Research Blog
My research interests include high-resolution monitoring and modeling techniques to better understand groundwater flow in spatially and temporally complex geologic systems. Methods include geochemical sampling of groundwater after recharge events, fracture flow modeling, and the use of thermal imagery from drones. My study sites have included areas in Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Florida, and now western Montana. |
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One tradition I've had while teaching intro geology labs was to make a geology-themed cake for the lab sections with a high completion rate for teaching evaluations. It tends to be a good motivator, although, let's be honest, I was probably going to make them regardless...(who doesn't like cake?). It's a classic layer-cake design (themed to geology). At the base is a layer of chocolate cake, followed by a red/white mixed vanilla cake layer, then a yellow cake layer with sprinkles, and finally capped with rice crispy treats (dyed blue in the lower half). Geologically-speaking, this represents layers of gabbro, gneiss, sandstone, and a karsty rice crispy layer with a saturated and unsaturated zone. Needless to say all the cake gets eaten pretty quick! We also had our annual departmental holiday party to wrap up the semester. During the party students often give out gifts and have a rock swap, while the department sometimes gives out their Richard Valentino Award for Excellence in Teaching and Student Mentoring. This year I was the recipient of the award! With no time to rest and finish grading I also had to get my talk on FEFLOW modeling of karst conduits ready for the American Geophysical Union meeting this year in Washington, DC. This was my first time attending an AGU meeting and I thought it all went well!
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