Say Goodbye

I was sitting in a parking garage down in Houston today when I got a call from Mary Sue Hayward. Sadly, Harriet Hayward passed away last night.

To honor her life and some of her interests, the family has requested that donations be made to:
The Waco Foundation
Designated/Applied to Art Center Waco Fund
900 Austin Avenue
Waco, TX 76701

The foundation may be contacted by phone at 254-754-3404 and it's web address is:
http://www.wacofoundation.org/index.html

To go to a printable donation form, follow this link:
http://www.wacofoundation.org/donation.html

To request further info, call or email me or Art or contact the Geology Dept.

BGS organizes Geo Bowling Night

This was held last Wednesday evening, organized by Ryan Lindsay and Aislyn Trendell. At maximum, between 20 and 25 students attended, and I'm sure that high jinks ensued (since it was reported to me as a HUGE success).

It's Almost Time . . .

. . . for the Fall 2009 Board Meeting.

It will be held from 12:00 noon to 5:00 pm on Friday, October 23rd in room E401, Baylor Sciences Building. The Homecoming Geology Department Open House will follow from 7:00-9:00 pm that same evening.

It will be good to see you guys again.

The agenda is available at this link. Don't forget the mineral sale, detailed just below, that will run from 11:00 to 6:00 that same day.

Finally too, we learned of the theme for the spring 2010 fieldtrip, "Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology of Central Texas". The trip will be held on Saturday, February 13th and will probably include the following stops:

Lampasas Cut Plain, Lake Belton - led by Peter Allen and Lee Nordt

Owl Creek, late Pleistocene-Holocene floodplain and alluvial fan section with "spectacular" paleosols, Fort Hood Military Reservation - led by Holly Meier (Holly's Ph.D.) and an unnamed undergraduate leader

Brezina Farm, late Holocene floodplain-channel deposits on Williams Creek near Axtell, in McLennan County, TX, GEO 5340 Paleopedology and GEO 5342 Micromorphology class projects - led by Gary Stinchcomb and Aislyn Trendell with two undergraduate leaders

Finally, a Waco Mammoth Site, 68-72 kyr fluvial, colluvial and alluvial deposits with fossil Columbian mammoths located in Waco, TX - led by John Bongino (his M.S. thesis).

Apparently leaders do not get to have names until they reach at least graduate status or maybe the undergrad leaders have yet to be named. Either way, I'm pretty sure that they actually do have names but either we or they do not know them yet.

Need New Rocks?

The geology department received a bequest from an old alum of his gem and mineral collection. The samples are all mounted and labeled and are being sold on October 23rd for only a buck apiece!


Click here for the full-sized flyer (pdf).

Come see us. Buy rocks!

Dr. Namy survives plane crash yesterday

A lot of you probably know Jerry Namy from his years at Baylor and beyond. He was in a plane crash yesterday afternoon. See this morning's Star Telegram article about the crash here. After we had read it, Art got on the phone and called around to some of the other ex-students in this area. He just walked in and let me know that Cliff Walker tells us Dr. Namy has a dislocated hip but otherwise will be OK.

I have his home address around here somewhere. If anyone would like to send a card or flowers, leave a comment here and I will supply it to you.

First O.T. Hayward Lecture Series Speaker Announced.

Set aside some time the evening of October 6.

Dr. David Montgomery, professor of geomorphology in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at University of Washington, comes as the inaugural lecturer in this series at 7 p.m. on Monday, October 6 in BSB D110. The lecture will be preceded by a reception beginning at 6:30.

. . . and he's even a geomorphologist - how apt is this?

He has written two books and numerous articles that have appeared in such journals as Science, Nature, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. A 2008 MacArthur Fellow, Montgomery’s publications have explored, among other things, how landslides and glacial erosion influence the height of mountains, how rivers originate and shape the landscape, and how human modification of river channels affects aquatic ecosystems.

More about Dr. Montgomery at these links:
American Rivers Science Advisor
2008 MacArthur Fellow David Montgomery

Baylor Geology Advisory Board Meeting Scheduled

Finally, a new announcement on the blog!

I received news of the next Advisory Board Meeting to be held this fall, Friday, October 23rd, the afternoon before the Homecoming Bonfire.

Since I can never find my paper copy of the by-laws, they are now on-line here.

So, if any of you Geo-types are coming in for homecoming, think about arriving a little early. Come to the meeting - the more, the merrier!

