Spring, 2018 Graduate students and faculty on a carbonate field trip to the Guadalupe Mountains in West Texas, Fall 2017; El Capitan in upper right corner of photograph. Rear row from left to right: Ibukunoluwa Bode-‐ Omoleye, Alejandra Santiago-‐Torres, Destinee Reddick, Sabrina Halli. Front Row from left to right: Joshua Bedell, Professor Jay Gregg, Jim Karsten, Elizabeth Elium, Maria Riestroffer, Chase Watkins, Georgina Lukoczki, Yulun Wang, and Professor Mike Grammer
2 In This Issue Page Greetings from the Interim School Head 3 Graduate Student Honors and Awards 4 Field Camp News 5 A Tribute to Ms. Dorothy (Tiny) Striegel 6 Geology 1114 Arbuckles Field Trip 7 Guadalupe Mountains Field Trip 8 News from the Faculty 9 News from the Staff 19 Spotlight on Undergraduates 22 Congratulations to our 2017 Graduates 25 A Message from the Boone Pickens School of Geology Advisory Board 26 Alumni Banquet Highlights 27 Gary F. Stewart Core Research Facility Dedication Highlights 28 Scenes from Malawi during the 2017 International Research Experience for Students, which was funded by the National Science Foundation and awarded to Drs. Daniel Laó Dávila and Estella Atekwana.
3 Greetings from the Interim School Head Jack Pashin 2017 was an exceptional year for the Boone Pickens School of Geology, and 2018 is shaping up to be another great year. This has been a year of exceptional student and faculty achievement, and the School continues to march forward with a series of new milestones. Our latest faculty hire is Dr. Brendan Hanger, who has come from the Australian National University in Canberra. Brendan is our first Teaching Assistant Professor, which is a new position dedicated to undergraduate education. His expertise is in igneous and metamorphic petrology, mineralogy, and field geology, and he has been instrumental in enhancing and revamping our introductory course offerings and providing a broad range of courses that are essential for a solid geological education. Estella and Eliot Atekwana, who helped anchor our school for many years, have taken new positions at the University of Delaware. We miss them greatly and wish them the very best in their new endeavors. Eliot and Estella have both served the School as Head and have provided a wealth of teaching and research expertise that was critical for building our geochemistry and geophysics programs. Estella is now Dean of the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment at Delaware, and Eliot is continuing his teaching and research activities with a new professorship at that institution. Fortunately, they remain in the OSU fold, retaining adjunct positions in the Boone Pickens School of Geology. This was a very productive year for the School, with students and faculty presenting 104 papers at technical meetings and winning awards for their presentations. We published 63 peer-‐reviewed papers in international journals and books, and 17 of those papers were senior-‐authored by our students. The student papers are posted on a wall in the atrium of the Noble Research Center, so please stop by and take a look when you are on campus. These publications portray the quality of our research program, which is far-‐reaching and remains healthy with nearly $3.0 million in active research grants. These grants support many students and are important for giving them advanced skills, developing collaborations with peers and stakeholders, and learning how to participate in the discourse that drives today’s most relevant research initiatives. Enrollment in the School has declined, primarily because of limited employment in the energy sector. Industry is turning around, and we will need to market our programs strategically to strengthen enrollment. We now have 152 students in the Boone Pickens School of Geology, with 75 undergraduates, 53 M.S. students, and 24 Ph.D. students. Many undergraduates will graduate this year, which underscores the need for us to bolster our recruitment efforts. Graduate applications remain strong. and we continue receiving applications from students in leading geoscience programs both domestically and internationally. We graduated 37 students with B.S. degrees in 2017. At the graduate level, we produced 13 graduates with M.S. degrees and 1 graduate with a Ph.D. degree. Students in the Boone Pickens School of Geology are supported by a broad range of teaching assistantships, research assistantships, fellowships and scholarships. We graciously thank our donors, whose generosity ensures that our students are supported and receive an education of exceptional quality. These donations are essential for the operation of the School, and without them our capabilities would be nowhere near what they are today. Our students are well- ‐recognized, having won an incredible number of awards in 2017 and 2018. And we can boast championship bragging rights, having topped the world in the number of AAPG Foundation Grants in Aid awarded two years in a row! We lead a good pack, having won 9 grants in 2017; the Colorado School of Mines placed 2nd with 7 grants, and Louisiana State University, Texas A&M, and the University of Kansas tied for 3rd with 4 grants each. In 2018, our students led with 8 grants; the University of Manchester placed 2nd with 7 grants, and the China University of Petroleum, Colorado School of Mines, Rice University, and West Virginia University tied for 3rd, each with 5 grants. The Boone Pickens School of Geology continues to attract recruiters from major and independent petroleum companies. Six companies visited during the Fall, including Chesapeake, Concho, ConocoPhillips, Devon, ExxonMobil, and WPX. This is a strong showing that demonstrates the desirability of students in the Boone Pickens School of Geology, especially considering the challenges the energy industry faces. We deeply appreciate their consideration of OSU geology students, who are hard working and are eager to grasp opportunities and perform the job at hand. Perhaps the biggest news is that the Gary F. Stewart Core Research facility is in the late design stages, and construction is expected to begin this summer. The OSU Foundation worked tirelessly raise $2.2 million toward the construction of the facility, and we thank the alumni, corporations, and other stakeholders who have contributed so generously to help make this facility a reality. The facility will be located in the northwestern part of campus, north of McElroy Road near the intersection of West Tyler Avenue and McDonald Street. We are quite excited about the Core Research Facility, which will provide much needed space to store, lay out, describe, and analyze cores. Space also will be dedicated to drill and cut rocks for analysis, and a clean lab will enable core analysis. A conference room at the facility will be used for classes, seminars, and core workshops. A dedication ceremony was held in the atrium of the Noble Research Center on November 8th prior to the OSU-‐ Kansas State football game. The OSU Foundation helped organize the dedication, and student research posters were displayed around the atrium. The dedication was well attended, and the ceremony was heartwarming and moving. The facility is named for Gary F. Stewart, who as many of you know, is a Professor Emeritus in the Boone Pickens School of Geology and a beloved faculty member. He was honored with testimonials from alumni, faculty, and administrators, including Dean Bret Danilowicz of the College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Stewart was recognized as a friend, colleague, teacher, and mentor. Dr. Stewart addressed the crowd with words that were soft-‐spoken, deliberate, grateful, and emotive. Indeed, there was not a dry eye in the room. After the dedication, attendees visited the future site of the core facility.
