Mr. Douglas L. HeathMs. Silvia M. Heinrich

Mr. Jason F. HicksMr. Kurt C. Hinaman

Dr. James R. HinthorneMr. Garrett G. Hollands

Mr. Robert D. HomanMrs. Kristin A. HoveyMs. Anna M. HowleyMs. Renee J. HowleyDr. Michael J. Hozik

IBM International Foundation

Dr. Jon D. InnersInst. For Sci., Eng. & Public

PolicyMs. Virginia A. Irvine

Mr. Don J. IrwinMrs. Nancy H. Irwin

Mr. Peter R. JacobsonMr. Philip J. Jelatis

Mr. Peter P. JohnsonRonald & Barbara JokiMr. John J. Josephson

Ms. Lisa R. KanterDr. William M. KellyMr. Paul W. KendraKick Geoexploration

Dr. John F. KickMr. Thomas M. Kilroy Jr.

Ms. Melissa A. KingMr. James P. KirwinMr. Peter B. Klejna

Dr. Allan KolkerMr. James M. Kozlowski

Mr. Richard L. KrollMrs. Candia L. KruseDr. Fred A. Kruse, Jr.

Mr. Gilbert F. LafreniereMr. Wesley J. LaparlMr. Arthur J. LathamDr. Daniel N. LeavellMr. Bruce R. LeedsMs. Marcy Dobkin

LelacheurMr. Paul A. LeMay

Mr. Joseph W. LemieuxMrs. Lisa J. LemieuxMr. Nicholas S. Lesn-

ikowskiMr. Gary A. LesslieMr. Mark H. Levitan

Dr. Timothy N. LincolnMr. Orville B. Lloyd Jr.

Mr. Edward P. LombardoDr. Nancy E. Long

Mr. Richard E. LussenMs. Martha E. Mackie

Ms. Julie P. ManeyDr. Lynn MargulisMarine Biological

LaboratoryMassachusetts Inst. of

TechnologyMr. David L. MaynardLt. Robert M. McClureMr. Bernard McCourt

Mr. Thomas A. McCroryMs. Ann McManamon

Mr. Richard J. MeczyworMr. Paul E. Meriney

Mr. Karl A. Mertz, Jr.Mr. David G. MilkeyMrs. Nancy E. Milkey

Mr. George W. MilkowskiMs. Kathryn E. MillerDr. Thomas L. Millette

Mr. Gregory A. MischelMr. Christopher B. MitchellMr. Cameron M. Mooney

Mr. Robert C. MorseMr. Christopher C. Morton

Mr. Scott MuirMrs. Arlene K. MurrayMr. Joseph R. Murray

Ms. Janet MuzzyMr. Thomas G. Nagy

Mr. John NasoMr. Stephen A. Nathan

Mr. William S. NechamenMr. Robert L. NelsonMr. Nestor NicholerisMr. Robert D. NolteMs. Tracy Norman

Mr. Thaddeus A. NowakMr. Curtis M. Obi

Mr. Keith M. O’BrienDr. Eric A. Oches

Mr. John B. O’ConnellDr. Paul W. Ollila

Ms. Sharon B. O’LoughlinMrs. Elinor S. O’NeilDr. Brent E. OwensMr. Michael L. Page

Dr. John R. PappalardoMr. Mark H. Parrott

Ms. Virginia PetersonMr. William C. Phelps

Philippine Eagle Foundation

Mr. Edward A. PintoMr. Scott J. Plotkin

Mr. Keith S. PomeroyDr. Donald B. Potter, Jr.

Mr. Paul A. PrincipeDr. William A. RansonMr. John L. ReynoldsMr. S. G. Richards

Mr. John W. Richardson Deanne and Christopher

RiddleMr. Timothy B. Robbins

Mr. Brian E. RoganMr. Charles N. Rogers

Mr. Michael J. RohMr. Jean-Stephen RovaniMs. Heather Lynn Ruel

James L. Ruhle and Associates

Mr. James L. RuhleMr. Mark J. RypyscAngelos & Susan

SakelariosKevin & Debra Sanders

Mr. Walter E. Sands

Scientific Comm on Antarctic Research

Mr. Franklin S. ShearMrs. Rena G. Shear

Mr. Edward D. ShearerMr. Michael F. Shepard

Dr. Steven B. ShireyDr. Catherine H. Shrady

Mr. Jay N. SilvermanMs. Alison C. SimcoxMrs. Ellen Skryness

Mr. Richard S. SkrynessMs. Sheila A. SmithMr. William R. Smith

Dr. David A. SommersDr. Joel W. Sparks

Ms. Martha R. SpenglerDr. Kevin J. St. MartinMr. John F. Steeves

Mr. Joshua C. SteinlageMs. Lynne E. StopenDr. David M. StrausMr. Frank L. Stringi

