Geology Abroad
The Macalester College Geology Department encourages our students to pursue study abroad opportunities.
Their are a wide variety of potential destinations and programs that expand and enhance our student's
undergraduate geology experiences. For more information, check out:
For some personal observations from some recent travelers, read on...
2010 Department of Geology Senior Class
Congratulations to this year's Senior Geology majors. (L-R) Owen Rudloff, Julie Greene, Jeff Dobbins, Maria Princen, Alex Nereson, Karanina Scheel, Nora Catolico, Emilie Schur, Keishi Hashimoto, Maddie Mette, and Anne Brown (Geography).
Deirdre Ratigan
Last fall I studied abroad in New Zealand at the University of Otago,
located next to the Otago Peninsula on the South Island. During my time
there, I had the opportunity to learn about and experience the magnificent
geology of New Zealand. During weekends and on field trips I got to see,
up-close, how the many orogenies and recent glaciation have shaped the New
Zealand landscape. In my classes, I studied topics that included the
metamorphic core complex on the South Island, the tectonic history of the Alpine
Fault, and the unique evolutionary history of New Zealand's biota.
Karen Jackson
For the Fall 2009 semester I enrolled in the SEA
(Sea Education Association) Oceans and Climate program. For the first
six weeks I studied in Woods Hole, Massachussetts and started researching my
individual project. The following six weeks I sailed from Hawaii, south past the
Equator, and returned to Hawaii studying carbon flux in regions of upwelling in the
equatorial Pacific. Sailing aboard the SSV Seamans (a 134 foot brigantine) students
conducted research while learning how to sail and navigate. We made two port stops at Palmyra
Atoll, and Kiritimati Atoll (the largest Atoll in the world). Aside from islands, we saw Minke
and humpback whales, dolphins, manta rays, and sharks. One of the best experiences of the
trip was swimming with manta rays at night as they fed on the zooplankton attracted by the
lights of the ship.
Macalester Geology Summer Research
A number of our seniors were involved with a variety of research projects over this past summer.
Read their stories here.
!!BREAKING NEWS!!
Kelly MacGregor has tenure!
The Provost and her piper arrived bright and early Monday a.m. to share the news and end the anxiety. Please join the Geology Department in congratulating Kelly on this momentous occasion.
Here's to you Kelly!
Macalester Geology Summer Research
A number of our seniors were involved with a variety of research projects over this past summer.
Read their stories here.
Welcome Back Students!
We are excited to start a new year in the Geology Department. Our growing
numbers of majors and minors can count on another year of engaging classes,
enlightening seminars, exciting field trips, and eclectic GeoClub activities.
Many of our students are continuing work on projects that were started over this
past summer in places such as Svalbard, Mongolia, Alaska, Massachusetts, and Nebraska.
Check back for upcoming information on department events, talks, and other news.
We are in the process of acquiring an incredible new instrument for the Keck Lab - stay tuned!
Attend a reception with Macalester alumni
Join Macalester alumni, current students, and professors attending the
Geological Society of America Annual Meeting at a reception in Portland. We have reserved
 a private room for this event. Join us for an evening of friends, rocks, and fossils!
7 - 9:30 p.m.
Monday, October 19
Halsey Room
Lloyd Center Ballroom
Doubletree Hotel & Executive Meeting Center
1000 NE Multnomah Street, Portland, OR
503-281-6111
Welcome back students! It is only a matter of a few weeks until field trips will again be happening for a number of spring semester geology courses. Speaking of field trips, the department sponsored two 'Geological Excursions' this past January. Ray Rogers, Kristi Curry Rogers, and Jeff Thole brought 20 students to San Salvador, Bahamas for a 10-day exploration of beaches, reefs, hypersaline inland lakes, and many, many biting insects. Karl Wirth led a Macalester contingent to the Galapagos Islands with Tim Flood and his students from St. Norbert College.
Group at Graham's Harbor, San Salvador, Bahamas
At the equator, Ecuador
Geology Department Seminar
Dr. Michal J. Kowalewski
Professor of Geobiology
Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech
Friday, October 31, 4:00 pm
OLRI 150
Refreshments will be served
This talk will provide an overview of research on evolutionary history of animal diversity in the oceans. The talk reviews recent advances in the field and provides an in-depth discussion of a case study that highlights interpretative and methodological difficulties we face when reconstructing the geological history of biodiversity.