4 2017 AAPG Foundation Grants-‐In-‐Aid Mercy Achang Oyeleye Adeboye Justin Allen Phillip Bailey Ibukunoluwa Bode-‐Omoleye John Gray Georgina Lukoczki Yulun Wang Liang Xue 2018 AAPG Foundation Grants-‐In-‐Aid Mercy Achang Ibukunoluwa Bode-‐Omoleye Gina Dunseith Jim Karsten Georgina Lukoczki Jenny Meng Alejandra Santiago-‐Torres Chase Watkins 2017 A. I. Levorsen Award, AAPG Midcontinent Section (Best Oral Presentation) Buddy Price (MS, 2015) 2017 Geological Society of America Best Poster Award – Sedimentary Geology Division Tadesse Alemu 2017 Herbert G. & Shirley A. Davis Oklahoma City Geological Foundation Scholarship Oyeleye Adeboye Justin Allen 2017 Imperial Barrell Award Team Oyeleye Adeboye Ines Barrios David Beckendorf Xitong Hu Kevin Toth 2017 National Association of Black Geologists Scholarship Tadesse Alemu 2017 Oklahoma Geological Foundation Suzanne Takken Memorial Fellowship Ibukunoluwa Bode-‐Omoleye 2017 Oklahoma Geological Foundation Frederick M. Black Field Camp Grant Toby Williams 2017 Oklahoma Geological Foundation Field Camp Grants Christina Arszulowicz Kaitlyn Beard Dalton Cooper Courtney Dunn Clay Fitzgerald Reagan Francisco Spencer Harris Romulo Jimenez Nick Johnson Jessica Juenger Tanner Linden Micah Morgan William Mynatt Kyle Nitz Huston Poe Ian Rusthoven Kristen Sigl Jerrod Smith 2017 Planalp Best Poster Award, AAPG Midcontinent Section Taylor Thompson (MS 2016) 2017 Society of Petrophysicysts and Well Log Analysts Scholarship Mercy Achang 2017 Tulsa Geological Society Outstanding Student Josh Bedell 2017 US Science Support Program Travel Grant to the United Kingdom Mercy Achang Department News Graduate Student Honors and Awards
5 Participants of the Summer 2017 Geology Field Camp. It is hard to believe, but 2017 marked the 68th year for field geology along Eightmile Creek near Cañon City, Colorado. 2017 was an uneventful and delightful year for field geology. The weather was mostly mild, no severe thunderstorms forced us to huddle in low places, the cactus flies (gnats) were scarce and our cooks, Jan Van Pelt and Sabrina Hicks, did their best to make certain no one lost weight. Sixty two (62) students attended, including 33 from OSU and 29 from other institutions including Arkansas Tech, Cal State Sacramento, Eastern Michigan, Georgia Southern, Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne, Midwestern State, Sam Houston State, Sul Ross State, University of Texas at Arlington and University of Texas at Dallas. Camp started with cool weather and slowly warmed through the session. Field projects in 2017 included Phantom Canyon/Gnat Hollow, Grape Creek, Indian Springs Ranch, Mixing Bowl, Big Orange, Red Canyon Park, Blue Ridge and Twin Mountain. Field trips to Cripple Creek and Victor, Pikes Peak, Great Sand Dunes National Park, and Leadville provided scenic breaks from the demanding fieldwork. In the Cripple Creek and Victor area, we visited the CC&V Gold Mine and stopped at the recently opened overlook to watch excavation of the North Cresson pit. Afterwards, a group toured the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine and were delighted with the mining experience. This year’s trip up Pikes Peak was similar to 2016 in that our women drivers are still the coolest as evidenced by their van’s lower temperature brakes at the Glen Cove safety check station. Because of overflowing crowds at Garden of the Gods and a lack parking for our vans, we drove through the park and stopped only at the visitor’s center. Afterwards, we enjoyed a hike up Pulpit Rock and spent some time analyzing the ash- ‐rich early Tertiary sedimentary rocks that make up the feature. We visited Great Sand Dunes National Park on a beautiful mild and sunny day with little wind. In these ideal conditions, a group of about twenty climbed the tallest dune while the rest of our group enjoyed wading in Medano Creek and relaxing in the park and taking in the stunning vistas of the magnificent Sangre De Christo Mountains. At Leadville, Newmont Mining gave a tour of their water treatment facility that removes metals from the acidic mine waters draining from the YAK Tunnel. Newmont personnel outlined the physical and chemical processes used to clean the water and restore the pH before it is discharged into the Arkansas River watershed. While in the Leadville district, we collected water from a catchment below a sulfide dump, collected mineral specimens, toured the National Mining Museum and of course, threw snowballs. The fulltime faculty for the 2017 camp were George Bolling, Rick Hobbs, and Jim Puckette. Shorter- ‐term faculty included Natascha Riedinger who assisted with measuring section and Ahmed Ismail who supervised the geophysics project. Teaching Assistants were Michelle Abshire, Curt Carter, Gina Lukowczki, and Justin Steinmann. Tim Sickbert managed the camp and served as our medical officer. Tim also was the master griller for our weekend cookouts, which gave Jan and Sabrina a well-‐deserved break. Ms. Tiny Striegel of Cañon City, the poet laureate of field camp and an honorary alumnus of the Boone Pickens School of Geology, enlightened us with her ninety-‐four years of wisdom by reading poetry during supper. Numerous guests visited the camp including former students, friends of OSU, neighboring ranchers and other property owners where we conduct field exercises. We encourage to you to visit during the 2018 camp, which begins May 21 and ends June 22. Field Camp News
