Past Geoscience Days

Students presented their research at the 48th annual Geoscience Day on Friday, April 29, 2022.

Geoscience Day 2022 Program (pdf)

Recordings of the full presentations are available on our YouTube channel

Presentation Schedule:

• 9:00 Welcome and Opening Remarks by Dr. Nick Deardorff and Dr. Calvin Masilela

• 9:05 Chad McLaren: Mitigating the Blight Cycle through Land Banking in Small Rust Belt Cities

• 9:20 Introduction of GEOS 480 Senior Research Presentations by Dr. Karen Rose Cercone

• 9:22 Caleb Cramer: Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment of the Mount Union Railroad Museum

• 9:34 Daniel Cross: Environmental Site Assessment of Braddock Farms, Braddock, PA

• 9:46 Erik Reynolds: Phase I Assessment of a Former Radioactive Materials Production Facility

• 10:00–10:30 Student Poster Session and Coffee Break

  The poster session also includes these projects:

  • Emily Lessman: Spatial Procedures to Analyze the Hazards to Communities and Infrastructure in Savannah, Georgia, from a Direct Hit from a Category 3 Hurricane

  • Chad McLaren, Matt Pernelli, and Jacob Krinock: How A Comprehensive Geodatabase Can Be Used to Inform Community Redevelopment

  • Khadija Zakki: The Negative Impact Of COVID 19 On Marginalized Population: Michigan State

• 10:30 Molly Rabon: Water Budget Study of Marsh Run Watershed: A Small Urbanized Headwater Stream

• 10:42 Gavin Vashie: Microplastic Contaminants in Indiana, PA’s Freshwater Systems

• 10:54 Josh Merichko: Assessing and Quantifying Changes in Rainfall and Temperature Patterns in Indiana, Pennsylvania along with many other locations within the Appalachian Plateau

• 11:06 Christian Vizza: Using Diatoms to Model Antarctic Sea Ice during the mid-Pleistocene

• 11:18 Susan Adams: Brittle Deformation: Fault Analysis in the Eastern Central Range

Senior geoscience majors presented their research at the 47th annual Geoscience Day on Friday, April 30, 2021, via Zoom. Junior geoscience majors will also present their research proposals.

Geoscience Day 2021 Program and Abstracts

Full Recording of Geoscience Day

• Opening Remarks by Dr. Nick Deardorff, followed by introduction of Junior Proposal Presentations by Dr. Katie Farnsworth
• Junior Seminar Proposal Presentations
  
  • Susie Adams: Tectonics: Constraining Taiwan's Metamorphic Core
  • Christian Vizza: Diatoms of the Southern Ocean and their relation to Climate across the Mid-Pleistocene Transition
  • Caleb Cramer: Phase 1 Environmental Assessment Research Project
  • Eric Reynolds: Phase 1 Environmental Assessment of the Babcock and Wilcox Parks Township Property
  • Molly Rabon: Water Budget Study of Marsh Run Watershed
  • Gavin Vashie: Microplastic Contaminants in Indiana PA's Freshwater Systems
• Introduction of Senior Research Presentations by Dr. Karen Rose Cercone
  • Garrett Strittmatter: Scotia Sea Diatoms in Relation to Climate During the Last Glacial Maximum
  • Jordan Kulak: Understanding Deep-Sea Sediment Property Methods and Error
  • Lauren Donati: Rapid Exhumation of the Taiwan Central Range: Constraints from Plastic-brittle Structures from the Mutua River
• Featured Alumni Presentation:
  • Gerry Hatcher '83 and Jonathan Warrick, USGS Santa Cruz Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

The senior geoscience majors presented their research at the 46th annual Geoscience Day.

