DEPARTMENT OF
Earth and Atmospheric Sciences AT CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
College of
News for Alumni and Friends of the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Central Michigan University, Fall 2018
Science & Engineering Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
From the Department Chair The Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences faculty and all of our current Geology, Meteorology, and Environmental Science students extend our warmest greetings to you, our department alumni and friends! As you will see in this newsletter, EAS accomplished a great deal over the past year. We successfully recruited a boundary layer meteorologist (Welcome Jason Keeler!), Drs. Mona Sirbescu and Daria Kluver completed productive sabbaticals, and we conducted a comprehensive review of the Geology and Meteorology Programs. In addition, EAS faculty took on two new doctoral students, raising our total to six. Although our search for a new faculty member in structural geology was unsuccessful, we hope to launch a second search in the near future. Our longstanding tradition of delivering outstanding classroom, laboratory, and field experiences to our undergraduate students continues. At the same time, EAS faculty research efforts are generating new knowledge and providing exceptional opportunities for undergraduate and graduate student training in the lab and in the field. As a result, our students have been selected to receive an impressive array of awards, scholarships, internships, and REU experiences within and beyond CMU. Nothing demonstrates our success as a department more than the success of our students! Yet this success does not simply happen on its own. Behind the scenes, the EAS faculty work exceedingly hard. As a small department offering three scientifically rigorous programs, our faculty shoulder an imposing array of responsibilities. In addition to teaching and research, these include student advising, curriculum development, program assessment, student recruitment, internship coordination, field trips, and community outreach, to name only a very few. Yet somehow, through sheer effort and determination, the EAS faculty manage to consistently make things seem effortless to the students in their classes. It is often only after graduation that our students come to realize how much their instructors truly contributed to their professional training and academic growth. As chair, I am extremely proud of the many contributions and achievements of our remarkable faculty, and I thank them for their service! On behalf of all the EAS students, faculty, and staff, I would like to extend our sincere gratitude for the essential support that you provide. Your contributions help us fund student research, field trips, internships, practicums, career counseling, weather forecasting, and travel to attend professional meetings. Thanks in large part to your past generosity, we were able to award more than $30,000 in scholarships and awards to our undergraduate students last year. As the number of students in our department has grown (along with the growing cost of delivering a high quality educational experience) our needs have grown as well. We rely on your continuing support to maintain our success in educating new generations of students. Finally, please write or email to let us know what you’ve been up to. We also welcome you to stop by Brooks Hall for a visit the next time you return to the CMU campus. Nothing would please us more than staying connected with all of you. Cheers! Larry Lemke Professor and Chair Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences eas.cmich.edu
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About the Edmore Meteorite
Eventually she passed it through the nomenclature procedure, following the guidelines from the Meteoritical Society and coordinated by the Smithsonian Institution, which is the permanent repository of a small slice. It’s been an (out-of-this-world) blast to deal with the media and the explosion of “could-you-identify-my-rock” kind of requests. So yeah... thanks Nathan!
Recently, we were able to help identify a 10.220 kg meteorite found near Edmore, Michigan. Maybe you have seen that valuable “doorstop” on CNN or on the local news?
The owner has generously agreed to contribute 10% of the meteorite’s value to EAS scholarship funds, but we will not know its actual value until we have the final classification.
It all started when Nathan Brandner (BS ‘03, now a senior geologist with Barr Engineering in Grand Rapids) directed the meteorite owner to Mona Sirbescu. After a preliminary test using pXRF looked promising, Mona began the long process to collect all of its physical, chemical, and location parameters.
Dr. John Allen FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
John Allen teaches Severe and Unusual Weather, Atmospheric Thermodynamics, Mesoscale Meteorology, and Atmospheric Modeling.
His research group over the past year has included 5 undergraduates and a doctoral student, Maria Molina. Research projects have spanned understanding the origins of moisture tornadoes over the United States, how often hail is expected over the United States and Australia, and identifying the driving sources of variability in severe thunderstorm events. The group over the past year has been extremely active, with 10 articles published across Geophysical Research Letters, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, and Monthly Weather Review. Most recently, two students and Dr. Allen presented at the 29th American Meteorological Society Severe Local Storms Conference held in Stowe, Vermont, with three oral presentations and two posters showcasing the research, including oral presentations by alumnus Emily Tinney (now a Masters student at the University of Oklahoma) along with oral and poster presentations by Maria. Both gave excellent presentations on future projections of severe storms under a warming climate over Michigan, a moisture attribution technique for tornadic storms over the United States, and drivers of winter variability of tornado frequency. Maria Molina received an award for an outstanding student presentation at the meeting.
Dr. Megan Rohrssen FACULTY SPOTLIGHT Now witness the power of this fully armed and operational organic geochemistry lab! The Central Organic Geochemistry lab is equipped to extract carbon-based compounds from just about any matrix, from rocks and oils to ground water and plant or animal tissues. My lab features a gas chromatographtriple quadrupole mass spectrometer which offers a unique combination of high sensitivity (e.g. as low as 100 femtograms, or 1x10-13 grams, for some analytes) and excellent selectivity that is ideal for analyzing the complex mixtures of organics that occur in natural samples. With this equipment, my lab is conducting research in diverse topics, from freshwater biogeochemistry to oil biomarkers to environmental contaminants. I am currently looking to recruit an excellent doctoral student to conduct
research in the organic geochemistry and geobiology of ancient and modern methane cycling in terrestrial environments. Recent publications I have been part of that are related to the capabilities of this lab have been published in top journals (e.g. Nature Ecology and Evolution) so I am confident that the capacity of the lab and problems we are investigating will prove fruitful. Last year’s newsletter showed a photograph from a scouting trip for the earth history field trip to Grand Ledge, MI. Adventurous alumni may have gone climbing on sandstone cliffs at a nearby site. I take the students to two locations in Fitzgerald Park where they can practice identifying sedimentary rocks in outcrop and construct their first stratigraphic column.
We also visit a site with cross-stratified sandstone where the students get to grapple with Brunton compasses, and apply the 3-D thinking we do in labs to the field. This field trip helps our newest geology majors reinforce their introductory experience and lay solid groundwork for subsequent earth science courses. New to me for this year are classes in low temperature stable isotope geochemistry and biogeochemical cycles. Students in low temperature isotope geochemistry are learning principles of the field such that they have an additional tool to use in their future research or applied careers. We focus on problem sets, papers, applications and theory part of the time and are taking trips to working isotope labs to see the practical considerations first-hand.
Our student chapter for the American Institute of Professional Geologists has been hard at work this year. Eight of our members attended the AIPG National Conference in Colorado, while sixteen members are attending the Geological Society of America meeting in Indianapolis.
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Many of our members are not only engaging in research but presenting at the GSA meeting this year as well.
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Dr.FACULTY MartySPOTLIGHT Baxter Marty Baxter continues to teach the Synoptic Meteorology sequence, along with the introductory course for new meteorology majors. Dr. Baxter is in the third year of work on his grant from the National Weather Service to investigate how new, highly detailed computer model forecasts might best be used to predict snowfall that occurs in narrow bands. He has been able to involve several undergraduate students in the project. He presented a poster on this work at a recent American Meteorological Society conference. Dr. Baxter has also established a new collaboration with Dr. Tao Zheng of the geography department, investigating the effectiveness of atmospheric computer models in transporting carbon dioxide. Finally, Dr. Baxter led the meteorology faculty in completing our 5-year review of the program.
Dr.FACULTY DariaSPOTLIGHT Kluver
Along with computer-based research on snowfall climatology, Dr. Daria Kluver spent the last year at CMU working on establishing and maintaining field projects that involve undergraduate students. Along with Dr. Wendy Robertson, Cody Converse (MET graduate 2018), and Kyle DeLong (MET junior), she has spent many hours standing chest-deep in wetlands working on hydroclimate monitoring stations on Beaver and Garden Islands in northern Lake Michigan. These stations measure interactions of energy and water through the atmosphere, lake, and surface. Working on a new field project with Kayla Lemke (MET senior) has also involved setting up a climate monitoring station in a remote forested location in the northern Michigan lower peninsula. Highlights of the installation process have been successfully trouble shooting and repairing several sensor issues and not seeing any bears while working on the station. Both of these particular projects have been valuable experiences for our students and have resulted in several poster presentations at regional and national conferences. The Community of Future Environmental Scientists (CFES) started in 2017 as a place for environmental science majors and minors to get to know each other, get help in classes, and plan fun events to help CMU students better understand our connection to the environment. ENS majors present their internship experiences at our meetings. CFES also sponsors networking opportunities such as attending Michigan Association of Environmental Professionals (MAEP) meetings and going to conferences. We also contributed to a department wide food drive and helped squeeze out a win over the EAS faculty!
First Annual Earth & Atmospheric Sciences Food Drive Competition Last November, the EAS Faculty challenged student members of SCAMS, AIPG, and CFES to a food drive. Over the course of a month, students and faculty vied to see who could collect the most nonperishable food donations for the Isabella Community Soup Kitchen. We used a giant balance placed on the third floor of Brooks Hall to indicate which group was in the lead, and the competition went back and forth many times. In the end, we collected more than 700 pounds of food! Final results showed that the Students bested our Faculty by one half pound (less than the weight of a single can of soup!). A plaque commemorating this achievement was attached to the highly coveted Pork-n-Beans trophy, which is proudly displayed in the EAS office. Needless to say, the faculty have already challenged the students to a rematch in 2018!
EAS Faculty & Staff - 366.5 pounds • EAS Students - 367 pounds • GRAND TOTAL - 733.5 pounds
Dr. Anthony Chappaz FACULTY SPOTLIGHT At the last Goldschmidt conference in Boston, Dr. Anthony Chappaz was invited to present an emerging new sub-discipline in geosciences: molecular geochemistry. Over the last few years, Dr. Chappaz has become a strong advocate and an emerging leader in this cutting-edge research field. Most of the geochemical community keeps relying on elemental concentration and, when available, isotopic composition to investigate trace element biogeochemical cycles, but often neglect molecular aspects. Unfortunately, this omission can lead to misinterpretation of ancient environmental archives, misunderstanding of biogeochemical processes or plain speculation. Using trace element molecular geochemistry can contribute to prevent such pitfalls by combining measures of concentration, isotope signature, mapping and speciation at micro or nanometer scales using state-of-the-art techniques. The applications are almost infinite and can offer new insights in biogeosciences, environmental sciences, climate sciences, material sciences, forensic sciences and medical sciences.
Meteorology Program Weather Station now part of MSU’s Enviroweather Network Over the past two summers, faculty members Marty Baxter and Daria Kluver worked with CMU students and Michigan State University staff to ensure our campus weather station met the requirements to be part of MSU’s Enviroweather network. The network consists of nearly 100 stations across Michigan and Wisconsin. MSU uses the data to drive numerous agricultural models which allow farmers to make better decisions regarding irrigation and pest control. The data will also be passed along to national data archiving centers. Real-time and archived data from the station can be viewed at: https://www.enviroweather.msu.edu/weather.php?stn=mou.
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Dr. Mona Sirbescu FACULTY SPOTLIGHT I have continued to work on the origin of giant crystals in lithium-rich pegmatites and the formation of “graphic” granite. The highlight of my summer was a field trip to Maine to research an active lithium mine with giant spodumene crystals. Although they may be not the longest, they could be the most massive in the world! The theme of our latest field trips to the UP with the Economic Geology classes in April and combined Mineralogy and Geological Investigations in September was “surviving the cold.” But the 35-36°F temperatures did not stop us! Jasper Knob was as impressive as ever, and taking strike and dip with our Bruntons around the Republic banded iron formation was “sticky”, to say the least. Please send me news and pictures from wherever you are! Miss you all!
Back on Campus
Alumni share why they come back to CMU “Why do I come back to CMU? It’s simple, I vividly remember the impact that Career Day and visiting with CMU Geology alumni had on my decision to pursue graduate school and ultimately a career in the petroleum industry. When I declared my Geology major I really did not know what I was going to do with the degree, yet it was those discussions with the alumni and faculty that helped steer me down that path. Hopefully my experiences and being able to provide some perspective on working in the industry can better inform those sitting where I once did.” – Ryan Krueger
“Central Michigan University was very important in my life. Before attending CMU, I was a young kid struggling with what I wanted to do for a living and attending Schoolcraft College in Livonia Michigan, about to go into the Culinary Arts program to become a cook. My Dad told me I should work on my grades instead and try something else. Boy, I’m glad I listened to him. After working on my grades, I attended college night at my school and CMU was one of the major Universities that came to visit. As I was thumbing through the major possibilities, I saw meteorology and knew instantly that was my calling. Because of CMU, I’ve been able to make my hobby into a career. I like to say I haven’t worked a day in my life, because I love what I do. Central Michigan University made that all possible and that’s why I felt it was important to give back. CMU is helping prepare future meteorologists for this world, and I was honored and humbled to be asked to be part of it.” – Mark Lee
“Being a part of the Geology Alumni Advisory Board and giving Career Day presentations has been an engaging way to maintain my relationship with the CMU Geology Department. It’s a point of pride to see the Department’s efforts to continue improving their already stellar program. Without a doubt, it was my experiences at CMU that launched my career, and I’m so thankful for the chance to share what I’ve learned with the next generation of geologists.” – Emily Hartwick
“As an NWS meteorologist, my invitation to attend the 2017 CMU Meteorology Career Day was perfect timing. The event was ideal for conveying an overview of the many changes in progress across the NWS, from day to day forecast operations at a local office to national decision support initiatives opening opportunities for new people. There was a lot to talk about and the chance to inform and inspire students considering an NWS career encouraged me to attend. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how inspired I was in return. It was exciting to visit the campus again and see first hand the impressive progress made in the meteorology program, to catch up with veteran faculty and meet new faculty, and to meet with students face to face. I strongly endorse the event for any alums considering participation.” – Bryan Tilley
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Dr.FACULTY LarrySPOTLIGHT Lemke My students and I keep busy modeling groundwater contaminant transport in glacial aquifers and measuring trace metal concentrations in urban garden soils using portable x-ray fluorescence (pXRF). This year, EES doctoral student Leah Jackson began investigating natural attenuation of 1,4-dioxane in groundwater and undergraduate Sadie Huggler completed a study of metal soil concentrations in Mount Pleasant. This picture was taken in my lab during a pXRF training session led by CMU Geology alumnus Jonathan Knapp (BS ’08).
Dr. Natalia Zakharova FACULTY SPOTLIGHT I can’t believe my first year at CMU is already over! It was a busy and productive one. I had a chance to teach both face-to-face and online classes, and I am excited to be teaching a revised and updated Introduction to Geophysics this semester. Two undergraduate students have already joined my research team, and I’m looking to recruit more undergraduate and graduate students this year. During the last academic year I had a unique opportunity to join a large research project under the umbrella of International Ocean Discovery Programs (IODP), which drilled offshore boreholes in the Gulf of Corinth in Greece.
The Gulf of Corinth hosts one of the most active rift basins in the world, and its sediments contain a record of deformation during early rift development, as well as climate variations during the last few million years. Following a month-long Science Party at the University of Bremen in Germany (an ironic name, since we were working there 12 hours each day, 7 days a week), I collected a set of samples and geophysical data for further analysis with my research team at CMU. This project is already yielding several productive collaborations, and will continue to provide research opportunities for me and the students I supervise.
Students in Introduction to Geophysics, building a ‘wave machine’ to explore parameters affecting seismic wave velocities.
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Dr. Jason Keeler NEW FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
Dr. Keeler joined the faculty at CMU this July following three years as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he explored new ways to study supercells using unmanned aircraft and mobile mesonets. In general, his research interests focus on mesoscale dynamics and boundary layer meteorology, with specializations in coastal meteorology, urban heat islands, winter cyclones, thunderstorm outflow airmasses, and atmospheric instabilities. He grew up in the New York City
suburbs, where his interest in weather was sparked by numerous blizzards and watching thunderstorms fall apart as they ingested cool, maritime air. He completed his B.S. in meteorology at SUNY Oswego in 2007, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences at the University of Illinois in 2010 and 2015, respectively. At CMU, Dr. Keeler is currently teaching Dynamic Meteorology, and he will teach the second course in the dynamics sequence along with Physical Meteorology in the spring.
While the courses he is teaching are more theoretical in nature, Dr. Keeler has participated in several NSF field campaigns. He’s particularly excited about plans to involve students in fieldwork studying supercells on the Great Plains and lake breezes off of Lake Michigan in summer 2019. There will be more to come on those ventures in next year’s newsletter!
The Student Chapter of the AMS is off to a fantastic start in fall 2018. Our members gained valuable experience speaking to elementary age students at Renaissance Public School Academy and teaching them about weather preparedness, and got to ask career professionals helpful questions on a trip to the National Weather Service Office in Gaylord. We have been very active with daily forecasts and social media content through our club website and social media platforms, including our CMU Weather Twitter account that is up to more than 2,300 followers and counting! There are many things to look forward to this academic year within SCAMS, including annual professional weather conferences held in Indiana and Iowa this coming spring. To the right is a photo of CMU meteorology students visiting the National Weather Service Office in Gaylord on Oct. 12, 2018. Pictured in the background is the office’s radar dome, or Radome.
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Dr.FACULTY Nicole West SPOTLIGHT The West lab has been busy since we last reported! At the end of 2017, we were awarded a major grant with collaborators from Georgia Tech (~$500k) from the National Science Foundation to study how biotite weathering initiates porosity development and regolith formation in the critical zone! In early Spring 2018, we started a project in Costa Rica, examining the relationships between rapid tectonic uplift and soil formation. In Summer 2018, we rapidly expanded our team with the arrival of two PhD students, Nicole Kelley and Miles Reed, who will be working on the biotite and Costa Rica projects, respectively. Finally, this fall, undergraduate researcher Kailey Gray will be presenting her work at the National Meeting of the Geological Society of America, titled, “Testing relationships between particle, chemical weathering, and erosion in the Klamath Mountains, CA.” We are all excited for another productive year here at CMU! Pictured to the left: Sampling material from the soil/saprolite interface (note red-tan transition at sunglasses height) from a “road” cut on the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica.
Dr. Wendy Robertson FACULTY SPOTLIGHT Dr. Robertson’s research group is currently focused on exploring human effects on groundwaterdependent ecosystems, including springs, wetlands, and riparian zones.
The group has projects examining the resiliency of dune and swale wetlands to climate change, predicting the effects of groundwater extraction on desert wetlands and springs, and quantifying the hydrologic impacts of emerald ash borer invasion.
We recently installed hydroclimate stations at Kellogg Experimental Forest in collaboration with researchers at Michigan State University to explore how canopy gaps in riparian zone effect stream processes including hyporheic exchange, evapotranspiration, and nutrient cycling.
In recognition of her work installing drinking water systems in East Africa, Dr. Robertson received the 2018 U.S. Chapter IAH (International Association of Hydrologists) International Service Award.
Back on Campus
Alumni share why they come back to CMU “Not too long ago I was sitting in the back row at Career Day, listening to stories and advice from CMU alumni. At the time, I had no idea what the coming months would bring or what I should even be doing in order to ensure a plan for after graduation. Sharing my experience was a way to help students who are in the same uncertain place as I was two years ago.” – Clara Brennan “Serving on the Geology Alumni Advisory Board and participating in career day activities have been very rewarding. It has been interesting and exciting to see how the Geology Department has changed and how many things have stayed the same. Even though the faculty and students have new faces, the department still has the close knit and supportive vibe I fondly remember. Thank you for the opportunity to share my post graduate experiences.” – Amanda Armbruster
Dear Alumni and Friends, Two years ago a Geology Alumni Advisory Board (GAAB) was established to provide external perspectives and support to help the CMU Geology Program maintain and increase its stature and effectively prepare its students for careers/employment. Current GAAB members represent a diverse array of professional experience (government, consulting, petroleum, and academia) spanning multiple decades since graduation from CMU. We’re committed to sharing our time and resources to help the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences continue to produce outstanding geologists. In our recent meetings, we have provided guidance to EAS on many topics including increasing student enrollment, revising the Geology curriculum, developing an M.S. program, and bringing the ASBOG Fundamentals of Geology exam to CMU. One of the most important topics we have discussed is financial assistance for students. Through our meetings, we have learned that CMU geology students have significant financial burdens that other CMU students don’t have. The department’s greatest needs for geology majors include: 1) travel funds for field trips and professional meetings, 2) field camp support, and 3) funding to help offset the $200 fee for taking the ASBOG FG exam. We need your help to give CMU students the type of training and experiences that will make them attractive to future employers. Many of us recall how much of an impact receiving financial assistance for field camp or conference attendance made on our student budgets – now is a chance to pay that help forward to the next generation of students. Please join us in supporting these essential educational and professional activities that help to distinguish the CMU Geology Program from its peers. Consider making a donation to one of the funds listed on the attached envelope. Sincerely, Bill Henderson (BS ’83) John Wise (BS ’83) Amanda Armbruster (BS ’98) Ryan Krueger (BS ’03) Emily Hartwick (BS ’05) Matt Lyter (BS ’09) Martin Steinbis (BS ’75) College of CMU, an AA/EO institution, strongly and actively strives to increase diversity and provide equal opportunity within its community. CMU does not discriminate against persons based on age, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, height, marital status, national origin, political persuasion, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, race, religion, sex, sex-based stereotypes, sexual orientation, transgender status, veteran status, or weight (see http://www.cmich.edu/ocrie).” CSE 110718
Science & Engineering Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Mount Pleasant, MI 48859 Permit No. 93
College of Science and Engineering Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science Brooks 314 Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant, MI 48859
Thank you to all of the alumni and friends who helped support the Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences over the past year! Mr. Jamie D. Acord Mr. Ashley J. Altieri Dr. Melissa Crider Andrea Mr. and Mrs. James Roger Armbruster Mr. Eric Branum Ms. Maura Elizabeth Casey Mr. Richard E. Dudek II ExxonMobil Ms. Pamela Grozdon Ms. Kimberly Ann Hartmus Mrs. Pamela Kay Howson Mr. Jonathan Phillip Knapp
Mr. Ryan and Mrs. Vicki Krueger Dr. Lawrence and Mrs. Wendy Lemke Mr. and Mrs. Michael Richard Pennington Ms. Erin Dorothy McDonough Muskegon Development Company Mrs. Beth Ellen Steele Najmah Surveys Dr. Wendy Robertson Ms. Ashley Kathleen Saelens Mr. Clinton Schmidt Col. Shawn E. Teagan Mr. and Mrs. Eric Eugene Wallis
CMU Geology and Meteorology Alumni – Where are you now? What are you doing? We genuinely would like to know! Please send a letter to the department or an email to our chair (L.D.Lemke@cmich.edu) and fill us in on your whereabouts, your career, and your achievements. Let us know if you would like to share your experiences during Alumni Career Day or if you are interested in serving on one of our Alumni Advisory Boards. Thank you for helping us to keep in touch! eas.cmich.edu
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