6 A Tribute to Ms. Dorothy (Tiny) Striegel -‐ A True Hall of Famer Ms. Dorothy (Tiny) Striegel, Honorary Alumnus of the Boone Pickens School of Geology has been selected for the Fremont County, Colorado Hall of Fame. Ms. Striegel, who is “Tiny” to all who know her, is being honored for her long service to the Cañon City community, her generous support of the Cañon Campus of the Pueblo Community College, and her dedication to continued learning through adult education courses and unwavering support of summer geology field schools. Though not a graduate of OSU, through family connections that extend back to 1949 and Oklahoma A & M, Tiny has become a champion for OSU along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. In 1990, Tiny and her late husband Ernie donated a portion of the family ranch near Cañon City to the OSU Foundation to be a permanent home for the Les Houston Geology Field Camp. The camp is named in honor of her father Mr. Les Huston, who along with Tiny’s mother, were an integral part of the Oklahoma Geology Camp for several decades beginning in 1949. Tiny is a fulltime asset to the camp, as she acts as our agent when dealing with state and county officials and helps maintain the camp’s relationship with her longtime ranching family friends who give us access to their property. This diminutive (under 5 feet tall) 90+ year-‐young lady, who holds many titles connected to camp, annually recites poetry to a crowd of sixty mostly <22 year old, field-‐ dirty and tired students in the camp dining hall. Not only do the students respect Tiny, they embrace her as camp Poet Laureate and their temporarily adopted great grandmother. Because of her dedicated service to the OSU Les Huston Field Camp and support of OSU in general, Tiny is regarded by many as the longest serving unpaid OSU employee in Colorado. —Jim Puckette Ms. Dorothy (Tiny) Striegel standing in front of the sign for the Boone Pickens School of Geology’s Les Huston Geology Field Camp.
7 GEOL 1114 Arbuckles Field Trip On two different Saturdays in October and November the Physical Geology class headed down I-‐35 to explore the geology of the Arbuckles and Sulphur. Approximately 55 students went on each day and the stops included two scenic outlooks on I-‐35, the Hunton Anticline near the Lake of the Arbuckles and the Vendome Artesian Well in the Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Sulphur. The aim of the trip was to introduce field geology to the students, with tasks including rock identification, sketching folds and interpreting geological features. Students had the chance to see an unconformity, small-‐ and large-‐scale folding and an artesian well. I was joined on one trip by Dr. Natascha Riedinger, and numerous TAs on each trip. For the incoming freshman geology majors it was a great opportunity to experience the field for the first time. However, most of the students are not geologists, so Physical Geology is both their first and last geology course, but these students came away with a better understanding of geology, and the ability to explain some of the outcrops along I-‐35, which will stick with them. On the 2nd trip we managed to time a stop at the A&W in Davis with the last three minutes of the Cowboy comeback victory over Iowa State, much to the excitement of many students. —Brendan Hanger Dr. Brendan Hanger (left) showing students an anticline in carbonate rocks in the Arbuckle Mountains along I-‐35 in October 2017. Students marching out to a broad, open fold in a quarry in the Arbuckle Mountains in November, 2017
8 Guadalupe Mountains Field Trip An OSU carbonate field trip was run to the Guadalupe Mountains of west Texas and Southeastern New Mexico over Fall Break, October 19-‐22. The trip was lead by Jay Gregg and Mike Grammer for the graduate students in the Advanced Carbonate Petrology & Geochemistry class as well as other carbonate students in the School. During the trip we visited the Permian Capitan reef, back-‐ reef, and basinal facies, as well as a half-‐day excursion through Carlsbad Caverns. After a full day drive to Carlsbad the group stayed at Stevens Motel in Carlsbad, the classic motel that has hosted innumerable geology field trips over the past 60 years or more. The first morning was spent on the Tansill-‐equivalent upper Capitan Reef exposure at the mouth of Dark Canyon, just south of Carlsbad. After about a half hour on the exposure a field trip from University of Kansas pulled up. Apparently the BPSoG was not the only group who thought that this was a good weekend to spend in the Guadalupes! Continuing into Dark Canyon both proximal and distal back reef outcrops in the Yates and Tansill formations were visited. These contain partially to completely dolomitized microbial laminates, pisolites, evidence of evaporates and beautifully exposed teepee structures. The afternoon of the first day was spent touring Carlsbad Caverns. Day two of the field trip started with a visit to road cuts of the Castile Anhydrite followed by a visit to McKittrick Canyon. Here the students hiked the famed “Reef Trail” up the face of the Capitan Reef. They had an assignment to complete for the carbonate diagenesis class. Drs. Grammer and Gregg, having both undergone recent knee surgery, took the ‘easy’ trail up the canyon to the stone lodge built by the famous petroleum geologist, Wallace Pratt, in the early 20th century. It was Wallace Pratt who donated 5,632 acres, including McKittrick Canyon, to the people of the United States, forming the core of Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Mr. Pratt was not at home but Mike and Jay had a nice time sitting on his front porch. The afternoon of day two was spent visiting road cuts of the fore-‐ reef and basinal facies as we drove through Guadalupe Pass. This included excellent exposures of calcareous shale source beds (now unconventional reservoirs) and conventional sandstone reservoirs in the Delaware Mountain Group. The Field trip ended on the Salt Plains west of the pass with a spectacular view of the Capitan and Goat Seep reefs and adjacent back reef- ‐facies exposed on the Guadalupe escarpment. As the sun went down at the end of the day the field trippers drove back to Carlsbad for supper and a final night at Stevens Motel. The next morning the long journey back to Stillwater was started. If your company is interested in organizing an excursion to the Guadalupes, a must for anyone working the Permian Basin, contact Mike Grammer or Jay Gregg. We can put together a professional field trip of two to five days duration (not including travel) and our rates will be a lot lower than that charged by the commercial outfits. Especially for alumni and friends! —Jay Gregg Dr. Grammer and students posing in front of a panorama of the Capitan reef-‐slope complex in the Guadalupe Mountains, west Texas. Spectacular stalactites and stalagmites in Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico.
