Greetings! Per our earlier correspondence, we planned to get this newsletter
out to you last fall, which proved to be a very busy semester for all. Hence, this
somewhat delayed publication is a “Happy New Year” newsletter!
Inside this issue:
Student News
Faculty News
Alumni News:
p. 5
p. 12
p. 24
Enchanted Rock (photo from Texas Parks and Wildlife)
Upcoming Geos-Alumni Event: We will hold an alumni
reception during the AAPG Annual Conference and Exhibition in
Houston, Texas. The Trinity reception will be held on Monday,
April 3, 6:00-8:00 p.m., in the Hilton Americas Hotel. We have not
yet been assigned the room name, but will send you that information
later in February; please put the event on your calendars! It will also
be posted on our web site: https://inside.trinity.edu/geosciences
News about the Department since the Fall 2014 GEOS Newsletter:
We celebrated the 50th anniversary
of the department during a weekend of
activities, Feb. 19-21, 2015. A welcome
reception was held Thursday evening in the
beautiful new atrium of the Center for
Sciences and Innovation (CSI). On Friday
morning we heard from faculty and alumni
about their historical perspectives of the
department. Following lunch, Glenn
Joe Seewald (‘72), Jack Downing (‘66),
Diane Smith (professor) and Richard Ward
(‘65) at the Thursday evening reception.
Kroeger, Diane Smith and Kathy Surpless discussed the department’s current and
future activities. This was followed by tours of Marrs McLean and CSI and a
student research poster session. In the late afternoon, we held the Rock Garden
Dedication in honor of Donald McGannon,
the founder of the department, and had
dinner in the Great Hall. On Saturday, we
embarked on a field trip to “Cave without a
Name” in the Hill Country, following by
lunch and a wine tasting at the Bending
Branch Winery. It was a great celebration
and brought together alumni representing
every decade of the department’s history,
some coming from significant distances,
with current students and current and
Don McGannon’s children (Linda, Greg and
emeritus faculty. Photos of the weekend’s
Mark) and grandchildren at the Rock Garden
Dedication.
activities can be found at this link.
NEW ENDOWMENT IN DR. FREED’s NAME:
In April 2016, we announced the Robert Lowell Freed Scholarship for
Excellence in the Study of Earth Materials. Many of you generously
contributed to this endowment, which
will provide a rising junior or senior
with funds to support the cost of their
Trinity educational experience,
including research and/or field study
expenses. On April 9, we held a
surprise “reveal” party which drew
about 50 people, including alumni,
current students, faculty, staff, former
Trinity President Ronald Calgaard and
Mrs. Calgaard, and current President
Danny J. Anderson. This link will take
you to a collection of photos from that
event.
Bob Freed on the Fall 2012
Alumni Field Trip.
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GEONEWS
FALL 2016
Because of her excellent record of teaching,
scholarship and service to the University, Kathy
Surpless was promoted to the rank of Professor
in August 2016. We’re all very proud of Kathy’s
accomplishments and greatly appreciate all that she
has done for our students, the department, and the
University.
In summer of 2015, Richard Silver was
hired as CSI Laboratories and Field Technician,
working mainly for geosciences but also with
biology. Originally
from Nebraska,
Students Sarah Thurman (’16) and
Richard earned his
Mollie Patzke (’17) with Kathy
Surpless in the field
bachelor’s degree in
geology at the
University of Southern Maine and finished at Master’s
degree in geology at Boston College. Richard is a
great resource to the department – he helps faculty in
preparing for classes, labs, and field trips, participates
in our field trips and assists students using field, lab,
and computing equipment. If you’re ever on campus,
please be sure to introduce yourself to and meet
Richard Silver
Richard!
Visiting Lecturers:
Since our last newsletter was published, the department hosted the following
visiting lecturers. In addition to their presentation, each visitor spent time with our
majors over lunch and/or at a reception, which provides a great opportunity for our
students to visit with them in an informal environment.
 Nov. 18, 2014: Dr. Todd Greene (California State University at Chico)
gave a talk on "Deep-water boulder conglomerate deposits in the Upper
Cretaceous Panoche Formation (Cenomanian) of the Great Valley Group,
San Luis Reservoir, central California".
 March 23, 2016: Dr. Dave Weinberg (AAPG Visiting Lecturer) gave a
talk on "Geoscience and the hydrofracking debate.”
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Professional Conferences
We had a great turn-out of alumni the fall annual 2016
Geological Society of America meeting in Denver. This (somewhat fuzzy) photo
shows most of the folks who attended our alumni gathering.
Front Row: Rebecca Schauer (‘15), Mollie Patzke (‘17), Bethany Ryzak (‘18), Sarah (Newland)
Pearce (‘04)
Middle: Lindsey Yazbek (‘17), Josh Hernandez (‘17), Lawford Anderson (‘70), Sarah Thorne (‘17), Katie
Todt (‘11), Kathy Surpless, Diane Smith
Back row: Jason Frels (‘09), Greg Wimpey (‘91), Ben Surpless, Emily Beverly (‘08), Thomas Tremain
(‘17).
‘
Ben Surpless is the Program Chair for the upcoming South Central GSA
section meeting to be held March 13-14,2017 in San Antonio. Dan Lehrmann is
the Field Trip Chair. Both Ben and Dan have been very busy with organizing this
conference. For more information about the meeting, see this link.
Other remarks
Please keep updating us with your current contact information and what is
new in your lives! The next time you’re in San Antonio, please be sure to come by
the department and visit us.
We remain deeply grateful for your support of the department. Your
contributions help us run excellent field trips, support student research, recognize
student achievements with substantive financial awards, and maintain and update
our collections and equipment. Geosciences alumni are among the most loyal and
generous donors to Trinity University and we sincerely thank you.
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GEONEWS
FALL 2016
Students on the 2016 Majors’ field trip to Arizona (left to right): Dan Bomer (’17), Isaac Johnson
(’17), Brendon Powers (’17), Nate Adams (’16), Graham Stockhausen (’17), Joe Staggs (’17),
Mark Muela (’16), Yvette Muniz (’17), Thomas Tremain (’17).