Where: IUP, Weyandt Hall Planetarium

When: April 24, 2020

Geoscience Day 2020 Program (PDF)

Recordings available on our YouTube Channel

Morning Sessions 1, 2 and 3

Afternoon Session 4

Presentation Schedule

• 8:00 Opening Remarks by Dr. Nick Deardorff
• Session 1: Tectonics and Volcanism
  • 8:10 Lindsey Aman: Rapid Exhumation of the Eastern Central Range of Taiwan: Constraints from Brittle Deformation Patterns
  • 8:30 Ross Bolesta: Characterizing Low-relief, High-elevation Landscapes using Drone Imagery near Jiaming Lake, Taiwan
  • 8:50 Allison Rife: Effects of Compositions on Recrystalization in Pyroclast Recycling
  • 9:10 Charis Biancuzzo: Seawater Interactions: A Look at Chlorine Infusion in Submarine Volcanic Eruptions
    
    
• Session 2: Environmental Geology
  • 9:45 Justin Fenchak: Potential Issues Between Oil and Gas Pipeline and Superfund Sites
  • 10:05 John Grozanick: Electrical Resistivity Imaging of the Subsurface at Glacier Creek Preserve for Agricultural and Prairie Land
  • 10:25 Brian Bennett: Fugitive Soil Vapor and Natural Gas Well Emissions from a Non-Integral Abandoned Conventional Gas Well
    
    
• Session 3: Fluvial Geology and Hydrogeology
  • 11:00 Gabriella Millette: Distribution and Variation of Anthropogenic Debris within Marsh Run, Indiana PA
  • 11:20 Ryann Knowles: Determining a Water Budget for a Suburban Headwater Stream, McCarthy Run, Indiana, Pennsylvania
  • 11:40 Ian Darragh: Water Quality of Marsh Run, a Small-town Urban Stream in Indiana Borough, Pennsylvania
    
    
• Session 4: Stratigraphy. Climate, and Paleoceanography
  • 1:00 Mitchell Moore: Environmental Determination for Paleoecological Reconstruction of Jurassic National Monument
  • 1:20 Shane Parker: The Effect of a Western Antarctic Ice Sheet Collapse on Nutrient Recycling Rates During Marine Isotope Stage 31
  • 1:40 Victoria Lewis: Determining the Impacts of Paleoclimate Changes on Oceanic Nutrient Conditions with the use of Diatom Records
  • 2:00 Kevin Soffera: The Record of Terrigenous Glacial/Interglacial Variability in Core KN223-10LC2 Along the Western Flanks of the Mid Atlantic Ridge

The senior geoscience majors will present their research at the 45th annual Geoscience Day.

Where: IUP, HUB Monongahela Room

When: April 26, 2019

Geoscience Day 2019 Program (PDF)

Presentation Schedule

• 8:55 Opening Remarks by Dr. Steve Hovan
• Session 1: Oceanography, Hydrology, and Environmental Geology
  • 9:05 Sara Trio: Analyzing Carbonate Content Present in Sediment Core KN223 10LC2: Building a Time Scale
  • 9:20 Kayla Kroczynski: Researching Stormwater Runoff at the White Township Recreation Complex in Indiana County, Pennsylvania
  • 9:35 Tyler Sharretts: Characterizing the Sedimentary Fluxes and Geomorphological Alterations of Presque Isle Peninsula using Ground Penetrating Radar
  • 9:50 Manuel Aviles-Torregrosa: Finding and Mapping Natural Gas Gathering Lines using Electromagnetic Induction and Ground Penetrating Radar
• Session 2: Paleontology and Volcanology
  • 10:15 Heather Furlong: Fragilariopsis kerguelensis: A Quantitative Interpretation ofDiatom Growth and Nutrient Recycling
  • 10:30 Rock Brenner:  Nutrient Availability and Recycling Rates Over Marine Isotope Stage 31 in the Ross Sea, Antarctica
  • 10:45 Nicole Camarda: Body Mass Estimation of the Protoceratops and Triceratops
  • 11:00 Copeland Cromwell:  Grainsize and Componentry Analysis of Multiple Vents in 2010 from Submarine Volcano NW-Rota 1, Mariana Arc
• Alumni Presentation
  • 11:15 Patrick Imbrogno ‘78:  He was Just an Above Average IUP Student - No One Special

The senior geoscience majors will present their research at the 44th annual Geoscience Day.

Where: IUP, HUB Monongahela Room

When: April 27, 2018

Geoscience Day 2018 Program (PDF)

Presentation Schedule

• • 7:55 - Welcome and Introduction by Dr. Steve Hovan
  • Session 1: Paleontology, Geochemistry and Geophysics
    • 8:00 - Brennan Ferguson:  Relating Fragilariopsis Kerguelensis Fragments to Original Valve Dimensions
    • 8:12 - Nicole Lees: Determining the Paleogeographical Origin of the Allosaurus Fragalis from within the Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry (Price, Utah) Using Biogenic Apatite δ18O Values
    • 8:24 - Justin Petricko: Elemental Composition Analysis of the Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry Identifying Diagenetic & Bio-accumulate Sedimentation Processes Associated with Bone Deposition
    • 8:36 - Austin Patch: Paleoredox Analysis of Two Cores through the Marcellus Shale, Harrison and Wetzel Counties, West Virginia
    • 8:48 - Ryan O’Donnell: In-Situ Calcite Precipitation on Shales: Modeling Enhanced Tight Shale Re-Fracturing and Reservoir Simulation
    • 9:00 - Nicole Kelley: Resistivity Imaging of Preferential Flow Paths from a Passive Acid Mine Drainage Treatment System in the Huff Run Watershed, Ohio
    • 9:12 - Nieko Santoro:  Examining Conductivity and Subsurface Heavy Metal Concentrations within Western Pennsylvania Through the use of Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy and Aerial Photography
    • 9:24 - Aaron Seidel: Investigation of Methane and Soil Carbon Dynamics using Near Surface Geophysical Methods at the Tanoma Educational Wetland Site, Tanoma, Pennsylvania
  • Session 2: Hydrology and Environmental Geology
    • 10:00  - Nick Payne: Marsh Run Indiana Pa. Flash Flooding Events Worsened Due to Mitigation Lines from Municipal and Private Buildings/Parking Lots
    • 10:12 - Garrett Sharp: Assessing the Impact of AMD Chemistry on Algal Communities
    • 10:24 - Jillian Mathews: Impacts of Urban Environments on Marsh Run
    • 10:36 - Nick Bradley: A Phase-1 Environmental Site Assessment of the Bryce Brothers Factory in Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania
    • 10:48 - Courtney Sullivan: Phase 1 Investigation of Indiana University of Pennsylvania Rain Garden
    • 11:00 - Erin Johnson: Factors Affecting Gas Flow Rate from Legacy Wells in Indiana, Pennsylvania
    • 11:12 - Brock Kennedy: Flow Rate Methodology with Respect to Legacy Wells in Indiana County
  • Session 3: Astronomy, Tectonics and Volcanology
    • 12:30 - Kyler Yingling: Galilean Orbital Resonance and Europa-Io-Storm Related Positions
    • 12:42 - Drake Kutkat-Tonkin: Lateral Ramps and Seismicity within the Valley and Ridge of the Central Appalachians
    • 12:54  - Caleb McCombie: Climate-Derived, Differentiated Uplift along Central Range within Hualien County, Taiwan
    • 1:06 - Amy Clegg: The Eastern Central Range of Taiwan: An Assessment of Metamorphic Foliations that Record Recent Exhumation
    • 1:18 - Alex Patch: Determining Crystallization Dynamics of Recycled Tephra through Reheating Experiments
  • Alumni Presentation
    • 1:30 - Samantha Ritzer ‘14: Are All Shales Created Equal?: A Comparative, Multi-proxy Geochemical Study of Paleozoic and Mesozoic Black Shale Basins in North America

The senior geoscience majors will present their research at the 43rd annual Geoscience Day.

