11 As always I am looking forward to seeing many of you when you visit. Best wishes to everyone. Dr. Todd Halihan Professor; Hydrogeophysics; Hydrogeology of Fractured and Karstic Aquifiers For Dr. Halihan, 2016 was a year of international variability. Work continued with Dr. Paulo Galvão of Brazil who got his doctorate from the University of Sao Paulo while at OSU before gaining a position as a professor in Brazil at the Federal University of Ouro Preto. Dr. Antonio Cardona Benavides of San Luis Potosi University spent the year at OSU working on carbonate flow and will be running a theme session at GSA South‐Central with Dr. Halihan on Petroleum and Water Interactions in Mexico’s South‐Central Region. Dr. Caitlin Barnes completed her Ph.D. with Dr. Halihan working on a systematic evaluation of the hydraulics of induced seismicity across USGS defined areas. Her work is in review and may impact how we look at the hydraulics of these areas. She continues her work as the program coordinator of the OSUTeach program. Jon Fields completed his M.S. working on the hydrogeophysics of lagoon effluent application in karst and is now working for OK DEQ. There are still a bunch of M.S. and undergrad students working on projects. Hope to send a few out in May! Dr Halihan’s company, Aestus, LLC (www.aestusllc.com), continues to evaluate contaminated sites using OSU intellectual property developed in the lab. Lauren Guidry, a former student of Dr. Halihan’s, now works for the company, along with the rest of the crew evaluating sites around the globe. Work also continues with the state of Oklahoma as part of the Coordinating Council on Seismic Activity. Things are much quieter on the seismic front, and the state has a new seismologist, so Dr. Halihan is expecting quieter times ahead. On the home front, the Halihan home continues to host parties for the department. Martha is still teaching over at OSU Chemistry and enjoying about 300 undergrads per semester. She will attempt an online chemistry course in the fall. Dr. Halihan’s son, Maclain, is taller at 11 than his father was when he went into high school; this could be trouble for the good doctor. Dr. Mary Hileman Visiting Assistant Professor; Sedimentology; Petroleum Geology The 2016‐2017 school year marks my ninth year as a faculty member of the Boone Pickens School of Geology. I started teaching one course each semester in the Spring of 2009 and began teaching full‐ time in the Spring of 2011. I am currently a full‐time Visiting Assistant Professor with responsibility for teaching 6 courses each year. This year I rewrote the Geology of the National Parks course (GEOL 3043) to take it online. This 3 hour basic Geology course is a popular elective for Junior and Senior non‐science majors. The focus for this course is to understand basic geologic concepts and scientific methodology, using 26 of the U. S. National Parks as examples. By moving the course online, the enrollment has increased significantly. In the Fall 2015, when this course was taught face‐to‐face, only 39 students were enrolled. The online enrollment for Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 has been a total of 150 students. Maximum enrollment of 75 students per semester is controlled by the fact that, as a Natural Science Distribution course, there is a required written component. Students write a 4 page research Term Paper on the geology of a National Park not covered in lecture. Use of grading rubrics enable equivalent grading for parks with geology as different as Gates of the Arctic, Lassen, Glacier, Arches and Everglades National Parks. October 2016: The School of Geology Hydrogeology course is a bit larger. The willing volunteers for the course fieldtrip did not include some of the approximately 45 students in the course. Wayne Pettyjohn (far left) is still providing his home wellfield for students to get trained.
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