Dr. Font travels to Europe

Dr. Robert G. Font, one-time student at Baylor and then a professor here, traveled to Ireland late in May to represent AIPG at the annual meeting of the European Federation of Geologists (EFG). He has done so for the past thirteen years and was national AIPG president in 2005.

The meeting is always held in a different part of Europe. This year, it took place in Dublin, Ireland. Among the countries present were Spain, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Belgium, Finland, Irleand, Sweden, The Russian Federation, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Italy and others, in addition to Canada and the USA. Robert's role this year was to wrap-up the comments on the 3IPGC (Third International Professional Geolog Conference) held in Flagstaff in 2008 (of which he was the General Chairman) and to promote the 4IPGC in Canada in 2012. Since he had formally invited our Canadian colleagues to host the next one, they were quite appreciative that Robert was there promoting support for it.



Included pictures are from the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland, known for the fantastic exposures of its columnar basalt. In the photo above, Robert is standing on top of a heap of this basalt, along with the current President of the AIPG, John Bognar (2009) wearing the Oakland A's jersey, and Bill Siok, AIPG's Executive Director. In the picture below, taken by John Bognar, Robert is standing in front of a series of tilted, fractured and overall impressive basaltic columns.

Baylor Guys in the News

We went to a meeting of the Ft. Worth Geological Society on Monday, 5/11/09, and held an election for society secretary. The new one is:

Ta Da - Roy Yates, a Baylor alum, MS '92
Congratulations, Roy!

Right now, Roy works for Encore in Fort Worth, mainly ArkLaTex, Haynesville, Cotton Valley, and Travis Peak.

This is also the time of year when the society awards just a few scholarships to deserving recipients. The first one went to another Baylor boy, Alan Redd Gunnell for his current thesis work with seismic and resistivity data to determine the subsurface distribution of methane hydrates in Mississippi Canyon Block 118. Alan is working with Baylor's Dr. Dunbar towards an M.S. in Geophysics and will be gathering resistivity data pursuant to his study in the GOM this summer.

Spring 2010 BGS Field Trip

Leave some open space on your calendar!

Spring 2010 BGS Field Trip Theme: Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology of Central Texas, in honor of Dr. O.T. Hayward (date to be determined)

BGS Head Clod: Gary Stinchcomb, Ph.D. student in Quaternary Geology, will be in charge of field trip planning and organization of a field guide

Tentative Field Trip stops: (Order and final venue still to be determined):

1) Owl Creek: late Pleistocene-Holocene floodplain and alluvial fan section, located on Fort Hood Military Reservation, in Coryell County, TX, lead by Holly Meier (Holly Meier’s Ph.D.)

2) Brezina Farm: late Holocene floodplain near Axtell, in McLennan County, TX (GEO 5340 Paleopedology and GEO 5342 Micromorphology class projects, lead by Gary Stinchcomb and Aislyn Trendell)

3) Waco Mammoth Site: 68-72 ka fluvial and colluvial deposits with fossil Columbian mammoths located in Waco, TX (if open to public by then: John Bongino’s M.S. Thesis)

4) Urbanized fluvial systems: example(s) of highly urbanized fluvial systems and attendant environmental and engineering problems, hopefully to be lead by Dr. Peter Allen

5) Buttermilk Creek, Bell County, TX: late Pleistocene-Holocene floodplain terrace site with cultural materials that pre-date Clovis culture, lead by Drs. Steve Driese and Lee Nordt

BGS First Ever Hayward Lecture Scheduled Fall 2009

The 2009 Geology Department academic calendar will include the first inaugural distinguished lecture to be presented by Dr. David Montgomery, a 2008 MacArthur Fellow, on October 5^th-6^th, 2009, honoring the accomplishments of Dr. O.T. Hayward in regional geomorphology. Before the beginning of Dr. Montgomery’s lecture we will honor both Dr. Hayward as well as Geology alumnus Connie Hudson whose generosity established the O.T. Hayward Excellence Fund for distinguished speakers. All alumni are invited to attend!