Mr. Frank P. SweeneyMr. Frank R. Sweet III

Dr. Lawrence H. TannerMr. Bruce D. Taterka

Tauber Fund IncMr. James N. Taylor

Mr. James L. TherrienMs. Anita L. Thompson

Tighe & BondMr. Albert M. Tonn

Ms. Katharyn L. UmstotRobert & Virginia Venti

Verizon CommunicationsVerizon Foundation

Vintage Petroleum, Inc.Mrs. Maria N. Waller

The Walter GroupMr. Kenneth L. WalterRev. Robert K. WaltyMr. Philip E. WarnerMr. Lee R. WarrenMr. Alan E. Weiss

Mrs. Barbara B. WeissMr. Paul M. WernauWexford Partners LPMr. Scott B. Whitney

Mr. Gerald C. WickhamMr. Peter R. Wieczorowski

Dr. Richard W. WienerMs. Katherine W. Williams

Mr. Mark B. WingstedJames & Shirley Winslow

Mrs. Joanna WishartMrs. Beverly A. WoodsMr. Bradford M. Wye

Wyomissing FoundationMr. Alan E. Zavalick

Mr. Herman B. Zimmerman

w e A r e G r A t e F u L t o o u r D o n o r s

* We apologize if we have omitted anyone from this list. Please contact us if you recognize an omission.

k e e p u s i n t h e F i e L D – p A r t - i i !

Thefirst“KeepUsInTheField”funddrivewasagreatsuccess.ThankstoalumnidonationsandamatchfromourDean,wereplacedouroldvanwithanew12-passengervan.Now,wearesavingforanotherreplacement.Van340(George)isnearly15yearsold.Your contribution will help us keep our field component as strong as ever.

Page 1� UMass Amherst

OneofthegreatchallengesoftheDepartmentismaintainingsupportforgraduatestudents.TheDepartmentcurrentlyhas12CampusandDepartmentsupportedTApositions.Wehavemanymoreapplicationstothegraduateprogramthanwecansupport,andsomestudentsendupchoosinganotherprogramifwecan’toffersupport.Weknowthatdevelopingendowedgraduatesupportwillbekeytomaintainingastrongandbroadgraduateprogramintothefuture.Thiswillbeoneofourmaindevelopmentgoalsinthefuture.Makingacontributiontoagraduateresearchorteachingendowmentcanenableastudenttoattendgraduateschool,andprovideanopportunitytobecomeacareergeologistortousegeologytobuildabettercareerinanyfield.

G r A D u A t e s u p p o r t – o u r F u t u r e c h A L L e n G e

TheRandolphandCecileBromeryFundiscurrentlygrowingandwillsoonbeourfirstendowedGeosciencesstudentsupportfund.Thefundhasalreadyhelpedtosupportseveralgraduatestudents;ithaspartiallysupportedfieldexcursions,andithasbroughtguestspeakerstotheDepartment.WesincerelythankBillandCecileBromeryfortheirgenerosity.Additionalcontributionswillhelpusincreasediversityandgraduatestudentopportunityinourprogram.

Please use the enclosed envelope or visit www.geo.umass.edu to contribute. If you are considering a larger gift, please contact Mike Williams ([email protected]).

Alumni support makes a critical difference for students in the Department of Geosciences.

t h e r A n D o L p h A n D c e c i L e b r o m e r y F u n D

Elinor Fierman Memorial Fund--Establishedin1983byagiftfromJackFitzpatrick(B.Sc.,‘76;M.Sc.,‘78).ElinorFiermangraduatedintheclassof’76andwentontoDukeUniver-sity.Inthespringof1977,shewaskilledbyacarwhilestudyingroadsidegeology.Thisawardinhernameisgiventoastudentresearcher(undergraduateorgraduate)withapreferencegiventolaboratorystudies.

TheDepartmentofGeoscienceshasfiveAlumniMemorialFunds(seelisting).Theproceedsgodirectlytostudents,mostcommonlyhelpingtosupportfieldexpenses,attendanceatfieldcamp,orothercostsassociatedwithstudentresearch.Manyalumni,atonetimeoranother,havereceivedsomesupportfromthesefunds,andmanyclaimthatthefundswerecriticalinallowingthemtocompletetheirthesisorseniorresearch.

Pleaseconsidercontributingtooneofthememorialfundsormakingageneralcontributioninsupportofstudentresearch,visitinglectures,orfieldexcursions.