Where: IUP, Weyandt Hall Planetarium

When: April 28, 2017

Geoscience Day 2017 Program (PDF)

Presentation Schedule

• 8:00 a.m. - Welcome and Introduction
  
• Session 1: Sedimentology and Environmental Geology
  
  • 8:15 - Kyle Potts: A Characterization of the Foreknobs Formation
  • 8:30 - Travis Anderson: Testing and Comparing Methane Flow Measuring Instruments
  • 8:45 - Molly Rudolchick: Quantifying Methane Emissions from Abandoned Legacy Gas Wells in Indiana County, PA
  • 9:00 - Rachel Krueger: The Effectiveness of Scrubbers on the Homer City Generating Station
  • 9:15 - Phil Meli: Modeling Macroporous Dissolution Features of the Upper Portion of the Biscayne Aquifer Using Ground Penetrating Radar, Everglades National Park
• Session 2: Astronomy, Tectonics and Volcanology
  
  • 9:45 - Cara Mehalek: Water on Mars and the Potential for Briny Aquifers
  • 10:00 - Danielle Guttman: Drainage Patterns in the Warrego Valles, Mars
  • 10:15 - Allie Berry: The Longitudinal and Vertical Distribution of Brittle Deformation in the South Central Range of Taiwan: Constraints from Earthquakes and Mesoscale Faults
  • 10:30 - Cate Bressers: Deformation Patterns from Strain Inversions Along the Eastern Margin of the Orogenic Suture in Eastern Taiwan
  • 10:45 - Dan Golus: Recrystallization of Basaltic Tephra through Reheating Experiments
  • 11:00 - Cyrielle Humbert: Experimental Crystallization of Basaltic Tephra Under the Influence of NaCl: An Analog for Recycling in the Submarine Environment
• Session 3: Hydrology
  
  • 12:45 - Matt Spegal: Removing Atmospheric Pressure Influences on Stream Water Level Data; Indiana County, PA
  • 1:00 - Mason Luster: The Impact of Environmental Factors on Stream and Pond Temperatures
  • 1:15- Ian Dickie and Tyler Lloyd: Measuring the Retention Pond Effect on Storm Water Discharge for Marsh Run’s East Branch
• Alumni Presentation
  
  • 1:45 p.m.: David Curry ‘91: PAESTA and My Favorite Earth/Space STEM Activities

The senior geoscience majors will present their research at the 42nd annual Geoscience Day.

Where: IUP, Weyandt Hall Planetarium

When: April 24, 2015

Geoscience Day 2016 Program (PDF)

Presentation Schedule

• 7:55 a.m. - Welcome and Introduction
  
• Session 1: Energy and the Environment
  
  • 8:00 Kyle Eldridge: Environmental Site Assessment of the Robinsteen Collar and Leather Co. Property Indiana, PA
  • 8:15 Dom Affinito: Possible Shallow Subsurface Detection of a Contaminant Plume with the Use of Ground Penetrating Radar
  • 8:30 Ray Ward: Locating Abandoned Wells Using GIS and Geophysical Techniques in Western Pennsylvania
  • 8:45 Aaron Rotto: Digital Image Analysis With Potential for Ground Truthing
  • 9:00 Chad Miedel: Significant Chemical and Mineralogical Signatures in Soils Surrounding a Potentially Leaking Natural Gas Well Brine Tank
    
• Session 2: Astronomy, Archaeology, Structural Geology and Volcanology
  • 9:45 Samantha Cooper: Mapping Mars River Systems: Paleoclimate Implications 
  • 10:00 Jonathan King:  Site Formation Processes at Lawrenz Gun Club: A Micromorphologic Analysis of a Mississippian Structure 
  • 10:15 Shane Simcoviak: Influence on Volume Loss and Volume Gain within the Bellefonte Formation 
  • 10:30 Charles Cavallotti: Analysis of Focal Mechanism Solutions to Investigate an Apparent Aseismic Zone Beneath the Central Range, Taiwan 
  • 10:45 Aaron Voegtle: Flow Composition using Structure from Motion, Average Block Size, and MATLAB
  • 11:00 Drew Yetter: LIDAR Studies of Lava Flows
  • 11:15 Mike Barber: Mapping Mokst Butte Lava Flow in Central Oregon Using LIDAR Reflection Intensity Data and Field Observations
• Session 3:  Hydrology, Oceanography and Paleontology
  • 1:00 Dylan Gruse: Characterization of High Elevation Bogs in the Allegheny Front of the Appalachian Mountains
  • 1:15 Jacob Brown: Seasonal Effect on Stream Water Temperature
  • 1:30 Josh Master: Measuring the Impact of Atmosphere Pressure Variations on Stream Data Loggers in Indiana, Pennsylvania
  • 1:45 Adam Caliguiri: Interpreting Dust Grain Size from the Central-Atlantic Ocean to Analyze Tropical Trade Wind Intensity Changes from the Pliocene to Pleistocene
  • 2:00 Savannah Irwin: Ibexian Faunas of the Jones Ridge Formation, Ogilvie Mountains, East-central Alaska
  • 2:15 Wesley Kamerer: Refined Age-dating and Correlations of Cambrian-Ordovician Limestone Deposits in Alaska and the Yukon Based Upon Agnostoid Arthropods
    