STUDENT NEWS
Graduates
December 2014
Dylan Ellett
May 2015
Cara Beasley
Nick Candusso
Travis Dodson
Dylan Droxler
Lydia Jones
Nicola Hill
Grace Mabry
Gregory Mak
Taylor Michel
Kirby Peddicord
Rebecca Schauer
Lauren Schroeter (minor)
Leanne Stepchinsky
Mary Kate Stewart
Megan Stewart (minor)
Matthew Tindall (minor)
Page | 5
December 2015
Clayton Ford
May 2016
Nathaniel Adams
Brooks Alexander
Laine Bradshaw
Gianfranco Filippini
Marcus Giannini
Kirk Gulliver
Lizzy Hartson (minor)
Mark Mlella
Abran Oakes
Tristan Solano
Hadley Swartz
Sarah Thurman
James Uroff
Current Majors and Minors:
Daniel Bomer
Luke Burdiss
Ashton Crues
Connor Dunn
Joshua Hernandez
Isaac Johnson
Caroline Kelleher
Mark Kulas
Denton Lambert
Adrien Lehmann
Lisa Ma
Hannah Mathy
Yvette Muniz
John Navin (minor)
Zachary Oretzky
Mollie Patzke
Brendan Powers
Claire Rettenmaier
Bethany Rysak
Odalys Salinas
Samuel Simoneau
Joseph Staggs (minor)
Graham Stockhausen
Sarah Thorne
Thomas Tremain
Sean Watson (minor)
Lindsey Yazbek
Members of Delta Xi Chapter, Sigma Gamma Epsilon
Class of 2015
Class of 2016
Lydia Jones
Greg Mak
Mark Mlella
Kirby Peddicord
Rebecca Schauer
Leanne Stepchinski
Nate Adams
Brooks Alexander
Ashton Crues
Kirk Gulliver
Mark Mlella
Hadley Swartz
Sarah Thurman
James Uroff
Student Awards and Honors
Departmental Awards:
Outstanding Senior Student and Tinker Family Geosciences Award:
2015:
2016:
Leanne Stepchinski
Sarah Thurman
Ed Roy Outstanding Research in Geosciences Award
2015:
2016:
Mary Kate Stewart
Nicola Hill
Rebecca Schauer
Kirk Gulliver
Robert Lowell Freed Scholarship:
2016:
Lindsey Yazbek
Sigma Gamma Epsilon W.A. Tarr Award:
2015:
2016:
Leanne Stepchinski
Hadley Swartz
Edwin Eckert Scholarships in Geology:
2015:
2016:
James Uroff
Lindsey Yazbek
Sarah Thurman
Lindsey Yazbek
Caroline Kelleher (2016)
Sarah Thorne (2016)
GEONEWS
FALL 2016
Trinity University Awards
Hixon Environmental Studies Internship:
2015:
Lindsey Yazbek (2015)
FASTER Grant Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship
2015:
Sam Simoneau (2015)
Mach Family Research Fellowship
2016:
Lindsey Yazbek (2016)
External Awards
Southwest Gem and Mineral Society Scholarships:
2015:
2016:
Caroline Kelleher
Mollie Patzke
Sarah Thorne
Mollie Patzke
Sam Simoneau
Yvette Muniz
South Texas Geological Society Chair’s Award
2015:
2016:
Gregory Mak
Mark Mlella
South Texas Geological Society Harold D. Herndon Geological Scholarship
2015:
2016:
Kirby Peddicord
Jim Uroff
Undergraduate Research:
Many of our students conduct research, working closely with a faculty member.
Listed below are items completed by our students since our last newsletter: senior
theses, published abstracts of presentations made by our students at professional
conferences, and publications in peer-reviewed journals that include student
authors.
2015 Theses:
Leanne Stepchincki, Controls on carbonate factory type (abiotic microbial,
skeletal) on the Hongyan margin of the Yangtze platform, south China.
(Advisor: Dan Lehrmann)
Kirk Gulliver, Provenance study of Cretaceous inliers in eastern Oregon:
determining the extent of the Ochoco Basin and the implications for
Cordilleran paleogeography. (Advisor: Kathy Surpless)
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2016 Theses:
Mollie Patzke, Characterizing the Hazard
Creek Complex of the western Idaho Shear
Zone: analysis of a mixing Cretaceous arc
source. (Advisor: Kathy Surpless)
Brendan Powers, Late Pleistocene glacial
history and evaluation of the San Juan
Fault, southwestern Vancouver Island,
British Columbia. (Advisor: Tom
Gardner)
Publications of Meeting Abstracts involving
students [Student authors are denoted by
boldface]
Brendan Powers (’17) describing
Adams, N., Li, X., Stepchinski, L., Lehrmann, D.,
the stratigraphy and measuring
Yu, M., Minzoni, M., and Payne, J., 2016, Change
faults in a glacial kame terrace near
Port Renfrew, British Columbia.
in seawater redox and carbonate saturation state; a
mechanism for basin-wide shifts in carbonate
platform architecture and carbonate factories: examples from the Permian Triassic
Nanpanjiang Basin, south China: AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, Calgary,
Alberta, Canada, June 19-22.
Adams, N., Li, X., Stepchinski, L., Yu M., Lehrmann, D., Minzoni, M., and Payne, J., 2016,
Change in seawater redox and carbonate saturation state: a mechanism for basin-wide
shifts in carbonate platform architecture and carbonate factories; examples from the
Permian-Triassic Nanpanjiang Basin, south China: Geological Society of America
Abstracts with Programs: v. 48, no. 1, Session No. 14, Booth #10.
Alexander, B., Hernandez, J., and Surpless, K.D., 2016, Examining the episodic evolution
of the Sierra Nevada Arc through Th/U Ratios in Great Valley Group detrital zircon:
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, vol. 48, no. 4, Session $17,
Booth #26.
Callebert, W., Housen, B., Surpless, K.D., Patztke, M., Thurman, S., and Gulliver, K.,
2016, Assessment of inclination shallowing in the Ochoco Basin, Mitchell Inlier, central
Oregon: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, vol. 48, no. 6, Session
No. 29, Booth #27.
Crues, A., and Surpless, B., 2015, Using 3D digital models to perform outcrop-based strain
analysis: a case study from the Stillwell anticline, west Texas: Geological Society of
America Abstracts with Programs, v. 47, no. 7, p. 150.
Droxler, D., Khanna, P., Lehrmann, D.J., and Droxler, A.W., 2015, Comparative analysis of
microbial carbonate fabrics at various scales within the architecture of a large microbial
reef mound; Cambrian, Wilberns Formation, Mason County, TX: Geological Society of
America Abstracts with Programs, v. 47, no. 1, p. 16.
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FALL 2016
Gulliver, K., Patzke, M., Thurman, S., Surpless, K.D., Housen, B., Fisher, C., and
Vervoort, J., 2016, Provenance analysis of Cretaceous inliers of Eastern Oregon:
assessing the extent of the Ochoco Basin and implications for Cordilleran
paleogeography: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 48, no. 4,
Session No. 17, Booth #52.
Hernandez, J.R., Rysak, B.G., Surpless, K.D., Barth, A.P., and Wooden, J.L., 2016, Great
Valley Group detrital zircon trace element signatures: a partial record of Sierra Nevada
arc magmatism: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 48, no. 7,
Session No. 267, Booth #458.
Kelleher, C., Lhemann, A., and Lehrmann, D. J., 2015, Sedimentology, depositional
environments and cyclicity of microbial bearing strata of the Cambrian Point Peak
Member of the Wilberns Fm., exposed along the Llano River and Mill Creek, Mason
County, TX: University of Texas at San Antonio, College of Science conference, Oct 9,
2015.
Kelleher, C., Lhemann, A., Swartz, H., Yazbek, L., Mercado, L., Lehrmann, D., Hopson,
H., Khanna, P., and Droxler, A., 2016, Sedimentology and depositional environments of
cyclic microbial bearing strata of the Cambrian Point Peak Member of the Wilberns Fm.,
exposed along Mill Creek, the Llano River, and James River, Mason County, TX:
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. v. 48, no. 1, Session No. 14,
Booth #9.
Kubik, B., Hopson, H., Pasquale Da Cruz Trotta, R., Droxler, A.W., Khanna, P., Fessahaie,
M., Lehrmann, D.J., Harris,, P.M., and Singh, P., 2015, Inter-herm grainstone
accumulation in an Upper Cambrian microbial reef complex and its subsequent sediment
burial (James River, Mason County, Texas): Geological Society of America Abstracts
with Program, v. 47, no. 7, p. 304.
Mabry, G., Yazbek, L., Ford, C., Lehrmann, D., Khanna, P., Hopson, H., Fessahaie, M.,
and Droxler, A., 2015, Sedimentology and depositional environments of cyclic nicrobial
bearing strata of the Cambrian Point Peak Member of the Wilberns Formation, exposed
along the Llano River and Mill Creek, Mason County, TX: AAPG Annual Convention
and Exhibition, Denver, Colorado, May 31-June 3.
Mabry, G., Yazbek, L., Ford, C., Lehrmann, D.J., Khanna, P., Hopson, H., Fessahaie, M.,
and Droxler, A.W., 2015, Sedimentology and depositional environments of cyclic
microbial bearing strata of the Cambrian Point Peak Member of the Wilberns Fm.,
exposed along the Llano River and Mill Creek, Mason County, TX: Geological Society
of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 47, no. 1, p. 18.
