St. Lawrence Geology Alumni

Fall Geological Society of America Presentations by Alumni, Students, and Faculty - Updated October 6, 2011
Winter 2011 Newsletter now online - Updated January 6, 2012
SLUGAC 7 photo album (more about SLUGAC 7) - Updated November 15, 2010

If you are presenting at any conferences (GSA, AGU, LPSC, AAPG, etc.) this year, please email Sarah and she will make a program of Alumni, Faculty and Student presentations.
If you have not been receiving newsletters, we must not have the correct mailing address for you. Check the Missing Alumni link as well (updated July 5, 2011). Please send email to Sarah
Check our In the News page for profiles of faculty and alumni on the SLU web site and other news stories (updated April 7, 2011)
To send your news to the department - submit the form at the department web site.

SLU Geology Alumni announce fellowship in honor of J. Mark Erickson

At the alumni gathering at GSA in Houston on October 5th, 2008, we caught Mark off guard with a card and the announcement of the creation of the J. Mark Erickson Fellowship for Geology.

This endowed fund has received several big boots from sizable pledges from a handful of alumni. You too can help get the JME fund fully funded...once that happens, students can then be considered for the fellowship. Bill van Wie '67 has established the Geology Alumni Expendable University Fellows Fund* that we all can donate to in support of the JME on an expendable basis while the endowed fund is completed which enables the scholarship committee to award fellowships to qualified geology students now.

For more information about the JME fellowship and ways to donate. Please look here.
*Also known as "Alumni Geology University Fellowship." Donations to this fund are included in the Alumni Giving Rate.

Mark mentioned in the Spring Newsletter that he had written a letter announcing his retirement that was emailed to all alumni we had addresses for. This letter was written when retirement discussions had just finished and were not yet available for public knowledge. The Alumni Council now has permission to release the letter and Mark has asked that we make it available for all alumni to read.

The April 2011 Edition of Momentum. The University's publication about "Momentum St. Lawrence" featured 2 articles related to the Geology Department. One was about the Dr. J. Mark Erickson Geology University Fellows Endowment and its formation and the other on the "Involving Students in Faculty Research Programs: Examples from the Geology Department" seminar given at the celebration to the end the campaign. Read both here.