• Alumni Presentation
  • Dr. John F. Taylor ' 75: The Tanshanaspis-Apoplanias Transition: Whittling Down a Gap in the Late Cambrian Time Scale

The senior geoscience majors will present their research at the 41st annual Geoscience Day.

Where: IUP, Weyandt Hall Planetarium

When: April 24, 2015

Geoscience Day 2015 Program (PDF)

Presentation Schedule

• 8:20 a.m. - Welcome and Introduction by Dr. Steve Hovan
• Session 1: Astronomy, Paleontology and Oceanography
  
  • 8:30 - Tim Kennelly: Exploring Acheron Fosse
  • 8:45 - Luke Tatarko: Observing Jovian Radio Emissions and the Effects of Solar Wind
  • 9:00 - Tyler Allen: Upper Cambrian and Lower Ordovician Conodonts from the Jones Ridge Limestone, East-Central Alaska
  • 9:15 - Jeremiah Thomas: Paleontology and Geology of the Ore Hill Member of the Upper Cambrian Gatesburg Formation in Centre County Pennsylvania
  • 9:30 - Sierra Davis: Record of the Earliest West Antarctic Ice Sheet Beneath Ross Sea?
• 9:45 - Coffee Break and Poster Viewing
• Session 2: Volcanology and Structure
  
  • 10:00 - Megan Barlow: Crystal Size Distributions on Submarine Lava Flows at NW Rota-1, Mariana Arc
  • 10:15 - Troy Berkey: Lava Flow Mapping in the Oregon Cascades: A Morphometric and Compositional Investigation
  • 10:30 - Alisha Johnson: Determining Changes in Eruption Dynamics and Composition at NW-Rota 1
  • 10:45 - Eric Peroli: Volume Change in the Bellefonte Formation by Examination of Stylolites and Veins
  • 11:00 - Matt Magill: Volcanic Pressurization and Related Structural Fabrics at the Heart Mountain Detachment
  • 11:15 - Katie Snyder: Where Do Forearc Slivers Form in Subduction Zones: Preliminary Study of Tectonics in Costa Rica
• 11:30-1:00 p.m. Lunch Break
• Session 3: Energy and the Environment
  
  • 1:00 - Jon Greenawalt: Are Phase I Environmental Site Assessments Sufficiently Accurate for Effective Use in Real Estate Decisions?
  • 1:15 - Jim Burt: Locating and Mapping Abandoned Gas Wells, Part 1 - Establishing Baseline Electromagnetic Profiles for a Former Gas Well on the IUP Campus
  • 1:30- Jody Rotto: Locating and Mapping Abandoned Gas Wells, Part 2 - Testing Baseline Electromagnetic Profiles on a Former Gas Well Near Glen Campbell, Pennsylvania
  • 1:45 - Matt Wimer: The Impact of Price Changes on Oil & Gas Exploration and Development
  • 2:00- Melissa Jones: Modeling Overburden in New York State
  • 2:15- Leslie McConnell: A Compartative Study of Brine-Injection Induced Earthquakes
• Alumni Presentation
  
  • 2:30-3:30 p.m: Rich Parrish ('75) "A Life in the Oil Patch: My Experiences Since Graduating from IUP"

The senior Geoscience majors will present their research at the 40th annual Geoscience Day.

