15 Italy to examine the relationship between architecture and geology. Observations from this trip were integrated into several courses and students were shown why the stone used in Rome is quite different than stone used in Florence or Venice. In November, I traveled to New Mexico and examined disseminated porphyry copper and gold deposits of the Copper Flat mine near Truth and Consequences and base metal, barite and fluorspar mineralization in the Hansonburg district. The year culminated with a trip over the winter break to Cameroon to visit family and examine volcanic terrain in the South West province. In 2017, we will continue to research the Mississippian interval and emphasize conodont biostratigraphy, isotopic signatures, and the transition from inner ramp carbonate sections to more basinal siliciclastic dominated ones. Other research areas include student projects on the Medrano sandstone, Springer sandstone, Cleveland sandstone, Skinner sandstone, Marmaton Group, upper Morrow sandstone and the Rush Springs Sandstone. In addition, I am fortunate to serve on thesis and dissertation committees for M.S. and Ph.D. students researching diverse and interesting topics, an experience that allows me to continue learning. With that in mind, I wish to express appreciation to our alumni and friends who offer support for our research by contributing data, funding scholarships and fellowships, and mentoring students. Dr. Tracy Quan Associate Professor; Geochemistry, Stable Isotope Geochemistry; Organic Paleoceanography and Sedimentary Geochemistry 2016 turned out to be a bit of a quiet year, though I certainly was busy starting new projects and continuing to work on others. My lab welcomed a new PhD student, Leye Adeboye, who will work on the geochemical analyses of Mississippi Lime carbonate reservoir samples. A similar project was started by Kristen Sigl, an undergraduate student who won an OSU Wentz Undergraduate Research Grant to study petroleum source biomarkers in the Mississippi Lime. Graduate student Aaron Prock started his second year researching carbon in reservoir water samples from the Black Warrior Basin coalbed methane play, and my collaborators and I presented a few posters and talks from that project at national conferences. I continue to mentor several undergraduate students participating in undergraduate research. I also started to make plans for a sabbatical year in 2017‐2018, and hope to participate on a research cruise off of southern Australia as part of my activities. Lower undergraduate enrollment in the BPSoG means that my run of consecutive semesters spent teaching Practical Mineralogy ended as of the Fall 2016 finals week. While I will miss the routine of teaching a class I am so familiar with, I admit that it’s nice to have a little relief from crystallography and phase diagrams. My graduate‐level Organic Geochemistry class was also very successful, and the students and I had several interesting discussions about petroleum, biomarkers, and environmental topics. Other activities included participating in National Lab Day, the OK EPSCoR Women in Science Conference, and the Oklahoma Geology ‘major’ for Grandparent’s University with Jim Puckette. I was elected secretary/treasurer for OSU’s Women’s Faculty Council. I was also honored to be a nominee for the Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists in the area of Physical Science and Engineering. I’ve got several exciting projects planned for 2017, so hopefully next year will not be so quiet! Dr. Natascha Riedinger Assistant Professor; Marine Systems; Sedimentary Geochemistry; Biogeochemical Cycles It is amazing how fast time flies when you are having fun; it was a busy but very productive year for me and my biogeochemistry group. During the spring semester I spent the majority of my time writing papers and research proposals, and some traveling ‐ I chaired a session at ASLO Ocean Science Meeting in New Orleans. In fall, I was selected to be part of the he U.S. Justin and Braden on the R/V Trailboss, during the test run on Lake Carl Blackwell in early December 2016.
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