MONTGOMERY BIOGRAPHY: David Montgomery is a geomorphologist making fundamental contributions to our understanding of the geophysical forces that determine landscape evolution and of how our use of soils and rivers has shaped civilizations past and present. A prolific and versatile scientist, Montgomery’s numerous publications have explored how landslides and glacial erosion influence the height of mountains, how rivers originate and shape the landscape, and how human modification of river channels affects aquatic ecosystems, among other probing questions about the Earth’s surface. Unsettling conceived wisdom about environmental change at both the local and global levels, Montgomery’s field studies have taken him throughout the Pacific Northwest, his home and research base, to the Himalayas, the Andes, and the canyons of Mars (via data from NASA’s Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter). For one major research program, he investigates the role of sediment and wood debris in altering stream and river channels and develops novel methods for measuring channel stability, anthropogenic disturbances, and conditions conducive to salmon spawning. In King of Fish: The Thousand-Year Run of Salmon (2003), a well-received book on the history of humans’ impact on salmon populations, Montgomery broadens the reach of his field studies beyond the scientific community by distilling his findings to support applied research on the ecological management of mountain rivers. His second book, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations (2007), chronicles the role of soil in the evolution of ancient and modern societies and offers a number of solutions to contemporary soil degradation worldwide. With a scientist’s rigor, a historian’s curiosity, and an environmentalist’s passion, Montgomery is leading investigations into the ecological consequences of a wide range of Earth surface processes.

Baylor Geology Advisory Board Update

Received: Tue 5/5/2009 from R. Springer, current Board Pres.

Dear Geology Advisory Board:

I greatly enjoyed visiting with you at our last meeting in Waco, and I am excited that we are rallying together in support of the Department of Geology at Baylor. Since our last meeting, I have been in communication with Dr. Steve Driese (Chair of Geology) and Eric Abercrombie (Geology’s Development representative), and I wanted to share with you some of the ideas we have to make our Board more successful.

At our next meeting later this fall (Homecoming 2009), my hope is to do the following:
Agree upon a mission statement -- with the help of Steve and Eric, I’ll have a draft for us to review/fine-tune at the meeting
Discuss Board membership and responsibilities
Determine our goals, both short-term and long term
Outline action steps that each of us can take to help reach our goals

If you have any other items we should place on the agenda, please send them to me and I’ll be sure to include them in our business meeting.

In addition, I ask that we join together in support of the Geology Resource Endowment Fund. As we discussed when we last met, this fund was established in 1998 by the Geology Advisory Board to assist the department in providing essential resources to faculty and students, but it is significantly under-funded.

The initial goal of the fund was to bring it to $150,000, distributing to the department roughly $7,500 annually to support this need. Currently, the fund is sitting at $26,000, but if we come together we can get it up to the original goal within the next few years. This fund helps to provide online periodicals, scientific journals, reports and bulletins that are needed to keep the Geology Department up to date in the latest research and development.

I have personally committed myself to financially supporting this fund, along with Steve Driese, and I ask that you join me in doing the same. To make a gift and/or pledge, you can do so by going to www.baylor.edu/give and typing in “Geology Resource Endowment” in the search field. If you’re already connected to the internet when reading this, you can simply click on this link: Geology Resource Fund.

All gifts made to this fund are tax deductible, and if you have a company match, please be sure to use that benefit! If you have any questions, please contact Eric at Eric_Abercrombie@baylor.edu or 254-640-9641.

I also ask that we think of those we know who would join us in support of this fund. If you are comfortable approaching those individuals to ask for their help, great! If not, please help Eric in making the initial contact with them.

I’m sure you will agree that Baylor’s Geology Department has a special place in our hearts, and I want to personally say thank you for giving of your time and resources. Although we have a lot of work ahead of us, the journey together will be fun.

Robert H. Springer, PG
Senior Staff Geologist
Encore Acquisition Co.

Dr. Driese's Response:

Dear Geology Advisory Board (cc: Geology Faculty, and Students):

I support Robert Springer’s letter and ask your continued support of the Department through your financial contributions as well as your participation in the life of the Geology Department through attendance at Board meetings and BGS Field Trips. To tempt you further, please see the attached information concerning the first distinguished lecture this fall in honor of OT Hayward, as well as a spring field trip with a geomorphology theme that will also be held in honor of Dr. Hayward. I hope that you can participate in these upcoming events!

Steve Driese

Professor and Chair
Department of Geology
Baylor University
One Bear Place #97354
Waco, TX 76798-7354

Field Work out West

When I opened up the email from Dr. Dworkin this morning, this picture made me smile (always a good thing in the dark, small hours of the day).