Where: IUP, Weyandt Hall Planetarium

When: April 25, 2014

Geoscience Day 2014 Program (PDF)

Presentation Schedule

• 9:00 a.m. - Welcome and Introduction by Dr. Steve Hovan
• Session 1: Earth History and Surface Processes
  
  • 9:15- Zachary Tolbart: Trilobite Biostratigraphy Near the Base of the Proposed "Lawsonian Stage" Across Southern North America (Western Laurentia)
    
  • 9:30 - Samantha Ritzer: Discharge in California Rivers Associated with Pacific Decadal Oscillation
  • 9:45 - Sage Wagner: Morphometric Analysis for Characterizing Submarine Drainage Networks: Upper East Scotian Slope
  • 10:00 - Nicholas Gressang: Dissolved Material Flux into Yellow Creek Reservoir: Laurel Run Indiana, PA
• 10:15 - Coffee Break and Poster Viewing
• Session 2: Environmental Applications
  
  • 11:00 - Alexander Patterson: Environmental Site Assessment of the Former Josephine Iron Works in Indiana County, Pennsylvania
  • 11:15 - Nicholas Zbur: Effects of Dual-Phase Extraction on Benzene/MTBE Concentrations for a Site with a Historic Underground Petroleum Release
  • 11:30 - Shannen Stiffler: Energy Consumption Analysis of Indiana University of Pennsylvania Residence Halls
• 11:45-1:15 p.m. Lunch Break
• Session 3: Geologic Models
  
  • 1:15 - Michael Stoehr: Stream Flow Imaging of an EmRiver Em2 Stream Table
  • 1:30 - Dennis J. Carpinello: Models of Hypothetical Stream Contamination from Hydraulic Fracturing of the Marcellus Shale in Indiana County, Pennsylvania
  • 1:45 - Thomas Paronish: Analysis of Field Based Fault Kinematic and Structural Fabric Data from Southwestern Taiwan to Determine Stress Geometry During Early Mountain Building
  • 2:00- W. David Watkins: Potential Causes for Along-Strike Variability of Slow Slip Events
  • 2:15- Jerome Kay:Thermal Maturity Modelling of the Marcellus Shale: Impact of Variable Geothermal Gradients on Estimates of Eroded Overburden
• 2:30-3:30 p.m. - Alumni Lecture: Kalin McDannel ('08) PhD Candidate, Lehigh University "Landscape Evolution in the Hangal Dome, Mongolia"

The senior Geoscience majors will present their research at the 39th annual Geoscience Day.

Where: IUP, Weyandt Hall Planetarium

When: May 3, 2013

Geoscience Day 2013 Program (PDF)

Presentation Schedule

• 7:50 a.m. - Welcome and Introduction by Dr. Steve Hovan
• Session 1: Paleontology and Astronomy
  • 8:00 - John Kearney: Refinement of Species within the Lower Ordovician Trilobite Genus Bellefontia
  • 8:15 - Joy Kiefer: Species Diversity of the Early Ordovician Trilobite Genus Paraplethopeltis in the Manitou Formation of Colorado
  • 8:30 - James Harley: Defining the Time Interval for the Formation of Pedestal Craters on Mars
  • 8:45 - Nicole Mountain: Investigating the Seasons: A New Model in Science Teaching
• 9:00 - Coffee Break and Poster Viewing
• Session 2: Sedimentology and Structure
  • 9:15 - Kellie Kerner: Sedimentary Analysis of the Black River Bay
  • 9:30 - Erin McGowan: GIS Analysis of Bathymetric Data and Accumulation Rates in Yellow Creek Lake
  • 9:45 - Matthew Toland: 3D Interpretation of Mass Transport Deposits on the East Scotian Slope, Canada
  • 10:00 - Daniel O'Hara: Slip Partitioning Offshore Southeast Taiwan and Southward Propagation of the Longitudinal Valley Fault: Evidence from Focal Mechanism Strain Inversions
• 10:15 - Coffee Break and Poster Viewing
• Session 3: Energy and the Environment
  • 10:30 - Aaron Blair: Stream Remediation as an Essential Component to Healthy Watersheds
  • 10:45 - Adam Quinn: Correlating Levels of Salt and Metal Contamination in Beaver Run Reservoir to Hydraulic Fracturing of Nearby Marcellus Drill Site Locations
  • 11:00 - Zachary Carr: Total Dissolved Solids in Twolick Creek Watershed
  • 11:15 - Aaron Brownley: Unconventional Resources in the Appalachian Basin: Comparing the Utica and Marcellus Shales
  • 11:30 - Anthony Vaiana: Estimating the Amount of Total Organic Carbon in Devonian Shales of the Appalachian Basin Using Wireline Logs: A Case Study from Eastern Kentucky
• 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Lunch Break
• 1:00-2:00 p.m. - Alumni Lecture: Scott McCallum ('00), EQT Production
  • His talk will focus on his work with the Marcellus Shale: "Regional Sequence Stratigraphic Interpretation of the Marcellus Shale"