Marshall, J., Barnhart, A., Butcher, A., Freimuth, C., Khaw. F., Lafrombroise, E., Landeros,
M., Morrish, S., Olson, E., Ritzinger, B., Stewart, D., Utick, J., Wellington, K.,
Wenceslao, L., Gardner, T., Harbor, D., and Osborn, S., 2015, Beachrock horizons of the
Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica: geomorphology, petrology, and neotectonic significance
Proceedings of the Coastal Sediments Conference, San Diego, California, May 11-15.
Mathy, H., Surpless, B., and Simoneau, S., 2016, Testing models of en enchelon normal
fault evolution using 3D computer modeling: Geological Society of America, Abstracts
with Programs, v. 48, no. 7, doi: 10.1130/abs/2016AM-281667.
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Muñiz, Y., and Plenge, M.F., 2015: Biogeochemical characterization of a gasoline
contaminated aquifer: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 47,
no. 7, p. 296.
Muñiz, Y., Masiello, C.A., Pyle, L.A., 2016, The evolution of black carbon physicochemical
properties in soils: Fall meeting, American Geophysical Union, December 12-16, San
Francisco, CA.
Patzke, M., Johnson, J., Tremain, T., and Surpless, K.D., 2016, Testing models of postCretaceous terrane translation using mudrock geochemistry of the Ochoco basin, central
Oregon: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 48, no. 7, Session
No. 267, Booth #469.
Patzke, M., Thurman, S., Gulliver, K., Surpless, K.D., Housen, B., Fisher, C., and
Vervoort, J., 2016, Provenance analysis of conglomerate cobbles and associated
sandstone in the Mitchell Inlier, Central Oregon: Geological Society of America,
Abstracts with Programs, v. 48, no. 4, Session No. 17, Booth #51.
Simoneau, S., Yazbek, L., and Plenge, M.F., 2015, The impacts of recycled water irrigation
in San Antonio, TX: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 47, no.
7, p. 296.
Simoneau, S., Surpless, B., and Mathy, H., 2016, The evolution of subsidiary fracture
networks in segmented normal fault systems: Geological Society of America, Abstracts
with Programs, v. 48, no. 7, doi: 10.1130/abs/2016AM-281707.
Solano, T., and Gardner T., 2015, Knickpoint development and migration in the north
Canterbury fold and thrust belt, South Island, New Zealand: Undergraduate Virtual
Poster Showcase, American Geophysical Union Meeting, San Francisco, California:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV38HDv_diU
Stepchinski, L. Xiaowei, L., Lehrmann, D.J., Payne, J.L., Purcell, N., and Minzoni, M.,
2015, Controls on carbonate factories in the transition from ramp to reef-rimmed
platform in the Hongyan section of the Triassic Yangtze Platform: preliminary results:
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 47, no. 1, p. 16.
Stepchinski, L., Li X., Lehrmann, D., Payne, J., Purcell, N., and Minzoni, M., 2015,
Controls on carbonate factories in the transition from ramp to reef-rimmed platform in
the Hongyan section of the Triassic Yangtze platform: preliminary Results: AAPG
Annual Convention and Exhibition, Denver, Colorado, May 31-June 3.
Stewart, M.K., and Gardner, T., 2015, Uplift rate of marine terraces and anticlinal growth
along the North Canterbury fold and thrust belt, New Zealand: American Geophysical
Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, December 14-18, T33D-2968.
Surpless, B., Mlella, M., and Wigginton, S., 2016, Challenges in predicting fracture network
evolution and fluid flow pathways in layered limestone fold systems: Geological Society
of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 10, no. 1, doi: 10.130/abs/2016C-273330.
Surpless, B., and Dunn, C., 2015, The localization of shear strain within a contractional
fault-propagation fold system: a case study from the Stillwell anticline, west Texas:
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 47, no. 7, p. 719.
Swartz, H., Kelleher, C., Lhemann, A., Lehrmann, D., Suarez, M., Hopson, H., Khanna,
P., and Droxler, A., 2016, Stable isotope and elemental geochemistry from 1-D profiles
are a useful tool for revealing 3-D phasing architecture of Upper Cambrian microbial reef
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GEONEWS
FALL 2016
complexes, Wilberns Formation, Mason County, TX: Geological Society of America
Abstracts with Programs. v. 48, no. 1, p. 12-11.
Swartz, H., Kelleher, C., Lhemann, A., Lehrmann, D., Suarez, M., Hopson, H., Khanna,
P., and Droxler, A., 2016, Stable isotope and elemental geochemistry from 1-D profiles
are a useful tool for revealing 3-D phasing architecture of Upper Cambrian microbial reef
complexes, Wilberns Formation, Mason County, Texas: AAPG Annual Convention and
Exhibition, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 19-22.
Thorne, S., and Surpless, B., 2015, Using stream channel profiles to assess fault slip rate
variability and to evaluate fault segmentation: a case study from the Wassuk Range
normal fault, Western Nevada: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs,
v. 4, no. 7, p. 150.
Thorne, S., Liu, D., Hartson, E., Lehrmann, D.J., and Yu, M., 2016, Upper Permian reef
and shelf facies of the southern margin of the Yangtze Platform, south China provide
insight into reef ecology and environments immediately prior to the end-Permian mass
extinction: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v., 48, no. 7, doi:
10.1130/abs/2016AM-284157.
Wigginton, S.S., Ferrill, D.A., Morris, A.P., Smart, K., McGillinis, R.N., and Lehrmann,
D.J., 2016, Thrust fault nucleation and propagation and the importance of footwall
synclines: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 48, no. 7, doi:
10.1130/abs/2016AM-282050.
Publications in Peer-Reviewed Journals involving students:
Ferrill, D., Morris, A.P., Wigginton, S.W., Smart, K.J., McGinnis, R.N., and Lehrmann,
D.J., 2016, Deciphering thrust fault nucleation and propagation and the importance of
footwall synclines: Journal of Structural Geology, v. 85, p. 1-11.
Ferrill, D.A., McGinnis, R.N., Morris, A.P., Smart, K.J., Sickmann, Z. T., Bentz, M.,
Lehrmann, D., and Evans, M.A., 2014, Control of mechanical stratigraphy on bedrestricted jointing and normal faulting; Eagle Ford Formation, south-central Texas,
U.S.A: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 98, p. 2477-2506.
Lehrmann, D.J., Stepchinski, L., Altiner, D., Orchard, M., Montgomery, P., Enos, P.,
Ellwood, B., Bowring, S., Ramezani, J., Wang, H., Wei, J., Yu, M., Griffiths, J., Minzoni,
M., Schaal, E., Li, X., Meyer, K., and Payne, J., 2015, An integrated biostratigraphy
(conodonts and foraminifers) and chronostratigraphy (paleomagnetic reversals, magnetic
susceptibility, elemental chemistry, carbon isotopes and geochronology) for the PermianUpper Triassic strata of Guandao section, Nanpanjiang Basin, south China: Journal of
Asian Earth Sciences, v. 108, p. 117-135.
Lehrmann, D.J., Bentz, J.M, Wood, T., Goers, A., Dhillon, R., Akin, S., Li, X., Kelley,
B.M., Meyer, K.M., Schaal, E.K., Payne, J.L., Suarez, M.B., Yu, M., Qin, Y., Li, R.,
Minzoni, M., and Henderson, C., 2015, Environmental controls on the genesis of marine
microbialites and dissolution surface associated with the end-Permian mass extinction:
new sections and observations from the Nanpanjiang Basin, South China: Palaios, v. 30,
p. 529-552.
Lehrmann, D.J., Chaikin, D.H., Enos, P., Minzoni, M., Payne, J., Yu, M., Richter, P., Goers,
A., Wood, T., Kelley, B., Li, X., Qin, Y., Liu, L., and Lu, G., 2016,, Basin filling
Page | 11
patterns of Triassic turbidites in the Nanpanjiang Basin of South China: implications for
tectonics and impacts on carbonate platform evolution: Basin Research, v. 27, p. 587612.