Here they are . . . still stuck in Petrified Forest National Park, conducting a research project on Triassic terrestrial paleoclimate reconstructions. That's Dr. D. in the middle with a couple of Ph.D. students, Aislyn Trendell (see below) on the left and David Clevland on the right.

Baylor Students Speak at FWGS

Last Monday, three Baylor geo-types were the speakers at the regular monthly luncheon meeting of the Ft. Worth Geological Society. They were:

Aislyn Trendell - CHANNELS, OVERBANKS AND PALEOSOLS: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLIMATE, BASE LEVEL AND CYCLIC LITHOFACIES HETEROGENEITY WITHIN THE TRIASSIC SONSELA MEMBER, PFNP ARIZONA



Jason S Mintz - ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECOLOGICAL VARIABILITY OF MIDDLE DEVONIAN (GIVETIAN) FORESTED PALEOSOLS IN THE CATSKILL REGION, APPALACHIAN BASIN, NEW YORK

Aaron Shunk - Evidence for strong solar forcing of Late Neogene climate derived from lacustrine varves and fossil wood collected at the Gray Fossil Site, northeastern TN, USA

Kudo's to these three and good luck to Aaron as he defends his study NEXT WEEK! (Sorry guys but I had no pictures from New York or Tennessee.)

2/27/09 - Board Meeting Minutes

Baylor University Alumni Advisory Board 2/27/2009 Meeting, 1424 Washington Ave.

Attending:

Art Bishop

Sue Bishop

Robert Springer

Matt Pranter

Tom Moore

Ana Marie Whiteside

Joe Whiteside

Jim Bain

Jay Pulliam

Josh Talbert

Eric Abercrombie

Stacy Atchley

Comments and Meeting Highlights:

1. Attendees agreed that for alumni advisory board members to be energized to actively participate and contribute, they need clearly stated departmental needs they can act upon, and departmental activities (technical and social) they can rally around, e.g., the current science symposium and fieldtrip.

2. Attendees all agree that it is not the departments job to organize or run the board. The department's job is to facilitate activities for participation, and at these activities, to communicate needs that the board can mobilize to support.

3. All agreed that to assist the board in self-organizing and insuring high attendance at board meetings, the Department of Geology should provide the board with an alumni (and board member) roster and associated contact information so that they can self-police attendance, membership and participation. In addition, the board requests a departmental calendar of activities be provided for each semester and/or academic year.

4. Robert Springer was nominated and unanimously voted by the attendees of this meeting as the next board Chair.

5. Jay Pulliam did an excellent job of promoting his geophysics proposal. After much discussion on how, if at all, the board could support Jay's proposal, Stacy Atchley summarized that funding for the several new positions would likely exceed the board's fundraising capability, and that funding would necessarily need to be provided by Baylor. The boards role would likely be in rallying support, via communications to the Baylor administration, emphasizing the necessity of the proposed positions.

6. Eric Abercrombie summarized recent alumni gifting (Carlisle magnetometer to the Thomas W. Goforth Paleomagnetism Laboratory, Connie Hudson OT Hayward Excellence Fund), and discussed the status of the Spencer-Jenness Geology Library Endowment and Geology Resource Endowment Fund. Eric indicated that the Spencer-Jenness fund is actively accruing spendable income, and that the Geology Resource Endowment Fund would reach a spendable balance with additional gifting of $100. In response, board members promptly offered up cash and checks. Eric collected $1000.

Respectfully submitted,

Stacy Atchley, Associate Chair

First Field Trip to the Brownwood Spillway

Are you a card-carrying member of the BGS - I'm pretty sure I have my card around here somewhere.

The new BGS held an alumni weekend gathering this year, February 27 and 28. Friday afternoon, the students held a research symposium with students and professors presenting ten of their current study topics (alums were impressed with the range of topics and the professionalism of the presentations).


On Saturday they led a field trip to the Brownwood Spillway, discussing aspects of late Pennsylvanian sequence stratigraphy displayed on outcrop there. There was even a guidebook with measured sections, diagrams illustrating concepts discussed, references and everything - it was well done. A few of the Baylor Geo Alums were able to attend and I was lucky enough to be one. Here are some of the pics.

Inquiring minds want to know if/when we can expect a repeat performance. This weekend was a great way to see what the students are doing, where the department is moving.

Spring 2009 Field Trip photos from Jim Bain

Jim sent me a whole CD of photos a couple of weeks ago and I've finally taken the time / had a chance to post them here.

Thanks, Jim.