19 anion concentration in solution. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is for any molecules that are soluble in water. The first choice to quantitatively measure low level organic matter is HPLC. More than a thousand samples have been analyzed by HPLC for drug analyses since last fall semester. Gas chromatography is another choice for low boiling point organic matter measurements, like petroleum species, as well as normal gas. The Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) is under maintenance now. It will be back in order this semester. This is a powerful element analyzer. It can measure most of the element in the periodic table. Some of metal can be detected even in parts per billion (ppb) level. Please let us know if we can help you with your chemistry needs for exploration. Dr. Allison Enright Post-Doctoral Fellow I have joined Dr. Estella Atekwana’s biogeophysics group in the School of Geology after completing a PhD in biogeochemistry from the University of Toronto. My doctoral research included groundwater geochemistry, physical and electrochemistry of iron-oxidizing microbial systems and microbial mats. My research with Dr. Atekwana will explore geochemical and geophysical properties of microbial activity in subsurface environments, including both oil spills and the sea floor. Ms. Sheri Orr Sr. Academic Counselor Hello again from the Boone Pickens School of Geology. 2014-2015 was another successful year for us – having graduated 38 students! Additionally, last year’s curriculum changes (offering Evolution of the Earth and Mineralogy twice a year) seem to have paid off big time. We had 100 students complete Evolution of the Earth and 63 students complete Mineralogy. Thanks so much to Dr. Gregg and Dr. Quan for teaching these classes twice in one year! This year, we’ve implemented a few new curriculum changes that may be partially responsible for the drop in enrollment (down from 175 to 157) – the other culprit of course being the current economy. We noticed that a number of our students came to us unprepared overall, but drastically underprepared with respect to mathematics. To address this issue, we decided to add a declaration statement to our program. Now, in order to declare Geology, students must have a 2.5 GPA and have completed Physical Geology with a grade of “C” or better. Furthermore, we added a new pre-requisite of College Algebra with a “C” or better in order to take Physical Geology! This will hopefully kick-start students who are underprepared in math to start taking it earlier in their academic career, instead of waiting until their sophomore or junior year. We’ve also continued to see a rise in students who are participating in undergraduate research. We had 29 students enroll in GEOL 4990 Independent Study Research hours last year! This year, we saw 25 Independent Study Research hours, however, that doesn't include at least 6 freshmen and a handful of upper-classmen who are working in faculty research labs but are not enrolled for credit! As we look toward 2016-2017, we are excited to see a rise in undergraduate researchers. We’ve also made it a departmental goal to raise our undergraduate GPAs (hence the setting the tone of our major with a minimum GPA in order to declare Geology as a major). Though enrollment is down, we have doubled our recruiting efforts and will offer several scholarships to admitted freshmen in order to help recruit them to OSU. On a personal note, my 2015 was the most successful year ever as I welcomed my first child, Mackenzie Noelle Orr, on 11.25.2015. Her daddy and I are absolutely in love and could not have had a better Thanksgiving miracle. We look forward to everything 2016 has to offer. As always, Go Pokes! Mr. Tim Sickbert Devon Lab Coordinator The Devon Labs in the Boone Pickens School of Geology have been busy over the last year upgrading hardware and software for our students. The hardware in the NRC101 student computer lab is
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