Lehrmann, D.J., Bentz, J.M., Wood, T., Goers, A., Dhillon, R., Akin, S., Li, X., Kelley,
B.M., Meyer, K.M., Schaal, E.K., Payne, J.L., Suarez, M.B., Yu, M., Qin, Y., Li, R.,
Minzoni, M., and Henderson, C., 2016, Reply: Permian-Triassic microbialite and
dissolution surface environmental controls on the genesis of marine microbioliates and
dissolution surface associated with the end-Permian mass extinction; new sections and
observations from the Nanpanjiang Basin, south China: Paleios, v. 31, p. 118-121.
Minzoni, M., Lehrmann, D.J., Dezoeten, E., Enos, P., Montgomery, P., Berry, A., Qin, Y.,
Yu, M., Ellwood, B., and Payne, J., 2015, Drowning of the Triassic Yangtze platform,
south China, by tectonic subsidence into toxic deep waters of an anoxic basin: Journal of
Sedimentary Research, v. 85, p. 419-444.
Surpless, B.E., Hill, N., and Beasley, C., 2015, The unusual 3D interplay of basement fault
reactivation and fault-propagation-fold development; a case study of the Laramide-age
Stillwell anticline, west Texas (USA): Journal of Structural Geology, v. 79, p. 42–56.
FACULTY AND STAFF NEWS
Bob Freed (Emeritus)
An endowed Geosciences scholarship in my name! What a wonderful honor.
I want to thank all alumni involved in the effort, as well as the Department and
University community. I enjoyed seeing many of you at the surprise (to me!)
unveiling in April. When I walked into the reception room, people were looking at
me and applauding. I was confused and did not know what was happening. I
remember asking Diane Smith “What the (redacted) is going on?” She just pointed
to a banner across the room announcing the scholarship. Wow.
A Big Hello to all—especially those from the 20th Century! It’s now been 17
years since I retired from Trinity. I’m still affiliated, since 2005, with Our Lady of
the Lake University here in San Antonio as an adjunct in their Center for Science
and Mathematics Education. This summer, I taught a graduate earth science class
for 23 elementary and middle-school teachers to help prepare them for passing
state certification exams in science. I’m sure Ed Roy would pat me on the back,
and say “well done.” I miss him.
Miki and I enjoy doing day trips to the Hill Country, and the occasional trip to
the coast. Erin plans to finish her Ph.D. degree in cognitive psychology at
University of California, Davis this December. This fall semester she will teach
two classes at Sacramento State University. Both of my parents were teachers,
Miki and I were both teachers, and now Erin is finding that she enjoys teaching.
Karen is back home with us and still doing Taekwondo.
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I enjoyed seeing folks at the 50th reunion in 2015. It was fun to relate
episodes from the early years of the Department. I again thank you all for sharing
an important part of your lives with me during my years at Trinity. I treasure the
memories of those years.
Walt Coppinger (Emeritus)
Greetings from Montana!
Roberta and I are still alive and well in Whitehall and enjoying the country
lifestyle as much as ever. The changing seasons and accompanying scenery and
vistas continue to entertain us, and we have yet to visit all of the local and regional
geological points of interest. A lot of exploration remains. As I wrote this note
over the past week, there was little to see in terms of vistas. We are in a deep
period of regional drought, and August and September are the peak months of fire
season. We have fires ranging from small to huge burning within 100 miles on all
sides. We are not threatened, but we are overwhelmed by smoke and ash. It may
last until the first snow falls. We know the mountains are still out there…
somewhere.
We are both enjoying good health at this time. We are able to get around
pretty well, although the years of scrambling up and down hills and mountains
have taken a toll on my legs and my wind (the marks of an older geologist…). If
we push, we can still do most off the things that we set out to do.
Our families are all doing well. Our children and their families are widespread across the country. We have stabilized at five grandchildren, ranging in age
from 13 years old to 6 years old.
Denise (oldest daughter) lives
near Orlando; Justine (middle)
has returned to Texas and lives
near Austin; and Daniel resides in
Seattle. Together, they dictate
our major travel schedule each
year. They all love to visit us in
Montana.
This was a special year for
Roberta and me. We celebrated
our Golden Wedding Anniversary
– 50 wonderful years of love and
friendship and good times, on
Saturday, August 13, 2016. We
celebrated with a small group of
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family, local friends and neighbors, and a few of our best friends from graduate
school. It was a very enjoyable evening. The hit of the party was a special Geode
Cake ordered by Justine and family. It was made with one side cut out to show an
amethyst/milky quartz crystal-lined geode (rock candy xls). The cake was
excellent with huckleberry-cream icing between layers. Very creative – and,
delicious. Pictures don’t do it justice.
We hope that this note finds you and all of your loved ones in good health,
prospering in your careers, and enjoying life. Please drop a note to
[email protected] if you are so inclined. We would enjoy hearing from you.
Glenn Kroeger
Since our last newsletter, in addition to getting two years older, I wrapped up
my term on the UCC last spring with the new Pathways curriculum up and
running. All told, I spent over 4 years working on the new curriculum. Lest you
worry about what I am doing with all my new “free” time, I am serving as interim
chair of the department this year while also teaching a course overload. The role
of department chair is particularly busy this year. With the new administration of
President Anderson and Vice-President Jones have come new activities and
workshops for chairs and a new multi-year budgeting cycle. Chairing the search
for a new Herndon professor and spearheading the reorganization of the
administrative support office that we share with the other STEM departments
round out my administrative activities. Fortunately, I will be paroled from
administration in June and promise no recidivism.
I continue to teach Dynamic Earth, Tectonics and GIS and Remote Sensing,
the latter every year now to satisfy the demand from geosciences, biology and
environmental studies students. I am excited to teach applied geophysics this
coming spring to a class of 16 students, over a third of whom are math and physics
majors. I am also working on several instructional projects including finishing the
computer system for our augmented reality sandbox, porting the software that
drives our hallway earthquake display to a Raspberry Pi microcomputer, and
building a seismic land-streamer for doing reflection and surface wave surveys. I
am also involved in a Texas Regional Collaborative funded project with the
Region 20 Educational Service Center to improve Earth science education in the
San Antonio area. We have a cohort of approximately 30 lead teachers and are
working on educational materials for teaching top-down, cold driven convection
concepts for both ocean circulation and plate tectonics. We are also working on
building about 250 teaching sets of rock specimens. The focus is on a carefully
selected set of rocks that demonstrate key concepts. If you have several hundred
pounds of high-quality mica schist or gneiss, give me a call!
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FALL 2016
During my academic leave in fall 2015 I continued developing the gravity
software that Aaron Price (2014) developed in his senior project and applied it to
the gravity data that I acquired in Canyonlands National Park between 2004 and
2014. The results suggest a surprising amount of salt diapirism beneath the graben
floors. I also continue to develop and distribute my visualization and analysis
program, SeismicCanvas. Funding was interrupted in the summer of 2016 by the
delay of the NASA InSight mission to Mars, but I am hopeful that it will become
available now that the mission is officially rescheduled. SeismicCanvas has also
been chosen as the seismic and signal processing software for modules in the
EDDIE (Environmental Data-Driven Inquiry & Exploration) Project funded by
NSF. I also have a couple of new software projects in preliminary stages awaiting
my parole from administrative duties.
Karen continues teaching special education at Reagan High School. Jennifer
is in her sophomore year at Rice University and is in the troughs of choosing a
major. She has become active in student government and will be working for the
Rice Office of Academic Advising leading over 200 student PAAs (peer academic
advisors) during 2017. She is planning to study abroad (probably Denmark) in the
spring of 2018.