The senior Geoscience majors will present their research at the 38th annual Geoscience Day.

Where: IUP, Weyandt Hall Planetarium

When: April 27, 2012

Geoscience Day 2012 Program (PDF)

Presentation Schedule

• 8:20 a.m. Welcome and Introduction by Dr. Steve Hovan
• Session 1: Oceanography, Geology, and Climate
  • 8:30 a.m. Mike Russo: Biogenic silica Digestion Methods: Assessing the Impact on the Eolian Dust Record
  • 8:45 a.m. Caz Bejgar: Utility of Conodonts for Refining the Age of the Upper Stonehenge Transgression and Basal Nittany Regression in the Central Appalachians
  • 9:00 a.m. Mike Deemer: Thermal Alteration of Johnston Site Lithic Materials
  • 9:15 a.m. Stephen Norair: Stream Discharge Trends and Patterns Within the Great Lakes Region
  • 9:30 a.m. Renee Heldman: Comparing Lake and Soil Geochemistry to Understand Limitations on Biology in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
• 9:45 a.m. Coffee Break and Poster Viewing
• Session 2: Environment and Energy
  • 10:00 a.m. Tyson Milbrand: Preliminary Stream Site Characterization for Quaker Run, SCRA Site 19
  • 10:15 a.m. Josh Putt: Effects of a Natural Wetland on Abandoned Mine Drainage on the North Fork of the Twolick Creek Watershed - Commodore, PA
  • 10:30 a.m. Heather McGinnis: Analysis of Abandoned Mine Drainage (AMD) Impacts on Bear Run, Indiana, County PA, During Times of Abnormally High Precipitation in 2011
  • 10:45 a.m. Jason Wolfe: Surface Water Quality of Beaver Run Reservoir Due to Marcellus Gas-Shale Drilling
  • 11:00 a.m. Pat Boyle: Basin-Wide Synthesis of Thermal Maturation Indices of the Paleozoic Appalachian Basin
• 11:15 a.m. Alumni Lecture: Steve Smith ('01), Geodetic Earth Scientist at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
  • His talk will focus on his research on Alaskan volcanos: "Chronologic Multisensor Assessment for Mount Cleveland, Alaska from 2000-2000 Focusing on the 2001 Eruption"
    
    

The senior Geoscience Majors are presenting their research at the 37th annual Geoscience Day.

Where: IUP, Weyandt Hall Planetarium

When: April 29, 2011 9:00 - 11:45 a.m.

Geoscience Day 2011 Program (PDF)

Student Presentations

• 9:05 a.m. Matthew R. Harding: "Vein Structures and Faults in Core Samples from NantroSeize Expedition 315, Sites C0001 and C0002"
• 9:20 a.m. Anthony J. LeDonne: "Fracture Orientations in Devonian Marcellus Shale Outcrops in the Valley and Ridge Province Adjacent to the Allegheny Front"
• 9:35 a.m. Daniel M. Saftner: "Eolian Deposition Patterns in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific Ocean and the Paleo-Climate of the Late Cenozoic"
• 9:50 a.m. Mark R. Smith: "Petrographic Characterization of Deformation Mechanisms and Kinematics in Post-Cleavage Faults Accommodating Differential Uplift of the Hsuehshan Range: Taiwan"

Keynote Speaker:

• 10:30 a.m. Mr. Keith A. Rittle (IUP '91), Trihydro Corporation: "An Overview of the Vapor Intrusion Pathway at Environmental Sites"

The senior Geoscience majors are presenting their research at the 36th annual Geoscience Day.