9 NEWS FROM THE FACULTY Dr. Mohamed Abdelsalam Professor; Boone Pickens Chair; Graduate Coordinator Hello everyone. I am starting my 6th year in the Boone Pickens School of Geology at Oklahoma State University and I am looking forward to many years to come. I joined the School as the Boone Pickens Chair of Applied Geophysics and Professor of Geology in the fall of 2012 coming from the Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology. In the Spring 2017 semester, I taught the course Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology with 53 students, and in the Fall 2017 semester I taught the graduate course Spectral Signal Processing and Application with 5 graduate students and Geo- ‐ morphology with 25 undergraduate students. As the graduate advisor of the School of Geology, I am delighted to see the continuous interest in our graduate program. We have received over 65 applications for the spring and fall semesters of 2018 admission. Many of these applications are of high-‐quality and they come from schools in all parts of the US as well as other countries. Currently, our enrolled graduate students are from half of the states in the US in addition to 20 other countries. We had 75 theses defense since I became the graduate advisor in July 2013. The current enrollment in our graduate program stands at 24 PhD students and 51 MS students. The Tectonics Research Group at the School of Geology which is a research collaboration between my colleague Dr. Daniel Laó Dávila and myself is growing stronger with the involvement of 5 PhD students, 10 MS students and 5 undergraduate students. We have (in collaboration with Dr. Ahmed Ismail) a proposals submitted to National Science Foundation (NSF) to secure funding to continue involving Boone Pickens School of Geology students studying the Western Branch of the East African Rift System. It is great to see my Geodynamic and Geospatial Science Lab populated with active graduate and undergraduate students. We have been working on enabling the lab for new technologies including Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) (for mm scale surface change including crustal deformation using Satellite RADAR data). Currently, we have 10 broadband seismic stations deployed around Stillwater, OK for active faults mapping as part of research of PhD student Tim Sickbert. Please come over and visit. I would love to hear from you regarding research ideas and how my lab and expertise can be of use to you. Dr. Michael Grammer Professor; Chesapeake Energy Chair of Petroleum Geology; Carbonate Sediment-‐ ology and Stratigraphy, Petroleum Geology Dear Alumni and Friends, greetings from Stillwater. This year has been an exciting year with the plans for the Gary F. Stewart Core Research Facility coming to fruition. At this moment, we have seen initial floor plans and construction details and hope to finalize everything within the coming weeks, followed quickly by the initiation of the construction phase. This will be an incredibly valuable facility for us here in the BPSG – for teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels, research, and outreach initiatives. I am sorry to have missed the Celebration in November (I was in Europe teaching a short course that had been scheduled early last year), but everything I heard indicates is was a very successful and enjoyable time. Thanks again to everyone who has helped make this initiative a reality. In addition to the Core Facility plans and working with my students, I have spent quite a bit of time (over the last 2 years) as the lead editor on two special publications: GSA Special Paper 531 on Paleozoic Resources of the Michigan Basin, and AAPG Memoir 116 on Mississippian Reservoirs of the Mid-‐Continent of the U.S.. Dealing with both organizations, scores of authors, 2-‐3 reviewers for each paper, plus the papers from our group has been an enormous task. That said, as I write this, the GSA volume will be printed next month and we are hoping the AAPG Memoir will be printed this summer. It will be a welcome finish to what I think will be two very important special volumes, especially the AAPG Memoir with the spotlight on the BPSG (both with fellow editors Jay Gregg, Jim Puckette and Priyank Jaiswal) as well as the numerous OSU students who are lead authors and co-‐authors on more than half the papers in the volume. This last year, our group was able to go to two world class outcrop locations to study carbonate depositional systems and sequence stratigraphy. In the Spring, we went to the Paradox Basin in SW Utah for several days of Pennsylvanian carbonates, phylloid algal buildups and high resolution sequence stratigraphy from a reservoir characterization standpoint. We were joined on our trip by group alums Miranda Childress and Buddy Price, both of whom have been very supportive of the group over the last few years. Buddy and Miranda’s industry experience was very helpful in discussions with the current group of students on the potential applications of what we were examining. In the Fall, we joined Jay Gregg and his group
10 for a trip to the Guadalupe Mountains – another successful trip to world class outcrops that I know many of you have also visited during your career. My group has a few newcomers that joined us in the Fall. Mckensie Mitsdarffer (MS student) joins us from Texas A&M and will be working on the Wolfcamp in the Permian Basin. Maria Reistroffer (MS student) did her undergraduate work at the University of Texas at Austin – she will be working on the Bakken in the Williston Basin. Alejandra Santiago Torres (MS student), University of Puerto Rico, is working on Silurian-‐aged carbonate slope deposits in Indiana, and Sabrina Halli, a Fulbright scholar here to work on a MS, is working with Jay and myself on the diagenesis of Mississippian rocks in Arkansas. Our two Egyptian colleagues, Yasser Salama (post- ‐doc from Beni Suef University) and Ahmed El Belasy (PhD student from Mansoura University) both returned home this year – we will miss them as both contributed a lot to the technical expertise and collegiality of our group. PhD students Ibukun Bode and Yulun Wang will be finishing up their studies this year, as will MS students C.J. Appelseth, Elizabeth Elium and Jim Karsten. Looks like a very exciting year with the wrap up of some superb student research and the beginnings of some very interesting new projects. As always, we wish all of you the best for the new year, and invite you to stop by and see what we are doing any time you are in Stillwater. Mickey and Jay Gregg standing by the Cross of St. Kevin, Glendalough, Ireland. Dr. Jay Gregg Professor; V. Brown Monnett Chair of Petroleum Geology; Carbonate Petrology, Sedimentology and Sedimentary Greetings to all of the alumni and friends of the BPSoG! This year was one of advising graduate students, finishing