Tom Gardner
Let’s see, where did I leave off in the last newsletter? That’s right I was
telling you about my travels to New Zealand and the research I was doing with
Mary Kate Stewart and Tristan Solano. They figured out how fast anticlines are
growing and the knickpoints are retreating in the North Canterbury Fold and
Thrust Belt. Great research.
This past semester, Spring 2016, I spend on leave in Melbourne, Australia as a
visiting faculty member at La Trobe University working with a colleague, Dr. John
Webb. Ya’ gotta love hanging out “down under”. I did extensive field work in
Tasmania looking at some active faulting on the northwest coast. Seems like there
were some decent size Holocene earthquakes that cause surface rupture and
liquefaction. And we always thought that was a relatively stable continent. So
much for that idea. I’ll be presenting some of that research at the GSA in
September and John will present some at AGU in December.
When I returned to the US I had a month off and then departed for a monthlong summer research project with the Keck Geology Consortium. Some of you
will remember those projects fondly. I went to Vancouver Island in British
Columbia to work on an active tectonic project with 4 students and another faculty
member from the University of Victoria. One of those students, Brendan Powers,
is from Trinity. Brendan is looking at Last Glacial Maximum kame deposits that
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were deposited across one of those “active” faults. He’s got a very interesting
project trying to distinguish glacial deformation from actual tectonic movements.
But alas, that was my last hurray. I’m going to retire in August, 2017. Yep,
it’s all over. I’ll teach Hydrology in the Spring Semester and Major’s Field Trip to
Big Bend and then it’s the end. I’ve been teaching at the university level since
1979 and I’m moving on, maybe to Seattle. My wife, Susan, is from that area and
would like to go back. She plans to retire next year as well. We’ll see how this
develops over the next several months. Real estate is rather expensive up there.
One big project I plan to work on in retirement is my genealogy. I will be starting
from scratch, so it will be a big project, but will most likely get me to some
interesting places.
Family life continues to go well. Our oldest son, Nathan, is still close by in
San Antonio at Panera Bread and HEB. Blair, our youngest son, is still in New
York working for 2U (http://2u.com/).
So remember, I am still around for another semester, so stop by for a chat, a
margarita, or a beer when you are in town.
Dan Lehrmann
Greetings to all! My teaching and research continue to go full charge at
Trinity! I continue to teach Paleontology, Basin Analysis and an introductory
course called History and Evolution of Life. With the development of Trinity’s
new pathways curriculum, I helped create a new “interdisciplinary cluster” of
courses titled “Ecological Civilization in Asia” with a multidisciplinary emphasis
on the unique environmental, political and socioeconomic challenges that the
world’s largest populations face as the develop rapidly. For this cluster I also am
offering a new course titled Geology Resources and Environments of China, and
this summer I plan to offer my study abroad program Field Geology in China.
I’m continuing work in south China focused on basin analysis, carbonate
platform evolution and the end-Permian mass extinction. Trinity students
accompanied me for field seasons in China during winter break and in the summer.
After returning from fieldwork this summer I had the pleasure of having three
visiting Chinese students working in my lab with Trinity students. Our students
did an excellent job collaborating and will present results from their projects at the
south central GSA in San Antonio and the AAPG meeting in Houston this spring.
I have also been busy with Trinity students conducting field and lab work on
the large Cambrian microbial reef complexes along the Llano River near Mason,
TX. In spring I will lead pre-meeting field trips to kayak down the Llano River
and examine the Cambrian reefs for the South-Central GSA and the AAPG.
Trinity students will co-lead the trips and present results of their research at field
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stops. Over the last year I’ve also been involved in sedimentological and
stratigraphic studies of dinosaur track sites in local Cretaceous strata.
My wife Mei and I have had a big change, now becoming “empty nesters” as
our daughters Asmara and Dinda are both in college…. at Trinity University!
Although I try my best to stay out of my daughters’ way at the university, they
frequently stop by my office to say hi. Dinda is an artist and Asmara is interested
in geoscience. My wife Mei continues to enjoy working as a librarian at Clear
Springs Elementary School in San Antonio.
Wishing you all a healthy, happy and productive year. Please come join
Trinity Geoscience faculty, students, and alumni this spring at the South-Central
GSA in San Antonio and the AAPG in Houston.
Diane Smith
Greetings to all!
You may remember that we
dedicated the Geosciences Rock
Garden at the 50th anniversary
celebration in February 2015. Every
couple of months, we have a Rock
Garden Work Day… students,
faculty, and staff come out to blow
leaves, pull out oak tree rootlets, and
just tidy it up. Then, all the workers
are treated to dinner and
refreshments at Tycoon Flats or
similar venues. It’s a lot of fun and the garden looks great!
I stepped out of being departmental chair in mid-August and gladly handed
over those responsibilities to Glenn! But other service activities keep me on my
toes. I am Chair of Trinity’s Faculty Senate, a position I will hold until spring
2018. A year ago, I became Member-at-Large (a three-year term) on the Executive
Committee of the American Geosciences Institute. Scott Tinker (’82) was AGI’s
President that year, so Trinity had a strong presence at AGI! After these service
commitments are completed, I will take on no more… time to “pass the torch” to
other colleagues!
I still teach volcanology and earth materials and continue to greatly enjoy
those courses. On the scholarship front, I’ve been working on a couple of
manuscripts that my colleagues and I hope to submit and get published this year.
One is with former student Adrian Wackett (’14) on intrusive rocks in Alaska that
he studied for his senior thesis. The other is a project with my old Ph.D. advisor,
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Bill Leeman. Bill and I are re-examining mafic lavas from the north flank of Mt.
St. Helens that we collected in 1978 that were subsequently destroyed by the 1980
eruption. I’ve been looking at the lavas using an SEM with EDS capabilities that
Trinity acquired three years ago through a grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation.
This instrument produces very high quality mineral chemical analyses in a
relatively short period of time… the technology has changed so much over the last
30 years! The olivine phenocrysts in these basalts exhibit very odd chemistries and
textures that have convinced us that even these “mafic” magmas mixed or
intermingled with more silicic magmas.
My family is doing well. Carrie (now 26) continues her work as a software
engineer in Austin. She has a great job – they sent her to Tokyo for three months
last year to train employees in that office – which she loved! She told us “it’s like
winning the lottery.” Joanna is a senior at Rice and has identified biostatistics as
the field she wants to pursue, so she is currently going through the process of
applying to graduate school. Chip is fine and semi-retired. He does some
computer consulting, will teach a computer science course at Trinity this spring,
and spends a lot of time gardening, tending to the house, and cooking for the two
of us (which I appreciate!).
Stay in touch and I hope to see you at future alumni gatherings… and let us
know when you’re visiting San Antonio! We’d love to have you drop by and
check out the department – it’s probably different from when you were a student
but the “personality” of the department remains unchanged. We work hard but
also take time to celebrate the successes and achievements of our students and
colleagues. Hope 2017 is a great year for you and yours!
