Dr. Laura Lukes earned her BS from SES in 2002 and now works as the Assistant Director for Teaching Excellence, Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning, George Mason University. Contact: llukes@gmu.edu
"My most memorable experience as an SES student was the taphonomy experiment in Dr. Loren Babcock’s Historical Geology class. I do this activity with my students—it’s one of those learning moments you never forget because it changes how you look at the world."
Where has your degree taken you?
It’s taken me to the oil fields in California to the middle of the ice sheet in Greenland to working with students at different levels to working with faculty on their teaching to engaging citizens in radio science experiments during an eclipse.
What is your favorite memory as a student?
The taphonomy experiment in Dr. Loren Babcock’s Historical Geology class. I do this activity with my students—it’s one of those learning moments you never forget because it changes how you look at the world. Also, the Geomorphology field trip in which the professor had us describing this weathered “sedimentary rock” only to reveal that there was a McDonald’s cup embedded in it. 20 years later as we look at all research on plastics becoming deposited in our sedimentary environments, I still think of that cup and how eye-opening it was then.
What advice do you have for current and future students?
Seek out several mentors AND advocates, there is a difference and they don’t need to be your advisor or on your committee. Ask questions (even if you feel the question is silly) and seek out and be open to opportunities as they arise.