Where: IUP, Weyandt Hall Planetarium

When: April 30, 2010 9:00 a.m.-noon

Student Presentations

• 9:10 a.m. Rhet Richard: "Paleolocation of the ITCZ in the Eastern Tropical Pacific"
• 9:25 a.m. Surinder S. Tara: "Constraints on 3D Deformation at the Nankai Subduction Zone: Fault Kinematic Analysis of Core-scale Faults at Site C0001 of Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 315"
• 9:40 a.m. Ellen Lamont: "Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Non-recoverable Strain Geometry in the Footwall as Documented by the Inversion of Earthquake Focal Mechanisms in West-Central Taiwan"
• 9:55 a.m. Jason D. Ames: "A Classification System for Lunar Crater Rays"

Keynote Speaker:

• 10:30 a.m. Dr. Dorothy Merritts (IUP '80), Franklin and Marshall College: "When Floodplains are not Floodplains and the Past is the Key to the Present: The Conundrum of Causality in Environmental Problems"

The senior Geoscience majors are presenting their research at the 35th annual Geoscience Day.

Where: IUP, Weyandt Hall Planetarium

When: April 24, 2009 8:15 a.m.-noon

Geoscience Day 2009 Program

Geology

• Tom Bondra: "Biostratigraphic Corellation of the Laurentian Carbonate Platform Using Newly Discovered Trilobite Species"
• Aaron Bowser: "Jointing in the Marcellus Shale"

Environmental Geoscience

• Joe Ruffini: "A Hydrologic Comparison of Leachate of Coal Refuse Material with CFB Coal Ash"
• Chad Paronish: "Establishing a relationship between Metal Concentrations, pH and Discharge in an Acid Mine Drainage"
• Ben Stufft: "The Effects of the Conemaugh Dam on Flood Plain Sedimentation Rates"

Oceanography

• Ashley Hague: "Eolian Deposition Patterns in the EEP: Insight into Paleowinds and Paleolocation of the ITCZ"
• Tina Ritter: "ODP Eastern Equatorial Pacific Leg 138: Eolian Dust Records Trade Wind Influence On Global Climate"

Keynote Speaker:

• Dr. Kevin M. Jones (IUP 2003): "Neodymium isotopes in the ocean and their use as a tracer of past oceanic conditions"

The senior Geoscience Majors are presenting their research at the 34th Annual Geoscience Day.

Where: IUP, Weyandt Hall Planetarium

When: April 25, 2008 8:30am - noon

Geoscience Day 2008 Program

Sedimentology and Oceanography

• Nicholas Welsh: "Correlative Lithostratigraphy and Biostratigraphy of the Third Thrombolitic Interval of the Conococheague Fomration of Maryland and Virginia"
• Benjamin Schupp: "The Forces Involved in the Opening of California Coastal Lagoons"
• Matthew Bolyn: "Surf Zone Turbidity Near the Tijuana River Mouth in Southern California"
• Howard Manski: "The Long Term Climate and History of the Southern Hemisphere 18MA to Present"

Structure, Tectonics and Geophysics

• Michael Jarvis: "Geometry and Kinematics of Contemporary Nonrecoverable Strain - Central Taiwan"
• Kalin McDannell: "Constraints on Pull-Apart Basin Formation from Tectonic Geomorphology"
• Jeffrey Dereume: "Electrical Imaging of a Triassic Fault System in Northern New Jersey"

Keynote Speaker:

Dr. David K. Brezinski (IUP 1977): "Influences of Climate on Late Devonian Depositional Systems of the Central Appalachians"