Kathy Surpless
It’s been a busy, fun, and fast couple of years! I’m teaching Earth History
again this fall, which is always one of my favorite classes to teach (even after 12
years!), and as part of Trinity’s Pathways curriculum, I’ve been teaching a firstyear experience course called “What We Know That Just Ain’t So” with several
other faculty. As you might guess from the title, this course explores flawed
reasoning and helps students develop their critical thinking skills to avoid the
pitfalls that lead to false conclusions. Although the topic is well outside my own
expertise, the course has been fascinating to teach with colleagues from Physics,
Biology, Psychology, Neuroscience, and English. I’ve expanded my research focus
as well, both topically and geographically. I am still using sandstone provenance to
chase down tectonic changes in the U.S. Cordillera, and my search for sediment
sources has taken me in a couple new directions. I’ve had three students working
with me on a project using detrital zircon trace element geochemistry to better
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FALL 2016
understand magmatism in
the Sierra Nevada, and
another five students over
two years working with me
in Oregon and Idaho to
chase down possible
provenance links. This fall,
we’ll collect U-Pb and LuHf data from zircon we
separated from
orthogneisses in the Western
Idaho Shear Zone – a far cry
from sedimentary rocks, but
Mollie Patzke (’17), Thomas Tremain (’17), and Isaac Johnson
perhaps a source of detrital
(’17) in the field working with Kathy Surpless on sediment source
zircon in Oregon? We’ll be
provenance studies.
presenting preliminary
results from both projects at the Annual GSA meeting in Denver this fall. I’m also
happy to report that I have shortened my job title starting this year, having been
promoted from Associate Professor to Professor. The Surpless family continues to
thrive in San Antonio, and our girls are growing fast. This year is our last with
both girls at Northwood Elementary (2nd and 5th grade) – next year it’s on to
middle school for Kayla. Best wishes to you all for an excellent year!
Ben Surpless
How the years fly by!
Since my last newsletter entry, teaching, research, and advising have filled my
days, and I’ve been thankful for all of the interactions I continue to have with
faculty, students, and alums of the Trinity Geosciences program. On the research
front, I’ve worked closely with a number of Trinity students to investigate the
evolution of fracture networks and fluid-flow dynamics in a Laramide-age faultpropagation fold system in west Texas, and we’ve continued to investigate the
evolution of a major, segmented normal fault system in western Nevada. At both
localities, I’ve published papers with students and other faculty, with the initial
results of the west Texas research now published in the Journal of Structural
Geology (with Sarah Wigginton, ’14 and Rebecca Schauer, ’15) and the western
Nevada research published in the Geological Society of America Bulletin (with
Glenn Kroeger, here at Trinity). Students and I have continued to present our
research at GSA national meetings at Vancouver, British Columbia, and Baltimore,
Maryland, and at south-central section GSA meetings in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and
Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This past summer, I worked with two students to
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investigate new research problems in southern Utah near the eastern margin of the
Basin and Range province, where the Sevier fault zone exposes spectacular faults,
folds, and joint systems in the beautiful Navajo sandstone. I plan to submit a new
NSF grant proposal for this research during this academic year.
I continue to enjoy teaching Structural Geology, Earth’s Environmental
Systems, and Global Climate Change, a new Geosciences course investigating the
scientific evidence for climate change across all time scales. It’s always fun being
there to see students engage in coursework in the lab, in the field, and in the
classroom. For me, it’s the best part of teaching at a place like Trinity.
Kathy, the girls, and I enjoyed our family vacation to California and to
northern Wisconsin this summer. In California, we visited family and camped in
Yosemite National Park, and in Wisconsin, we stayed with family in a cabin on a
lake, spending hours walking, swimming, and relaxing in the Northwoods.
Camping in the shadows of El Capitan and Half Dome was amazing, and in
Wisconsin, the bald eagles, loons, and otters entertained us all. The girls are
already talking about next summer’s adventure!
I hope that we’ll see many of you at meetings across the country or here at
Trinity! We’ll be hosting the South-Central Section of the Geological Society of
America meeting here in San Antonio - if you’d like to participate in some way,
please let me know. I hope all is well!
Les Bleamaster (CSI Facilities Manager)
WooHoo!!! The Princeton Review ranked Trinity second among its peers for
having “Best Science Lab Facilities” -- http://www.princetonreview.com/collegerankings?rankings=best-science-lab-facilities. It is really a joy to come to work
each day and see the incredible research being done by our faculty and
undergraduates in all the STEM departments.
While most of my time these days is taken up with CSI business, I was able to
get my feet back in the classroom last fall (teaching Planetary Geology is a true
labor of love). The students convinced me that a field trip was in order, so while
Mars and Venus were cost prohibitive, we did manage to get over to Houston to
visit Johnson Space Center. Mike Foreman, retired astronaut whose son graduated
from Trinity, met us at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab. We saw meteorites from the
Moon and Mars as well as the Apollo lunar sample clean room. We also visited
the Virtual Reality Lab – thank you Dr. Zack Crues, father of TU geosciences
major Ashton Crues - and walked the floor of Building 9 where the latest robots
and exploration vehicles get tested. We all geeked out! Me more than most.
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Students on the Johnson Space Center field trip led
by Les Bleamaster.
FALL 2016
Jana (Biology, ’98) and boys
are doing very well. Jana is now
a pediatric nurse and shift
supervisor at North Central
Baptist Hospital – she also
remains on staff at University
Hospital, south Texas’ only Level
One trauma center. Caden is a
sophomore at Hardin-Simmons
University studying History
Education. As a freshman, last
year he founded and was voted
president of HSU’s newest
fraternity - Beta Delta Sigma.
Sean is wrapping up high school
and working as a lifeguard. Bode
is a freshman at MacArthur and
really looking forward to the
upcoming soccer season.
Take care, Les
Megan Plenge (Visiting Assistant Professor)
Hello all! I’m now in my third and last year at Trinity, and love being part
of the Trinity Geosciences community. During my time here, I’ve taught two
upper division courses, Aqueous Geochemistry and Geomicrobiology, and three
introductory courses, Oceanography, Environmental Geology, and the new
iteration of Environmental Geology, Earth’s Environmental Systems. In my upper
division courses, student prepare for future geoscience careers through discussion
of current research and analyzing data through computer modelling, including the
USGS geochemical modelling program PhreeqC. My introductory courses
combine lecture with a substantial number of in-class activities and discussion,
with the aim of piquing students’ interest in geosciences, encouraging new majors,
and promoting scientific literacy for the non-majors. We still go on the field trip to
Port Aransas as part of the Oceanography, and caught a 50-pound sea turtle on our
last cruise!
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During the summer of 2015, I worked with three students on two different
projects. Lindsey Yazbek and Sam Simoneau worked on an environmental project
combining water and soil chemistry data with microbial community analysis to
look at the impacts of recycled water irrigation on chemical partitioning and
indigenous subsurface microbial communities. Initial chemistry results suggest
that soil leaching decreases when recycled water is used for irrigation. Yvette
Muñiz worked on a project in
conjunction with Trinity alum
David Shiels, who graciously
hosted us at his home during field
work, and taught Yvette methods
for sampling well water. We
sampled water at several wells in an
industrial site that was
contaminated with gasoline in the
1980s, and took sediment cores for
microbial community analysis.
Chemistry data supports
microbially-mediated degradation
David Shiels (‘82), Yvette Muniz (‘17) and Megan
of hydrocarbons. All three students
Plenge (Visiting Assistant Professor with drilling
presented their research at the 2015
apparatus used for sampling sediment cores.
GSA meeting in Baltimore.
This summer my phylogenetic data for both projects were processed, and I am
excited to analyze the microbial community composition. My efforts have been
(happily) delayed by the addition of another member to my family, baby Vera, who
was born in May. Two-year old Ramona is very excited to fill her new role as big
sister, and is already doing big sister things like reading to the baby, pinching her
cheeks, and claiming the baby is hitting her while they’re both strapped into car
seats in the back of the car.
Richard Silver (CSI Laboratories and Field Technician)
Hello all, I have recently completed my first year at Trinity University,
working as a Lab and Field Technician for the Center for the Sciences and
Innovation (CSI) – Geosciences Department. I have found Trinity University to be
a very friendly work environment; everyone in CSI and the Geosciences
Department has been most welcoming.
Thus far, my support for Geosciences lab courses has consisted of
preparing rock and mineral samples, laying out fossils and maps; setting up
microscopes and thin sections; assisting in microscope inventory, preventative
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maintenance, and thin section preparation; and preparing physical models for
laboratory demonstrations, including: a Caldera Demonstration Model, Sandbox
Fault Model, and sandpaper Earthquake Models.