http://www.paleo.geos.vt.edu/
Geomicrobiology: bugs that make, eat, and breathe rocks
Dr. Gregory Dick - Assistant Professor
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan
Monday, October 20, 3:30 pm
OLRI 150
Refreshments will be served
Microorganisms have had a profound impact on the physical and chemical properties of the Earth. This talk will provide an introduction to geomicrobiology, an emerging field that seeks to understand how microorganisms shape the world, both today and throughout Earth’s history. Research on two modern processes will be used to illustrate interactions between microbes and minerals: the biomineralization of manganese in deep-sea hydrothermal plumes and dissolution of pyrite that drives the formation of acid mine drainage. A key point is that DNA-based approaches are offering new and exciting insights into geomicrobiology. The intimate links between biological and geochemical processes highlight the need for more interdisciplinary work between the Earth and Life Sciences.
http://www.geo.lsa.umich.edu/geomicrobiology/
2008 Summer Trip
For five days this past August three Macalester geology professors
(Ray Rogers, Kristi Curry Rogers, Jeff Thole) and five geology majors
(Jeff Dobbins, Oscar Boyle-Mejia, Owen Rudloff, Rachel Murray, and Nora Catolico)
canoed through the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument in central Montana.
We were joined by our colleage Jim Mitchell (Lewistown BLM), and Emily Reinsel , a
geology major from Colorado College. The goal was to explore the geology of this
largely inaccessible region (the river is essentially the only access corridor) and
to collect fossils and rocks on the way downstream. The trip was spectacular
every step of the way. The weather was nearly perfect (only one raging thunderstorm
at the end of the voyage), and the rocks and fossils were quite cooperative.
New bonebeds were discovered, and only a few rattlesnakes were encountered.
This stretch of the Missouri River is rich with history - the Nez Perce traveled
through in their attempt to reach sanctuary in Canada, and Lewis and Clark paddled
upstream. Moreover, the first dinosaur fossils described from North American strata
were collected along the banks of the Missouri near where our journey began. We can't
wait to do it again with a new crew of students!
Photos from the trip availible
here
2008 Department of Geology Senior Class
Congratulations to this years outstanding senior class.
(L-R: Scott Persons, Sarah Nicholas, Sophia Kast, Jakob Wartman,
Emily Dunn, Danny Bowman, Emily Harrison, Tom Tobin, Robin Canavan,
Alexandros Konstantinou)
The evolution of grasses and grass-eaters: Insights from the fossil record of plant silica
with Caroline Strömberg (University of Washington)
Monday, April 14
4:00 PM
Olin-Rice 100
Grasses (Poaceae) are an extremely diverse clade, with unrivalled ecological and economic importance.
Their rise to ecological dominance during the Cenozoic is thought to have fundamentally changed Earth's
surface and influenced the evolution of a wide variety of animals, including humans. Over a century of
research has been devoted to elucidating the evolutionary and ecological interplay of grasses and
grass-eaters through geologic time, yet many questions are left unanswered. The main reason for this
is the paucity of grass remains (leaves, pollen) in the fossil record. Strömberg will talk about
some of her work using an alternative source of paleobotanical data, plant opal (phytoliths), to
shed light on how the evolution of grasses and the spread of grasslands changed vegetation
structure and faunas through the past 65 million years.
The Geology Lecture Series and Geo Club presents:
Unraveling the mysteries of the Martian water cycle
with Dr. Erin Kraal (Department of Geosciences
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)
Thursday, April 10
12:00 noon
Olin-Rice 100
The Geology Department is saddened to report the passing of our friend,
colleague, and long-term department-mate Jerry Webers on February 15, 2008.
Jerry joined our department in 1966 shortly after completing his Ph.D. at
the University of Minnesota, and for the next 30+ years he helped to shape
our curriculum and department culture. He was a passionate geologist and
paleontologist, and an outstanding teacher. He was also a strong advocate of
collaborative student-faculty research, and his model of scholarship lives
on in the department. We miss him and remember fondly the field trips, stories,
and adventures on the rocks both near and far.
More information and photos can be found here.
Welcome to Dr. Kristina Curry Rogers, who recently joined us (and the Macalester Biology Department)
as an Assistant Professor. Kristi looks forward to her new full time career as a professor, and
she is presently expanding her curriculum to accommodate students interested in evolution and
vertebrate anatomy. She will begin teaching on a full time basis in the Fall 2008 term.
In the meantime, she is working up some new classes and catching up on various research
projects related to dinosaur growth and evolution. Feel free to stop by her office (OLRI 115)
and welcome her to Macalester!
Rebecca Terry won the Romer Prize at the 2007 annual
meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Austin, Texas. The Romer
Prize is awarded for "original and important research in vertebrate
paleontology and a presentation of the highest quality at the annual meeting."
Rebecca is currently completing her Ph.D. research in the Department of
Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago
Dr. Sarah Titus, Carleton College, will present her research on Friday,
November 2, 2007, in OLRI 250. The talk starts at 3:30 p.m. and is entitled
"Deformation rates across the San Andreas fault system, central California
determined from geology and geodesy."
Refreshments will be served. All are welcome.
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