Geography Alumni Award Fund--Establishedin1995fromgiftsgivenbyGeographyalumni,theawardisgiveneithertosupportGeographygraduatestudentresearchortoanystudentintheGeographyprogramforotherworthypur-poses.

Gloria Radke Memorial Fund--Establishedin1984fromgiftsgivenbyfamilyandfriendsofGloriaRadke,agraduatestudentinterestedinPleistocenegeology.Attheendofherfirstyearhere,shewaskilledbyadrunkdriverontheS-curvebyAtkinsFarmStandinSouthAmherst.Thisawardisgiventograduatestudentsinsupportoffieldresearch.

H.T.U. Smith Memorial Fund--H.T.U.SmithwasHeadoftheDepartmentfrom1956-1969.Thisawardinhisnameisgiventosupportfieldworkwithpreferencetoundergradu-atestudents(includingenrollmentinafieldcourse).

Leo M. Hall Memorial Fund--LeoHallwasProfessorofGeol-ogyinthisDepartmentfrom1967untilhisdeathonDe-cember26,1985.Amongmanyotherqualities,Leowasnotedforhisdevotiontofieldstudyandtotheteachingoffieldmethods.Thisawardinhisnameisgiventograduatestudentsinsupportoffieldresearch.

m e m o r i A L F u n D s s u p p o r t s t u D e n t r e s e A r c h

Tim Cook taking GPS-bathymetry measurements on Langevatnet, Lofoten Islands, Norway.

Page 1� Department of Geosciences

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PAIDPermit No. �

AMHERST, MA

DepartmentofGeosciencesUniversityofMassachusettsAmherst233MorrillScienceCenter611NorthPleasantStreetAmherst,MA01003-9297

PleasecontacttheDepartmentofGeosciencesifyouhaveanyquestionsorcommentsaboutthisnewsletter.Weplantopublishthisonaregularbasis,sopleaseletusknowifyouhavesuggestionsforimprovement.Wewouldlovetohearfromyou,pleasesendnewsupdatesto:[email protected].

( 4 1 3 ) 5 4 5 - 2 2 8 6 F A x : ( 4 1 3 ) 5 4 5 - 1 2 0 0 w w w . G e o . u m A s s . e D u

• Michele Cooke ledagroupofhighschoolstudentsandteachersparticipatingin“FaultsintheField”,wholearnedaboutgeologicalfaults.Ablogdetailingtheirexperiencecanbefoundat:http://clercblog.gallaudet.edu/mass06/index.html.

• Steve Petsch andthebiogeochemistrygroupreceivedanicewrite-upinNew Technology Magazine,ongasfarmingandsustainablenaturalgasproductionfrommicroorganisms.Thearticlecoverstheireffortstounderstandcriticalorganismsandenvironmentalconditionsnecessarytosupportsubsurfacemethanogenesis.

• Mike Rhodes hassignedanagreementwithInformationTelevisionNetwork(iTV)tohostapublictelevisionprogramon"TheScienceofVolcanoes."

• PerhapsafirstfortheGSA,Don Wise hadtheaudiencesinginghis“Evolution”songattheGSAlastfall.EventheNewYorkTimespickedupthestory!

• Ph.D.candidate(Geography) Brian Conz,hasbeenawardedaFulbright-HaysDoctoralDissertationResearchAbroad(DDRA)fellowshipfromtheU.S.Dept.ofEducationforpoliticalecologyfieldworkinGuatemala.Hewillcarryoutsixmonthsoffieldworkonindigenouspeoples,conservation,andprotectedareasintheKi’cheMayanhighlandsofGuatemala.

• Lynn MargulisandDorionSaganwillcodirectSciencewriters Books,anewimprintofChelseaGreenPublishingCompanywhichaimstodevelopoutstandingworksofscienceforthegeneralpublic.

• MaybeyousawRay Bradley onTVafewweeksago.HewasonLouDobbs/CNNonJune26answeringquestionsabouttherecentNationalAcademyofSciencesreportontemperaturetrendsofthelast2000years.

• Mark Leckiewasoneofthemainorganizersandteacher/mentorsatthe“SchoolofRock”,aseagoingteacherworkshoponboardtheJOIDESResolutionfromVictoria,B.C.,Canada,toAcapulco,Mexico.Teacherswerementoredandtaughtbyscientists,activelyengagedinIODPresearch,andbytheUSIOEducationDirector,andstaff.

D e p A r t m e n t h i G h L i G h t s

PhD Candidate, Greg Dumond at Chickie’s Quartzite, PA on the Department’s tectonics field trip.

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