Recently I have been involved with modifying the sandpaper Earthquake
Models; a reel, and in some cases a motor, has recently been added to the model
to better demonstrate the accumulation of stress associated with stick-slip fault
activity. Modifications have also been made to the Gemini Table in one of our
research labs; the table has recently been fastened to the floor to provide more
accurate separation of materials during shaking cycles. New hoses, recovery
containers, and sediment traps will also be added to the system prior to next
summer’s research activities. I have also been involved in the development of an
Augmented Reality Sandbox, which is near completion. The sandbox will allow
students to better understand topography, water flow, and contour lines. The
system utilizes a Kinect 3D camera and a projector to display a colored elevation
map with contour lines on the surface of the sand.
My responsibilities with the Geosciences Department have also consisted
of coordinating field vehicle schedules, organizing field equipment, and
overseeing field trip logistics. It has been a wonderful experience assisting the
professors with the students’ academic development on trips to Port Aransas,
Enchanted Rock, Llano Uplift, the Llano River near Mason, Texas, and Majors
Field Trip to the Grand Canyon and Central Arizona areas.
I am a member of the Bexar Grotto, a Chapter of the National Speleological
Society; we are currently conducting karst surveys at Government Canyon State
Natural Area, cave digs and explorations, and providing cave tours in and around
the San Antonio area. I am a member of the South Texas Geological Society, and
currently serving as Newsletter Chair for Alamo Chapter of the Air and Waste
Management Association. My wife Marion and I met as undergraduate students at
the University of Southern Maine; she is currently a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner
serving at various hospitals here in San Antonio.
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ALUMNI NEWS
1966
Now retired, Jack Downing and his wife migrate to Colorado five months of
the year to escape the Texas heat. This September, they plan to travel to
Saudi Arabia, Israel and Petra.
1969
Harry Cowan retired two years ago after 42 years in the oil and gas industry.
He’s enjoying their grandkids and working on a second novel, a western, of
course!
1972
Thomas Masinter remains the President and Owner of Thomas Masinter Piano
Studio in San Antonio, still making rock music! He serves on the Board of
the San Antonio Music Teachers Association and is active as a teacher,
music director and computer. He makes it out to Big Bend country, every
year, to relive the glory days of geology.
1973
Ves Box has retired as an Adult Services Librarian for the Dallas Public
Library. He has four grown children and spends much of his time traveling
across Texas.
1974
Byrd Larberg is retired and “happy as a clam in a warm Cretaceous sea!”
Richard Sepulvado retired from the energy business on August 1, 2015.
1974, cont.
Kinney Simon is retired and living in San Marcos, Texas. He has three
wonderful grandchildren and conducts Bible Studies at assisted living
facilities, local food banks, the Hay County Jail and his church.
Jackie Cox Ramsey has retired as a petroleum geologist. By the time this
newsletter is published, they will be the grandparents of seven grandchildren
under the age of six! “This is the best of what life has to offer. I'm
thankful.”
Harry “Bud” Holzman is working as a consulting geologist, for Thunder
Exploration. He’s still working in the area of oil exploration but is no longer
working in Iraq but instead staying in Texas.
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1975
Clyde Yancey is Vice President of Exploration for the Uranium Energy
Corporation in Corpus Christi, TX. He is working on the development of
uranium resources in Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and in the
western margins of the Parana Basin in Eastern Paraguay. He’s awaiting
one more boom before he retire. He lives between south Florida and Maine
– “who would have thought I would become an East Coaster?”
1977
John Snedden is a Senior Research Scientist at the University of Texas at
Austin, where he has completed his 5th year, following early retirement from
ExxonMobil in 2011. At UT-Austin, he directs the Gulf Basin Depositional
Synthesis Research Project, which is focused on deep-water oil and gas
exploration. He supervises a number of students including one recent
Trinity graduate.
1978
Steve Slezak is a Senior Sales Engineer for Schlumberger in Houston. He just
sent the last of his three sons off to school at Alabama. “Finally, empty
nesters!” He’s hoping to retire in a couple of years.
Over the past ten years, Scott West has a developed a decent collection of
minerals, primarily Pb-type oxides. Some of the showier ones include
wulfenite, vanadinite, cerussite, anglesite and mimetite from major mines
world-wide. His primary business is insurance, so he has recently started a
specialized niche in insuring high-end mineral collections as well as
coverage for high-end mineral dealers. This summer he made a minor
investment in an exploration program of a copper deposit in western Alaska,
but, unfortunately, Scott won't be able to spend time on location until their
drilling program begins in summer of 2017.
1980
David Noller has been working in Saudi Arabia for the last eight years with
Aramco. During this time he has travelled extensively to Europe, Middle
East and Asia and has seen some great scuba diving sites in the Maldives
and Red Sea. In November he is getting married to a woman from Thailand
who owns a resort there. After he leaves Aramco, he will help her run the
resort.
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1982
This year, Vivian Gay Gratton changed her legal name to Finn Vivian Gratton
(them/they pronouns). She is enjoying her work as a psychotherapist in the
Santa Cruz and Mountain View, California. Finn gets a backpack trip in
every year, mostly in the southwest – Utah and Arizona – and still
remembers enough geology to get even more enjoyment out of the “Grand
Staircase.”
1983
David Shiels and his wife, Carol, continue to provide geoscience and
engineering consulting services to mostly Texas clients. However, over the
past two years, Shiels Engineering (SE) has expanded to serve other states
including Louisiana, California, South Carolina and Florida. SE has not
opened offices in those states but undertaken projects there. Shiels’ main
focus of work is environmental, health & safety, oil & gas E&P, and water
(surface and groundwater) issues (mostly drainage issues). Carol and David
are currently serving on the National board of directors of the Society of
Independent Professional Earth Scientists (SIPES) and, in August 2016,
David was elected Vice Chairman of National Resources. David is excited
about this role in SIPES and intends to look at natural resources other than
oil and gas so that our community can better understand the tradeoffs
between renewable and non-renewable natural resources. His articles will
appear in the SIPES Quarterly publication. David and Carol's daughter is
currently a high school teacher in Waco and is working on her Master’s
Degree in Education at Texas A&M. Their son Andrew just graduated from
UT-San Antonio with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical
Engineering and is employed by Avarint, a CUBRC Company, in San
Antonio. David and Carol help run the family ranch and have increased the
herd, through a replacement heifer program, to 80 mother cows (two herds).
Their goal is to grow the herd to 100 mother cows by 2018.
Jeff Wilt is the EVP and Owner of Alpha Testing, Inc., with offices in Dallas,
Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. Business is solid in the geotechnical
world and Alpha now has over 320 employees across the state. Both of their
children have graduated from the University of Arkansas and are working
and Texas. Beth and Jeff are enjoying that “life after” and spend time
traveling and often taking touring motorcycles on extended rides. He finally
made it to the Grand Canyon for an extended visit last year!
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1983, cont.
Mike Walsh is Assistant Chief for the San Antonio Fire Department. He’s
closing in on retirement from a great career and looking forward to RV’ing
with his wife.
Tom Sims is currently managing supply chain issues for Anadarko Petroleum
Midstream assets and lives in The Woodlands, Texas.
1984
Hector Caram is a Senior Geologist with Alta Mesa Holdings in Houston.
He’s recently been working new territory, the Stack Trend in Oklahoma
Martha (McKnight) Jagucki is a hydrologist with the U.S.G.S. MichiganOhio Water Science Center in Columbus, Ohio. Last summer she was put in
charge of archiving files and data for completed projects at work, which all
had to be done before an office move and the end of the summer! Their two
sons went off to college this fall and so they are empty-nesters. She’s
looking forward to some relaxing travels!
