8 geochemical changes in reservoirs as well as for exploration in frontier basins. In March I convened a session on biogeophysics at the Symposium for the Application of Geophysics to Environmental and Engineering Problems (SAGEEP 2013) in Denver. I also presented a paper on some of our results from the Chevron project on the role of biometallic magnetic minerals. This paper was very well received and won the best paper award. As a result I was asked to present the work at the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE) Near Surface meeting in Bochum Germany. So I spent a week in Germany in early September to present this paper. In June the students working on our Chevron project presented at the 2nd International Symposium on Bioremediation and Sustainable Environmental Technologies (Batelle Conference) in Jacksonville Florida. Both students won a “Best Paper Award” for their research presentation. My research scientist, Dr. Gamal Abdel Aal also presented his work on the “Influence of oil wettability (biodegraded and fresh) upon spectral induced polarization of oil-bearing sands” at the Batelle Conference. This work was recently published in Geophysical Journal International. Our PRIDE project is going well. PRIDE is a 4-year project to understand fundamental geodynamic processes that initiate continental rift zones. To learn more about PRIDE visit the project website: http://seismo.device.mst.edu/PRIDE/. This summer we spent eight weeks in three different countries (Botswana, Malawi, and Zambia) conducting field research. This was one of those trips that almost everything that could go wrong went wrong. Our initial plans were to go to Botswana first and work with our collaborators from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to complete a large scale seismic refraction experiment across the Okavango rift. We had our bags packed and ready to go when we got a message from Botswana that the experiment had been halted by the government of Botswana because we did not have all the required permits for working in the Okavango Delta. The drilling crew was already in Botswana ready to drill the holes for the seismic shots. In addition, a day before we left for Botswana we got an email from the Zambian Geological Survey that they will not be participating in our project. This put a monkey wrench in our plans because they were supposed to provide us with logistical support such as helping with customs and providing transportation. Well, we still continued with our plans and approached the University of Zambia who saved the day and agreed to help us with the logistics. Eliot and I accompanied by five OSU students (Landon Lockhart, Mary Niles, Khumo Leseane, Kyle Obenberger and Kat Robertson) continued with our travel plans. We got to Atlanta only to find out that our plane to Johannesburg had a problem and had to be changed. This delay caused us to miss our flight from Johannesburg to Botswana and we had to spend the night at the airport. In the end, we got to Botswana after three days of travel and after a couple of days headed to Zambia to begin fieldwork. The fifth student Kyle Obenberger had to join us in Zambia because he had to complete field camp. Well, we got a call from Kyle indicating that he had missed his flight and Sandy had to scramble to find him another flight to Lusaka. To make matters worse about 200 km after we left Gaborone, Botswana heading for Zambia, one of our cars broke down and Eliot had to return to Gaborone to repair the car. I stayed behind with the students wondering if with the string of bad luck we were ever going to acquire any data. Despite all the hiccups we completed more than 4,000 km of gravity, GPS and magnetic measurements across the Luangwa and Malawi rifts. We spent four weeks in Zambia and another two weeks in Malawi before heading back to Botswana to catch our flight back to the US. Malawi Rift was breath-taking and Malawi is truly the warm heart of Africa. If your travels ever take you to this part of Africa, Malawi is a must see and the South Luangwa National Park is a must for wildlife viewing. The Tanzanians and Kenyans may not like to hear this but I believe that Serengeti pales in comparison to the South Luangwa National Park. I continue my duties as the Associate Editor for the Journal of Geophysical ResearchBiogeoscience. This has kept me busy. I continue my work on the Advisory Board of the NSF sponsored Science and Technology Center "C-DEBI", The Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations at the University of Southern California and the NSF Funded program in Forest Ecosystems at Alabama A&M University. In October I spent two days at Monterey Bay attending a C-DEBI all hands workshop hosted by the University of Southern California as part of my Advisory Board duties. I have also been appointed a member of the GeoPRISMS (Geodynamic Processes at Rifted and Subducting Margins) Steering and Oversight Committee (GSOC). In December I attended the fall AGU meeting where I convened a session on continental rifting. We received more than 90 abstracts and had two full days on rifting talks and posters. My graduate student Khumo Leseane presented a paper on some of our first results from the PRIDE project. During the winter semester 2012, I taught a course on Gravity and Magnetic Methods in Exploration. I had a great group of students and we capped the course with a 2 1/2 day short course on Geosoft Oasis Montaj – An Integrated Exploration Platform for processing gravity and magnetic data with applications for oil and gas, mineral exploration and tectonic studies. We are now well settled in our new state-ofthe-art biogeophysics facilities in the Henry Bellmon Research Center. It is a fantastic facility and I encourage you all to drop by for a visit so that we can show you around. I now have two PhD level research scientists (Dr. Igor Brown and Dr. Gamal Abdel Aal) working in the lab. My graduate students are all doing well. My MS student Cameron Ross defended in February. Farag Mewafy, my PhD student graduated in May and is the third student to graduate from our PhD program. I have three new graduate students: Kitso Matende, Vincent Somwe and Kat Robertson. I am enjoying my position as the School Head and yes, my research has had to take a back seat as I focus on the affairs of the School. I have a fantastic group of faculty who are doing a marvelous job with committees that help to make the School run efficiently. On the home front, our kids continue to grow. Our oldest son Kyle will be graduating this May from OSU with a degree in Geology. Kyra is now a senior at Harvard University. She spent some time in Europe this summer doing research for her thesis. Kyne is now an 11th grader at the Stillwater High School. My nephew, Nissi is also an 11th grader at the Stillwater High. Please drop by my office to say hello when next you are in town or send me an email if you have any questions regarding my research. Dr. Darwin Boardman My research over the past year has revolved around Carboniferous conodont and ammonoid biostratigraphy and high
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