up projects, and teaching. I am now advising four graduate students: Jordan Ray, who is finishing up a thesis on the Silurian Hunton Group dolomites here in Oklahoma. Phil Bailey is working on the Lower Ordovician Arbuckle Group dolomites, also in Oklahoma. Gina Dunseith is working on hydrothermal dolomites in the Middle Ordovician Trenton/Black River formations in the Michigan Basin. Gina Lukoczki is working on the Triassic dolomites of southwestern Hungary. Gina L. is doing some very sophisticated crystallographic work on her dolomites and has submitted a successful proposal to do synchrotron diffraction work at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. Several papers with graduate students are coming out in the upcoming AAPG Special Publication 116 on the Mississippian of the Mid-‐Continent are now on line on DataPages. These include two papers with newly minted Ph.D. Sahar Mohammadi. I am wrapping up what probably will be my last paper on the Mississippian of Ireland. This work is with colleagues at the University of Missouri and in Ireland. With this paper I will conclude twenty-‐two years of research on the geology of the Emerald Isle. There is no better place to do field work than Ireland. If you don't mind a bit of rain there is nothing on the island that will bite you, sting you, or give you a rash and there is always a friendly pub and frothy pint at the end of the day! I have been teaching the usual courses and developing a new course. I taught Evolution of the Earth (Historical Geology) last Spring Semester and again on-‐line in the Fall Semester (although Gina Lukoczki did most of the heavy lifting). Advanced Carbonates also was taught in the Fall Semester and included a field trip to the Guadalupe Mountains of west Texas and southeastern New Mexico. This year I am developing a new course with Brendan Hanger titled “Exploring Earth: An introduction to Geology”. This will replace the old “Geology and Human Affairs” course. The main difference will be that the new course will be three credits with lab instead of four credits. It also will place more emphasis on climate change- ‐ paleoclimatology and have a section on planetary geology. This course will be offered next Fall. I had a month long sojourn to Europe last summer. On July 10 I flew to London to meet up with Gina Lukoczki who was running clumped isotope analyses on her samples in Cedric John’s laboratory at Imperial College. While there I took a side trip to Oxford University to meet up with a colleague, Cathy Hollis. We had lunch in a snug at the Eagle and Child Pub on St. Giles’ Street. Famously, this was the meeting place of the “Inklings” early in the 20th century. This small group of Oxfordites included C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. They discussed literature, philosophy, and theology. Cathy and I discussed dolomite. After London I flew to Budapest to meet up with Gina again along with Professors János Haas and Tamás Budai and several days inspecting Gina’s dissertation field area in the Mecsek Mountains and Villány Hills of southwestern Hungary. We stayed in Pécs, a beautiful university town at the southern edge of the Mecsek Mountains. In addition to Triassic (and some Jurassic) carbonates, this is Hungary’s wine country, which is even more of a reason for a field trip there. On returning to Budapest, Gina gave me a walking tour of her hometown of Pest, on the left bank of the Danube River (Buda is on the right bank). After a week in Hungary I flew on to Dublin, to meet Mickey and spend a few days there and then about ten days traveling west to a remote B&B on the north coast of County Mayo for a few days. Then, on to County Donegal and travel
11 through Northern Ireland. I never tire of Ireland and I just hated to leave, especially given mild August weather that we enjoyed there, in contrast to the hot, dry weather we returned to in Oklahoma. 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, 2017 was a year of enjoying his students. Work continued with Dr. Caitlin Barnes who completed her Ph.D. with Dr. Halihan working on a systematic evaluation of the hydraulics of induced seismicity across USGS defined areas. She has been publishing that work and continuing as the program coordinator of the OSUTeach program. Rob Agnew is a professor in Fire Protection who is working on his Ph.D. with Halihan working on gas discharge from springs. He is doing amazing work at a really difficult task of quantifying gas mass discharge in these systems. These things are weird. Kyle Spears is working on a M.S. looking at the Washita River in Western Oklahoma and is quantifying a buried valley he found. Sean Hussey is determining the original potentiometric surface of the Arbuckle and learning about data management! Mr. Pickens, Cullen Pickens that is, is completing his work at quantifying mass recovery of diesel at an impacted well site. There are still a bunch of M.S. and undergrad students working on projects. Hope to send a few more out in May! On the undergraduate front, this was the last year working with the NSF REU: Helenurm and Halihan doing hydrogeophysics at the OSU Botanical Gardens on Cow Creek. This was the last year of a 3 year project with summer undergraduate students. (Research Experience for Undergraduates) students. My student this year was Kevin Helenurm who spent 10 weeks at OSU during the summer in Cow Creek. As time goes on, one of the most impressive things about being a professor at OSU is getting to work with these amazing students. Over the next year, Dr. Halihan is lecturing as the 2018 NGWA McEllhiney Lecturer. He is enjoying getting to talk to the groundwater community and spending time with alums in a range of cities. More details on the lecture are available at: http://www.ngwa.org/Foundation/mcellhi ney/Pages/default.aspx Dr Halihan’s company, Aestus, LLC (www.aestusllc.com), continues evaluate contaminated sites using OSU intellectual property developed in the lab. The company has been looking at more and more complex sites and determining the conceptual site models for these challenging sites. 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 enjoying quieter times. On the home front, the Halihan home is in turmoil. Dr. Halihan’s son, Maclain, has reached his mother’s height at age 12. Martha is not pleased with the development. She is still teaching over at OSU Chemistry and enjoying about 300 undergrads per semester. She taught an online chemistry course in the fall, which was as challenging as she thought, plus some. March 2017: Dr. Halihan teaching water sampling at Lightning Lake in his backyard. Dr. Riedinger brought her students out for chemical sampling. Why do OSU Hydro profs always turn their yards into labs? Wayne Pettyjohn left Halihan this past year, so hopefully he can do a decent job in Wayne’s absence.