Randy Walters’ main piece of news is that, after 19 years, he still loves
teaching high school science and math in Fort Collins, Colorado. One of his
science classes is Geology and he has found it to be so cool to take students
in the field to see the geology of the Front Range. Though he is eligible for
retirement this year, he’s enjoying it too much to quit now and will probably
hang in there for another five years or so until his wife, Brenda (also a
teacher at his school) retires.
1985
David Harvey says “Hello fellow Trinity alums!” He’s still living and working
in Corpus Christi as a Senior Environmental Engineer for Lyondell Basell
Industries. He’s been with LYB for almost 14 years now. Although his job
title contains the term "Engineer", please don't hold that against him! He’s
still surfing and practicing martial arts. His oldest daughter now attends
U.T. in Austin (hook 'em!). He enjoys hearing from the Trinity family!
Chris Whitten is Senior Vice President for Geosciences with Indigo Minerals
LLC in Houston. His oldest daughter, Alice is a Trinity graduate, and his
younger daughter is a sophomore at Trinity.
1986
VeeAnn (Atnipp) Cross is still working as a marine geologist with the
U.S.G.S. in Wood Hole. She doesn’t have any news to report, except that
she is so sad that she couldn’t make it to the party for Dr. Freed last April.
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1986, cont.
Kelly (Ring) Bender is in her 22nd year at Arizona State University. She’s
been involved with mission planning and data analysis for the following
NASA missions: Magellan (Venus), Galileo SSI [Solid state imager]
(Jupiter), Mars Global Surveyor TES [thermal emission spectrometer] and
Mars 2001 Odyssey THEMIS [thermal emission imaging system]. She has
spent the past 17 years running instruments at Mars and feels so lucky to
have a job that she loves. Kelly finds it very rewarding to be in charge of
collecting a dataset of infrared and visible images that will support research
for many years to come. Anyone can check out her work at
themis.mars.asu.edu. Kelly’s husband runs his own environmental
consulting company and is a registered geologist with the state of Arizona.
Her 25 year old daughter and her husband will welcome their first child in
November - making Kelly a grandma! Her 21 year old son and his fiancée
are getting married on the day she wrote this bit of news. Both her kids are
photographers, but have day jobs that actually pay the rent. Kelly spends
much of her free time studying/teaching/performing a variety of styles of
belly dance and Indian bollywood. She has travelled to England and
Scotland to teach belly dance - as the dance group she is in is internationally
known. Most recently, she helped film their third dance DVD. Between
Mars and dance, she has very few hours of free time, but when she does, she
sews, mostly custom work for other dancers.
1989
Paul Hughbanks is an archaeologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in
New Orleans. He works in planning projects and keeping the Corps in
compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act, intended to
guarantee that federal funds (used by federal or other governments) are not
used to destroy pieces of past history before first being located and recorded
to the full extent possible. He also aids other fields of study during the
Planning Process with similar laws and regulations that are intended to
protect our history and the pre-history of the USA even while necessary
infrastructure projects are built.
1991
Mark Tinker lives in Cocoa Beach, Florida, and is the CEO for Quantum
Technology Sciences, Inc. They have three children, 14, 10 and 9 years old.
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1994
Chris Blakely has been working from home as a Senior Solutions Engineer for
GISinc in Miami for almost nine years. They have three children – 8, 5, and
3 years old. He has fond memories of his time in the geoscience program at
Trinity!
1997
Iska (Rushing) Wire is the Senior Director of Talent Management and
Director of Development at Rice University in Houston. She stopped by the
Trinity campus this past summer while on a family vacation… fingers
crossed for some more TU Tigers in the family!
1999
Sarah (Newland) Pearce’s husband, Justin, recently accepted a position in the
Risk Management Center of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, assessment
dam and levee safety for the western U.S. They thus moved to Denver last
July. Sarah grew up in Denver, so it’s “coming home.” She remains
employed with the San Francisco Estuary Institute, but is looking to expand
her network in Colorado, particularly in fluvial geomorphology and wetland
rapid assessment.
2000
After graduating from Trinity, Nathan Franklin worked at Southwest Research
Institute for five years before moving to Freiburg, Germany to do a Master’s
degree in Computer Science. Now, after ten years of living and working in
Germany, Nathan and his wife have moved back to Texas to be closer to
family and to be able to enjoy Tex-Mex everyday! Nathan is working as a
software developer at a research department at UT-Austin.
2002
Jennifer (Sjolin) Wilson works for the Illinois Water Resources Center in
Urbana as a Drinking Water Specialist. Forever with one foot in each of the
two cultures, she continues to work part-time leading outreach efforts related
to drinking water in rural communities, while also running an on-line
education business in the paper-crafting industry. She’s also excited to
begin a new adventure this fall as her daughter’s Daisy Girl Scout leader!
2003
Most of Marina Suarez’ “news” as of late centers around being awarded a
National Science Foundation Career Grant this year. Receipt of this grant (a
five-year, $500,000 award) is a great honor. Marina thanks Prof. Kathy
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Surpless for helpful discussions and sharing her successful Career grant
proposal. Marina recently returned from a successful field season in Utah,
related to this grant. Joining her were her two graduate students, three
undergraduates and two community college students. They collected
samples from paleosols in the Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation. This
year, Marina goes up for tenure. In other news, her dog Mallie (short for
Malachite) turned 6 this year. She also gained another nephew (Cole
Lawrence Cromley) in December 2015, and, last year, two step nieces (Eva
and Ella Lamb).
Kate (Dixon) Lambert was married on January 1, 2014, and they welcomed
their son later than year on August. He loves the outdoors and has already
traveled to San Antonio (although they didn’t make it to Trinity on that trip).
2005
Meredith Faber is currently working as a development geologist in the
Marcellus Business Unit at Noble Energy in Houston. She’s also co-chair of
the AAPG Young Professionals Special Interest Group and will be serving
as the Judging Chair at the 100th Anniversary AAPG Annual Meeting in
Houston in 2017. They have an exciting program planned – she invites all to
please stop by the Judges’ Read Room and say “Hi!”
2008
Emily Beverly will be finishing up a post-doctoral position at Georgia State
University in January, 2017, and will be starting a new one at the University
of Michigan.
2010
In 2015, Danielle (Foster) Martin and her husband moved to China to teach at
an international school in Shenzhen. She is teaching 5th grade physical
geography and 9th grade AP human geography.
2011
This year, Megan D’Errico defended her Ph.D. in geochemistry and graduated
from Stanford University. She is a post-doctoral research specialist at the
San Diego State Research Foundation.
Rebecca Dorsey became engaged in December 2015 to James Wintering and
will be married in 2017. She finished her Presidential Management
Fellowship at the US Department of State in January 2016, during which she
spent 4 months at the United States Trade Representative in the Executive
Office of the President and 3 months at the U.S. Mission to the United
Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization in Paris.
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2012
Brett Mays moved to a new company (Arcadis in Houston) in December 2015,
where he is a geologist in charge of managing various groundwater
remediation and soil vapor intrusion projects.
Brant Konetchy is a hydrogeologist at LGB-Guyton Associates in Austin,
Texas and will be marrying a fellow geologist in October 2016.
This fall, Alexa Goers will be continuing her Ph.D. graduate studies at the
University of Kansas.
2014
Sarah Wigginton began her Master’s degree studies at Utah State University in
August. She will be working with Dr. James Evans.
Erich deZoeten is a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Kansas.
Last summer, he obtained a scarce industry internship with Concho
Resources.
2015
Travis Dodson is working on his Master’s degree in hydrogeology at the
University of Western Australia.
After serving as an intern, Leanne Stepchinski was recently brought on as a
full-time staff member of the hydrogeology team in the Geosciences
Department at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.
2016
Nate Adams is seeking employment in San Antonio!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------GeoNews: A newsletter published by the Trinity University Department of Geosciences.
Compiled and edited by Diane Smith.
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