More news can be found in our Facebook group
Derrick Pitts '78 receives and honorary degree from La Salle University in Philadelphia on October 2, 2011 La Salle University Press Release SLU Net News Added September 30, 2011, Updated October 5, 2011	Society For Sedimentary Geology has awarded Dr. Antun Husinec a Certificate of Recognition for an excellent technical oral presentation at the 2011 American Association of Petroleum Geologists & Society of Sedimentary Geologists Meeting . Read More Added September 19, 2011	David Wald '84 is a seismologist with the USGS, so was very busy after the Mineral VA earthquake. His Tuesday evening press conference was quoted often in the press David is also responsible for developing "Did you feel it?" at the USGS. Detroit Fox Station National Newswire Service Tucson Citizen NextGov reports milestone for "Did you Feel it?" How to Measure and Earthquake Added September 19, 2011, updated October 5, 2011
Derrick Pitts '78 has been making the TV rounds recently as Chief Astronomer at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, here are some examples. 7/21/11- On Philly Fox station discussing the final shuttle launch and NASA's future 8/24/11 - On Philly Fox Station talking about the Mineral VA earthquake 8/30/11 - On Keith Olbermann explaining NASA's new direction 9/16/11 - MSNBC with Tamara Hall discussed the recent discovery of a 'Tatooine'-like planet - one with two suns 9/16/11 - On Keith Olbermann talking about new planet Kepler-16b 9/21/11 - On the Early Show talking about the UARS Satellite falling back to earth 9/23/11 - On Keith Olberman "Relatively Wrong" 9/26/11 - On Philly Fox station talking about the UARS Satellite Added September 19, 2011 Updated October 5, 2011 -- See more on facebook		SLU's most recent challenge campaign "Honor A Laurentian Mentor Challenge" had William T. Elberty Jr '53 ranked 5th and J. Mark Erickson tied for 8th among the faculty and staff who were honored in June with gifts from alumni. Thanks for honoring them with your donations to the university. https://alumni.stlawu.edu/toptenmentors Added September 19, 2011
Mark Klett '74 has been inducted into the Bethlehem Central High School's (Delmar, NY) Hall of Fame. Mark also has a new book coming out this fall, "The Half-Life of History." Added July 6, 2011	Congratulations to Dean Eppler '74 for being elected a 2011 GSA Fellow. Announced in GSA Today, vol. 21, no. 7 page 12. Read More Added July 5, 2011	Congratulations to Sean Regan '10 for being a 2011 GSA Research Grant Recipient. Announced in GSA Today, vol. 21, no. 7 page 21. Added July 5, 2011
Recent Student News Krystyna Kornecki '12 has been awarded a scholarship in partial support of her college expenses by the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG) Added June 21, 2011 SLU Press Release Updated July 5, 2011 Ashley Durham ’13 will be working as a field geologist for Temex Corporation on the Gowganda silver prospect in northern Ontario. She also placed 3rd at NCAA Nationals in Slalom this past spring. Added June 21, 2011	Norman Smith '62 is the 2012 Recipient of the The Francis J. Pettijohn Medal for Sedimentology from the SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology. The medal is awarded in recognition of "Excellence in Sedimentology." The award will be presented at the SEPM President’s Reception at the 2012 AAPG/SEPM annual meeting in Long Beach, CA – Tuesday, April 24. Added June 21, 2011	David Hisz '99, now a graduate student at Clemson University earned an Outstanding Student Paper Award from the American Geophysical Union at the Fall 2010 Meeting for his Characterization of fractured rock during well tests using Tilt-X, a portable tiltmeter and extensometer for multi-component deformation measurements. Announced Eos vol 92 number 19 page 165. (May 10, 2011) Added May 31, 2011
Mimi Katz '81 has a paper published in the May 27, 2011, issue of Science entitled “Impact of Antarctic Circumpolar Current development on late Paleogene ocean structure" For more information: RPI Press Release with video NSF Announcement Added May 29, 2011	John T. Murphy, Jr. '11, has been selected to participate in the third annual Geological Society of America/ExxonMobil Bighorn Basin Field Seminar in Wyoming. John is also this years recipient of the W. A. Tarr award from Sigma Gamma Epsilon. Added May 29, 2011	SLU now has a student chapter of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. The first meeting was held on May 2. Dr. Antun Husinec is the faculty advisor. For more information about the SLU chapter see here. Added May 29, 2011
Aaron Chesler '13 has been accepted to the Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP) in Alaska, which will follow on the heels of Glacial Field Methods: Alaska course. The JIRP is an 8-week, field-intensive training program in glacial geology and glaciology, which occurs in Alaska's "banana belt" outside her capital, Juneau. Mr. Chesler, along with other students, will be trained by a team of scientists headed by alum Dr. P. Jay Fleisher '61, JIRP Director. Upon his return, he will be a budding field-trained glacial geologist with data in-hand to continue developing this interest here at St. Lawrence University. Added May 29, 2011	Congratulations to Bonnie Govoni '13 for being named a 2011 University Fellow for her project "Calcareous Green Algae and Carbonate Sediment Production in (sub)Tropical Lagoons, San Salvador Isolated Platform, Bahamas" She will be working with Dr. Antun Husinec. Bonnie's research will be supported by the Dr. J. Mark Erickson Geology University Fellowship, Alumni Geology University Fellowship and the Piskor Family University Fellowship Added April 19, 2011	Congratulations to Jake Colony '11, Ben Rendall '11 and Dr. Antun Husinec. They bring home Best Student Poster Honors from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Meeting in Houston, TX from the Society for Sedimentary Geology. Jake received $1000 for first place honors and Ben received $500 for third place. Read more , SLU Press Release SLU alumni present included: Dave Mosher (RPI), Raff Sweeney (Kansas U), and Charlie Harman (U. Texas). Charlie Kerans (U. Texas) Added April 15, 2011, Updated April 16 & 25 2011
Derrick Pitts '78 is a "go to guy" on matters relating to science for the Fox news station in Philadelphia. Here are some recent stories Derrick has participated in. - Discussing the "Super Moon" - "Is California due for the next big Earthquake?" : He is also participating in the Philadelphia Science Festival. If you are in Philly you on April 16th, check out "Packing for Mars" Added April 7, 2011	David Wald '84 is a seismologist with the National Earthquake Information Center at the USGS. He spoke often about the PAGER System which he helped develop and earthquakes after the M9.0 Earthquake in Japan. - Japan's Earthquake and Tsunami: How They Happened (PBS Newshour News Blog) - Shaky Science: Damage Estimates From Japan Tsunami - From Colorado Seismologists, A Better Earthquake Alert? Added April 7, 2011	Jeff Chiarenzelli '81 and Matthew Skeels (SLU Chemistry Faculty) have been awarded a grant from The St. Lawrence River Research And Education Fund that will also have undergraduate involvement in the “Loading of elements and anions to the St. Lawrence River from tributaries in St. Lawrence County, New York” project. SLU Press Release Added April 7, 2011
Emma Coronado '12, has been accepted to the Keck Geology Consortium Project: Lacustrine and Moraine records of Holocene Glaciation in the Central Peruvian Andes. Read Department News Page Added March 10, 2011	Mark Erickson and Sarah McElfresh '98 gave a presentation entitled "Engaging Alumni In Undergraduate Geoscience Education: What we do and how we do it, a case study from St. Lawrence University." for a webinar sponsored by the American Geological Institute on February 15th. SLU Press Release, AGI webinar Series, the webinar Added February 22, 2011, Updated March 10, 2011	Peter Clark '78, professor at Oregon State University, has been named a fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). See list of all new AGU Fellows Added January 31, 2011, Updated February 14, 2011

PAST FEATURES

If you have any news for the newsletter send email to Mark Erickson . If you want your email address or recent publications added to the appropriate pages or are able to contribute to the current students section, please send email to Sarah McElfresh '98.

Last Updated
January 6, 2012

Sarah McElfresh
Email