12 Dr. Brendan Hanger Teaching Assistant Professor; Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology, Mineralogy, Field Geology, Geoscience Education G’Day. I arrived in early August to begin as a Teaching Assistant Professor with a focus on igneous and metamorphic petrology, mineralogy, field geology and introductory classes. It was a big move coming from the Australian National University, Canberra where I had been for nine years, firstly as a graduate student, and then as a lecturer. I’m originally from Melbourne, Australia and I did my undergraduate studies in geology, chemistry and chemical engineering at Monash University. After that I headed to the Australian National University, Canberra where I completed a PhD in Mantle Petrology, looking at how changes in the redox state and fluid activity in the deep mantle could affect the stability of diamond, though I mainly looked garnet peridotite. Whilst I was looking at samples from South Africa, I spent most of my in experimental and analytical laboratories. During my PhD, I had many opportunities to TA courses in petrology and introductory geology, and developed a real passion for educating students about the Earth. After finishing my PhD I was lucky enough to get an opportunity as a lecturer at the Australian National University for 2.5 years, where I taught a range of courses including petrology, mineralogy, geochemistry, hydrogeology and introductory geology, as well as lots of field geology. My role in the Boone Pickens School of Geology is a unique and developing role. My major focus is on undergraduate education and therefore I will be aiming to constantly improve and update aspects of our program, starting with my own courses. Last fall I taught Physical Geology and Mineralogy, whilst I’m currently teaching Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology, Volcanology and a freshman honors course on Earth Resources, and I’ve also covered part of Marine Geology. This coming summer will also be the first of many years teaching field camp, which is another part of my role. During my interview I spent a few days out at camp, and I’m very excited to get back there in May for a full camp, especially I have already taught many of the students who will be there. All of this has been very fun, but not without challenges, and it keeps me constantly busy. So far there have been a number of field trips including the Arbuckles (Physical Geology), Glass Mountain/Salt Flats (Mineralogy) and the Wichita Mountains (Igneous Petrology), and I’m constantly looking for new ideas of where I can take students. Most of the courses I am teaching are being completely overhauled, and I’m very keen to integrate more geochemistry and field geology into igneous and metamorphic petrology, as well as more quantitative aspects into all my teaching. Developing new courses is also part of my role, and so far I have reintroduced volcanology after a multi-‐year hiatus. Next fall will see an economic geology course taught for the first time since the 90s, bringing in a focus of traditional and developing mineral and metal resources. We have also developed ‘Exploring Earth: An Introduction to Geology’, to replace ‘Geology and Human Affairs’ from fall 2018, and I will be writing a new lab course to complement this. I’m also planning to develop new labs for Physical Geology and hope to add some fun new activities for the students (and TAs). I’m also expected to help develop our TAs as teachers, and from next year onwards I will be aiming to improve their teaching ability, and thus student learning. Next year will be another big year, and I’ve also got some ideas for developing a few more student field experiences, including potential study abroad courses as well trips to see some of the geological highlights of the USA. Whilst the first months in Stillwater have been hectic, I have also had the chance to relax and try new things, including going to both football and basketball games. I must admit it is hard to understand a football game that is somehow much faster and much slower than the Australian Rules Football I am used to watching, and I was happy to find that I can watch cricket on TV easily enough. I have also spent many hours enjoying cycling the rolling hills around Stillwater, and survived winter temperatures well anything I had previously experienced. If you want to know more about myself or my role, or know where I can get some good rocks for teaching some of my courses (new or old), feel free to contact me. Dr. Mary Hileman Visiting Assistant Professor; Sedimentology; Petroleum Geology The 2017-‐2018 school year marks my tenth 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. 1) Geology of the National Parks (GEOL 3043): This popular elective Online course for Junior and Senior non-‐science majors, is offered twice a year (Fall and Spring semesters). The focus for this course is to understand basic geologic concepts and scientific methodology, using 26 of the U. S. National Parks as examples. I prepare and record the lecture videos, as well as write the quizzes and exams. The online enrollment for Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 has increased from 75 students last academic year to 100 students both semesters this year. The factor limiting enrollment for this Natural Science Distribution course is the A & S College required written component. For this course, students write a 4 page research Term Paper on the geology of one of 17 National Parks not covered in lecture. This paper includes: a Thesis Statement, an Outline and Bibliography, First Draft and Final Draft. Use of grading rubrics enables equivalent grading for parks with geology as different as Gates of the
