Congratulations Spring 2023 Earth Sciences Graduates!

May 5, 2023

Congratulations Spring 2023 Earth Sciences Graduates!

Photo of the Orton Hall bell tower with the text "School of Earth Sciences graduates Spring 2023"

 

 

Congratulations to our Spring 2023 graduates!

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Congratulations to our undergraduates who have finished bachelor's degrees in the past year. Their names are included below, along with the titles of their senior theses where applicable:

Headshot of McKenzie Bertsch

McKenzie Bertsch

SU22
Earth Sciences, BS
Honors in the Arts and Sciences

SENIOR THESIS: Marine barite content during recovery from the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) and long-term effects in the post Eocene Epoch

 

Headshot of Francesca Beuger

Francesca Beuger

SP23
Earth Sciences, BS
Honors in the Arts and Sciences

SENIOR THESIS: Validation and Accuracy Assessment of Six Years of Continuous SMB Observations at Summit Camp, Greenland From Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensing

 

Au2020 graduate pictures

Jacob Bolton

AU22
Earth Sciences, BS

SENIOR THESIS: Canopy structure affects ecosystem-scale water use efficiency under varying radiation conditions

 

Dane Bryant outside of the Lake Bonneville Salt Flats

Dane Bryant

AU22
Earth Sciences, BS

SENIOR THESIS: Textural Evidence of Multiple Generations Of Sulfides in the Marcellus Formation (Middle Devonian), West Virginia

 

Headshot of Garrett Byers

Garrett Byers

SP23
Earth Sciences, BS
Hydrogeology certificate

 

Au2020 graduate pictures

Lucas Carter

AU22
Earth Sciences, BS

Lithofacies and Neodymium Isotope Stratigraphy of the Knox Unconformity in the Central Appalachian Basin

 

Photo of Evan Cohen serving cheese

Evan Cohen

SP23
Earth Sciences, BS
Natural History Museum Curation certificate

SENIOR THESIS: Quantifying Strain in Mudcracks Using 3D Model Photogrammetry from Baker Quarry; Baker, WV

 

Headshot of Ian Gilles

Ian Gilles

SP23
Earth Sciences, BS
Honors Research Distinction in Earth Sciences
Honors in the Arts and Sciences
Hydrogeology certificate

SENIOR THESIS: Groundwater Models to Support Rural Water Development in Tanzania’s Internal Drainage Basin (Kiteto and Simanjiro Districts)

 

Photo of Jacob Haines doing field work

Jacob Haines

SP23
Earth Sciences, BS
Research Distinction in Earth Sciences
Natural History Museum Curation certificate

SENIOR THESIS: Synopsis of Radiocarbon Dates of Mastodon (Mammut americanum), Stag Moose (Cervalces scotti), and Jefferson’s Ground Sloth (Megalonyx jeffersonii) in North America and Implications for the Quaternary Land Mammal Extinction

 

Headshot of Katherine Iler

Katherine Iler

SP23
Earth Sciences, BS
Research Distinction in Earth Sciences
Engineering Science minor

SENIOR THESIS: The Effects of Temperature on Changes in Snow Specific Surface Area

 

Headshot of Ian Justice

Ian Justice

SP23
Evolution & Ecology and Earth Sciences, BS
Research Distinction in Earth Sciences
Natural History Museum Curation certificate

SENIOR THESIS: Utilizing Coral Reef Subfossil Assemblages to Assess Stability and Change in Belizean Reef Communities Over the Past 800 Years

 

Photo of Jacob Krier at field camp

Jacob Krier

SP23
Earth Sciences, BS
Research Distinction in Earth Sciences
Petroleum Geology certificate

SENIOR THESIS: Geochemical Comparison of Eruptive Material From Hekla And Hengill Volcanoes, Iceland

 

Headshot of Lauren McIntosh

Lauren McIntosh

SP23
Earth Sciences, BS
Research Distinction in Earth Sciences
Environmental Science minor

SENIOR THESIS: Sustainable Agroforestry for Climate - Stressed Farming Communities in the Sahel

 

Au2020 graduate pictures

Davina Seaton

AU22
Earth Sciences

 

Andrew Sever smiling next to a model trilobite

Andrew Sever

SP23
Earth Sciences, BS
Research Distinction in Earth Sciences
Natural History Museum Curation certificate

SENIOR THESIS: Anatomical Reassessment of a Ground Sloth Skeleton (Megalonyx Jeffersonii) from Holmes County, Ohio

 

Zoë Watson dressed in cap and gown

Zoë Watson

SP23
Earth Sciences, BS
Marine Science certificate

SENIOR THESIS: The Relationship Between Chlorophyll A and Algal Cell Density in Scleractinian Corals

GRADUATE STUDENTS

We salute the graduate students who have finished their theses this semester! They are named below, along with their thesis titles.

Headshot of Mariana Berger

Mariana Berger

Earth Science MS
Advisor: Dr. E. Griffith

Thesis title: Controls on Calcium Isotopes in a Cold Seep Crust from the Northern Gulf of Mexico Continental Slope 

 

Michael Braunagel smiling with his fiancee while hiking

Michael Braunagel

Earth Science PhD
Advisor: Dr. A. Griffith

Dissertation title: Emplacement of the Gigantic-Scale Sevier Gravity Slide Facilitated by Thermal Pressurization of Basal Zone Fluids

 

Headshot of René Castillo

René Castillo

Earth Science MS
Advisor: Dr. Durand

Dissertation title: Discovering Drought: Emerging Remote Sensing Approaches

 

Headshot of Christopher Conwell

Christopher Conwell

Earth Science PhD
Advisor: Dr. Saltzman

Dissertation title: Paleoenvironmental and diagenetic significance of paired isotope records in Middle–Late Ordovician marine limestones

 

Headshot of Lauren Decker

Lauren Decker

Earth Science MS
Advisor: Dr. A. Sawyer

Thesis title: Investigation of Subsurface Phosphorus Transport from Farm Field to Stream in a Tile Drained Landscape

 

Peter Haber

Peter Haber

Earth Science MS
Advisor: Dr. Saltzman

Thesis title: Application of calcium isotopes to understand the role of diagenesis in carbon isotope trends in ancient shallow water carbonates from the Early Mississippian

 

Headshot of Ben Jones

Benjamin Jones

Earth Science MS
Advisor: Dr. Cook

Thesis title: Natural Gas Hydrate Exploration in the Gulf of Mexico

 

Kaitlyn Meyer hiking

Kaitlyn Meyer

Earth Science MS
Advisor: Dr. Durand

Thesis title: Snow Specific Surface Area: Finding the True Margins of Error of the Ice Cube

 

Headshot of Alexa Regnier

Alexa Regnier

Earth Science MS
Advisor: Dr. E. Griffith

Thesis title: Impact of the Miocene Carbonate Crash (13-8 Ma) on Bulk Carbonate δ44/40Ca in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific