Letter from the Department Head

[after Chancellorsville, on the march to Gettysburg] “…the solider who would finally get the army through its trials was a profane, weary one with no stars on their shoulders and scant hope of any in their crown, the everlasting high private who was being challenged now, once and for all, to show what kind of person they really were.” – Bruce Catton, The Army of the Potomac: Glory Road

Greetings all from what might, just might be our turn away from a year of isolation and anxiety towards one where we live and work with new and better practices, and a renewed sense of collegiality and partnership. I have re-read many of the Friday Field Notes sent out over the past year that document the difficulties and dislocations everyone faced as the pandemic took over. Many of us, truth be told, had aspects of our lives that involved unexpected turns for the worst. We experienced plenty of sadness, worry, frustration, and fury during the past year of turmoil. Family life faced inwards, oftentimes for the better, but not always. Our villages shrunk down to moms and dads. But by now, time and space and the wonder of modern vaccines has put much of this trouble in our rear-view mirrors. I choose to be very cautiously optimistic that the virus will be contained, that our return to campus will be lasting, and that better times lie ahead.

Despite everything, the Department had a very good year. The faculty were tremendously productive in research, teaching, and service. Along with our graduate students -- typically as first authors -- we published 70 peer-reviewed papers; adding the astonishing 47 papers authored by Tom Algeo and his research team, the total hits 117. Thirteen externally-funded grant proposals were active, and another 22 proposals were submitted to external agencies, including the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Department of Energy, and the ACS’ Petroleum Research Fund. New external funding this past year totaled nearly $1.6M, a record. We taught 35 courses, nearly all of them 100% online, and nearly all of them online for the first time. The faculty adapted gamely to this mode of teaching as the curtain fell – boom! --on in-person classes, a tribute to their commitment to the next generation of geoscientists. Our courses were just about as sophisticated as the new technology allowed; zooming in colleagues from across the country to participate regularly in seminars was a notable silver lining. And other activities kept on: advising graduate students, reviewing papers and proposals, serving as editors-in-chief and assistant editors (for Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, Geology, Quaternary Research, and PALAIOS, for example), and doing the selfless work of doing service for a diverse host of committees, boards, and committees. Graduate students submitted 32 grant proposals last year; 12 of them were funded. I’m fortunate to be serving as chair

for such a creative and hard-working group.

The Department’s staff did their part to keep the gears turning. I don’t say this lightly: they will all tell you that the current Department Chair is not shy about texting and phoning. Pandemic or no, budgets need constant attention and updating, instruments need repair and modification, safety inspections and inventories don’t stop, students need advising and degree audits, stipends need to be administered, samples processed, equipment and supplies ordered…All the vital things that keep our house in order were done thanks to dedication of Sarah, Mike, Kate, and Krista who all worked under unusual and sometimes difficult conditions. Thank you.

Our students, both undergraduate and graduate, labored under unusual circumstanc-

es, too. Life wasn’t fair in many respects. The comradery that makes the student life special went missing. Our floors in Geology/Physics were largely empty (it felt strange) and we were all reminded that science is, in part, a social undertaking. DL learning has some advantages (and for some, is quite a hospitable and productive environment) but it cannot replace the collaborative learning that spontaneously takes place, for example, during a lab or in the field. I salute our students who found a way to take a full schedule of courses, get all their work done, kept their cameras on, and made the best of it. Twelve students graduated with Geology BS degrees, four with MS degrees, and three with their PhD. Well done!

The past year was also one for reflection and conversation about the future of the Department. The faculty focused on how the Department can remain relevant as our planet and society change rapidly. We need to be nimble as climate disruption becomes the norm, the distribution of water around the globe changes (already resulting in significant human migration), the demand for energy continues unabated, and the transition to green technologies leads to tremendous demand for elements across the Periodic Table. Relevant? Our livable future needs geoscience!

The Department is full of ideas to make our teaching and research more impactful. We plan to teach more quantitatively and more explicitly about climate, water, and all of Earth’s resources. Plans are afoot to build a new analytical geochemistry lab for hands-on teaching, for both undergrads and grads. As part of our effort to attract more undergradu-

ates to our major and to better prepare them for their careers, integrating quantitative, field, and laboratory geosciences will be our new mantra (look for Dylan Ward’s conceptual venn diagram in these pages). We are also taking steps to broaden our community. The Department’s first DE&I Committee met this spring and their recommendations will be considered in the fall. And, we are on the cusp of changing the Department’s name! After much discussion and several ballots, we have three finalists: the Department of Geosciences, the Department of Earth Sciences, and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. Please let me know what you think.

This past year was actually a great one for me in one important respect: reconnecting with many of our alumni and meeting and

getting to know many alums for the first time. I sincerely appreciate and admire your support of the Department and have so enjoyed the laughs we’ve had and the stories we’ve shared. It has been gratifying to learn what a positive impact your experience in the Department had on you. Thank you for your genuine interest in helping the current crop of students succeed. As always, thank you for all your financial support which allows us to do so many things that overwise simply would not be possible.

I hope we can connect in person during the coming months at the AAPG-SEG meeting this coming September in Denver, at GSA’s Annual meeting in Portland, OR in early October, or in Cincinnati next April for the joint meeting of the North-Central and Southeastern Sections of GSA (guess who’s the meeting Co-Chair?). And, with any luck there will be fieldtrips sometime during the next year. Let’s plan on meeting on an outcrop.

Best regards, stay well,

Craig dietscc@ucmail.uc.edu

The Department is reimagining its undergraduate program. Dylan Ward came up with this Venn diagram to illustrate how field work, quantitative approaches (including modeling), and laboratory analysis -- what the faculty do -- intersect in various ways creating an array of entry points for students and paths for them to follow as majors.

Let’s Celebrate Together!

CONTACT THE MEETING CO -CHAIRS Deadline for submitting proposals for sessions, field trips, and short courses: 1 July 2021

Craig Dietsch, dietscc@ucmail.uc.edu Rebecca Freeman, rebecca.freeman@uky.edu

If giving by check, donors should make their check payable to The University of Cincinnati Foundation and in the memo portion of the check, write-in “Research Fund in Geology” or “Geology Alumni Graduate Fund”. Please send your donation to

If online, donors should go to https://foundation.uc.edu/give Once on the website, under the “Select Area to Support”, click on the “UC Colleges/Units” button. There will be two drop downs. On the left drop down, they will select “College of Arts & Sciences”. On the right drop down, they will scroll down and select “Research Fund in Geology” or “Geology Alumni Graduate Fund”.