13 Arctic, Lassen, Glacier, Arches and Everglades National Parks. I am fortunate to have a proficient graduate student TA-‐ reader who does the grading. Plans are to double class enrollment to 200 by adding a second graduate student grader for the Fall semester 2018. 2) Petroleum Geology for Engineers (GEOL 3413): This is the initial course required for the Minor in Petroleum Engineering. This practical course begins with mineral and rock identification and ends with a group term project presentation that recommends drilling 3 infill wells, giving project reserves, ROI evaluation and terms for participation in the project. Class size for this course has declined with oil prices and employment trends in the industry. Last year it was decided to offer this course only in the Fall semester. In the Fall of 2017, 28 engineers were enrolled. We will continue to offer 2 lab sections to allow for enrollment increases. 3) Applied Well Log Analysis for Engineers (GEOL 4323): This is the second Geology sequence course offered to Petroleum Engineering Minor students. This course was first offered to Engineering students who completed GEOL 3413, in the Spring 2010. It meets once a week for 3 hours in the evening for lecture, discussion and problem solving. Topics cover evaluation of the standard suite of vertical hole wireline well logs, introduction to petrophysical evaluation, as well as modern microimaging logs and current BPSG research about unconventional reservoirs. This course is now offered in Spring. Enrollment in the Spring 2018 is currently 21 engineering students 4) Advanced Well Log Analysis for Graduate Geology students (GEOL 5353): The lectures for this course are held at the same time as GEOL 4323. Graduate students have similar homework assignments as Engineering students, however, they are given more challenging logs and problems for evaluation. In addition to weekly homework assignments, graduate students have four additional challenging homework problems. These include: (1) interpretation of an overturned and faulted fold (correlation problem), (2) proper Gamma Ray Shale Volume (Vsh) calculation of a glauconite- ‐rich sandstone, (3) porosity evaluation of an oomoldic carbonate reservoir, and (4) a short paper to evaluate log curve responses of natural fractures in a carbonate reservoir. 5) Introduction to Well Log Analysis (GEOL 4313): This course covers the fundamentals of standard wireline log interpretation to solve subsurface problems. Topics include evaluation of the standard suite of vertical hole wireline well logs, introduction to petrophysical evaluation, as well as modern microimaging logs. Because this class meets twice a week, there is ample time for discussion and practice of techniques. In the Spring 2018, there are 10 undergraduate Geology students enrolled in this course. I currently am the Thesis Advisor for one Master’s Degree student, Alex Ahmadian, who plans to finish his thesis in the summer 2018. My first MS Thesis student, Brent Battle, completed his Thesis in the Fall 2017. I also serve as a member of 10 Master’s Thesis Committees. Finally, I am the Faculty Advisor for the OSU Student Chapter of SPWLA (the Society of Professional Well Log Analysts). Dr. Ahmed Ismail Assistant Professor; Exploration Seismology, Azimuthal Anisotropy, Fractured Reservoir Characterization, Near Surface Geophysics Greetings alumni and friends of the Boone Pickens School of Geology! The 2017-‐2018 school year marks my second year as a faculty member of the BPSG. It was a successful academic year filled with teaching, research, travel, and other activities. In 2017; two of my MS students defended their thesis proposals, I traveled to Malawi for research, presented two papers at the SEG conference in United Arab Emirates, supervised undergraduate research of five students, participated in the field camp, and was nominated as a Fulbright Specialist Roster for a tenure of three years, and a Research Affiliate with University of Illinois at Urbana-‐Champaign for one-‐year renewed annually. I continued teaching my “Introduction to Geophysical Exploration” class, which I consider a very important class to BPSG students as it introduces them to the world of geophysics and, for most of them, is the first geophysics class they have had in their life. In this class, students learn about different geophysical methods including gravity, magnetic, electric, electromagnetic, and seismic and their geological, hydrological, and engineering applications. I work in this class on correcting the common misconception about geophysics as the complex branch of geoscience that deals with extensive math and physics. I rather introduce geophysics to them as an interesting field of geoscience that utilizes our basic understanding of physics and geology to draw images of the earth subsurface. Students learned how different geophysical methods work and how to select the appropriate method to solve the geological problem at hand. Students were also able to better understand the advantages and limitations of geophysics. A good number of the students that attended this class have shown interest in undergraduate and graduate research in geophysics. Last summer, Xtian Aneke and Evin Fetkovich (MS students) worked with me to assemble our first seismic land streamer. We designed the land streamer to acquire high- ‐resolution P- ‐wave seismic reflection data for hydrological and engineering applications. We used this land streamer in Malawi last summer with Dr. Atekwana and Micah Mayle (MS student). We conducted integrated geo- ‐electrical and seismic reflection surveys for groundwater exploration at the Child Legacy Facility in central Malawi. A non-‐profit organization working in Malawi funded the project. Kevin Talley, an OSU Alumni and a member of this organization, has assisted us to apply for the fund and coordinate with the client in Malawi. Micah Mayle (MS student) is using the acquired data from Malawi in his MS thesis. This Malawi study was my only funded project of 2017, as none of my other four submitted research proposals received funding. I have submitted two proposals as a PI to USGS and the Petroleum Research Fund, and two other proposals as a Co- ‐PI to NSF and DOE. Though this was a bit disappointing I will
14 continue to create, revise, and submit my research proposals in the hopes of obtaining future funding. Three of my graduate students, Salman Abbasi (PhD student), Josh Bedell, and William Neely (MS students) have received 3D3C seismic volumes over the STACK Play in Oklahoma donated by Devon to use in their thesis research. William Neely is working on PP- ‐PS joint seismic interpretation to improve seismic characterization of the play, Salman Abbasi is working on PP- ‐PS joint inversion to resolve fluid saturation type in key formations within the play, and Josh Bedell is working on the seismic detection of fractures within the “Mississippian” carbonate sequence of the STACK. The three students are working together and forming a promising multicomponent seismic research group. The other two graduate students who defended their research proposals, Xtian Aneke and Evin Fetkovich (MS students) are making good progress on their research that utilizes high- ‐resolution P and S- ‐wave seismic reflection for characterizing a complex glacial aquifer in Illinois. They will likely defend their thesis and graduate this year. For undergraduate research, I was fortunate enough to supervise the research of five undergraduate students including, Ryan Thomas, Kenneth Preston, William Neely, William Mynatt and Nicholas Johnson. Working on undergraduate research is a great experience because projects are small and have short- ‐term project time frames that allow you to see the product of the research faster. I enjoyed teaching these students some basics of the scientific research method and I enjoyed having them develop interest in graduate research. Dr. Priyank Jaiswal Associate Professor; Seismology, Inverse Theory, Petroleum Systems; Gas Hydrates 2017 went fast between papers, proposal and teaching. Two events in particular were very exciting. First was my visit to Italy for a continental drilling workshop organized by a group of researchers who have been wanting to drill into the Moho transition zone at the foothills of Alps in Northern Italy (Ivrea- ‐ Verbano Zone). It was not the unique geophysical setting of this zone but the multidimensional approach of the organizers that impressed and inspired me. The scientific goals were meant to advance not only the geophysical characterization frontier but also the overall understanding of physical, chemical and microbiological processes in the deep crust. After three days of discussions and debates, the participants agreed to drill a shallow hole of ~1000m, and a deep hole of ~4000m to best address the multidisciplinary nature of the research questions with the amount of monies that will be potentially available. The spirit of comradery and cooperation between the participants was truly amazing. I am now working with a German group on designing a deep seismic experiment for placing the two boreholes appropriately. A part of me wants to bring the experience back home and drill into Oklahoma’s basement. After all, there is a lot that we do not know about our own backyard. The other exciting part was being able to see how nanopores can effect seismic velocities. A rock property dataset put together by one of Mike students, Beth, had fascinated me since her PhD defense. With Mike’s help, my PhD student, Rohit, and I started digging into it in early 2017. After a few failed attempts, we came up with a finding that might have a huge impact on the interpretation of seismic velocities in unconventional reservoirs. We put a paper together and sent it for review for a SEPM special volume on rock properties. We also got Devon excited on this topic and received a small grant from them to examine if nanopores are affecting seismic velocities in one of their producing reservoirs. I was pleased that our paper “Effect of capillary pressure on seismic velocities,” delivered by PhD student Khemraj Shukla made it to the top 39 papers in the 2017 SEG annual meeting in Houston (https://seg.org/Annual-‐Meeting-‐ 2017/Top-‐39). Hope 2018 will be as exciting, if not more. Dr. Grammer ‘s students, current and past, enjoying the vistas at Canyonlands National Park.
15 Dr. Daniel A. Laó Dávila Associate Professor; Structural Geology; Plate Tectonics; Fault Slip Analysis and Carribiean Geology Hola to all alumni and friends of the Boone Pickens School of Geology. Thank you for your support. We have accomplished many things this year at the School. I have contributed in teaching 26 students from the Structural Geology course, and 160 students from the Geology and Human Affairs course. I supervised 5 undergraduate students and three graduate students on research. Inés Barrios Galíndez is about to finish her M.S. degree. She is finding signals of active tectonics using geomorphic indices in western Puerto Rico. Steven Johnson is close to submitting his manuscript on the effect of Pre-‐existing structures on the formation of new normal faults during continental rifting. Likewise, new graduate student Estefanny Dávalos will locate the best geothermal prospects in the Malawi Rift. Research continued in the East Africa Rift System and in Oklahoma. Five students, Dr. Estella Atekwana, and I travelled to Malawi for 4 weeks to conduct research of continental rift initiation in Malawi. This work constitutes the last year of the National Science Foundation grant awarded to us. The students learned about tectonics in one of the best places to study continental rifting and then presented their research at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in New Orleans. I was invited to give presentations to the Oklahoma Engineers Association, and at the University of Puerto Rico. I am also the co-‐author of 2 published papers in the AEI proceedings, and Tectonophysics. My students and I also presented 15 conference papers in the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, the Geological Society of America, the 2017 GeoPRISMS Theoretical and Experimental Institute on Rift Initiation and Evolution, the Symposium on the Application of Geo- ‐ physics to Engineering and Environmental Problems, the South- ‐Central Section Geological Society of America, the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters 2017 Conference, and the Joint 52nd North- ‐ eastern Annual Section / 51st North-‐Central Annual Section Meeting Geological Society of America. We look forward to continue to conduct high- ‐quality research, advanced education, and service to Oklahoma and the world. Students from the BPSG, University of Puerto Rico and the Malawi University of Science and Technology and a scientist from the Malawi Geological Survey pose above the valley of the Malawi Rift as part of the 2017 International Research Experience for Students funded by the National Science Foundation to Drs. Daniel Laó-‐Dávila and Estella Atekwana. Graduate students Sam Martin (left), Conn Wethington, (center), and Stone Urban (right) describe core of Cretaceous siliciclastic strata in the eastern Gulf of Mexico Basin in east-‐central Mississippi. This research is part of a DOE-‐funded, multi-‐institutional initiative (CarbonSAFE) that includes Dr. Pashin’s research group and is determining the applicability of new power generation and CO2 storage technologies.
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