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Newsletter
Fall 2007
by Susan Delap

Click here for previous news items.

TECHtonics Alumni Newsletter

Current Issue

Bowman Helps Develop Water Purification System

December 15, 2007 -- Rob Bowman, Professor of Hydrology, helped develop a water purification system using zeolite that another group at NMT is working on to commercialize. NMT is collaborating with New Mexico State University and three Chihuahua, Mexico, universities. Bowman believes that the system has the best potential in third-world countries as it it less expensive than other systems. El Defensor Chieftain article; NMT article

Frisbee Studies Upper Rio Grande Runoff Processes

December 14, 2007 -- Hydrology PhD candidate Marty Frisbee's research is highlighted in an article by George Zamora.

Spinelli Named Distinguished Lecturer

December 13, 2007 -- Glenn Spinelli, Assistant Professor of Geophysics, has been named an Ocean Leadership Distinguished Lecturer for 2008-2009. The Consortium for Ocean Leadership's Distinguished Lecturer Series brings the scientific explorations and discoveries of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program research to students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and to the geoscience community in general.

Bowman Named SSSA Fellow

December 8, 2007 -- Rob Bowman, professor of hydrology, was recently named a fellow of the Soil Science Society of America. The honor is based on professional achievement and meritorious service. Bowman's research highlights include working with zeolite (he's holding a chunk of it in the picture above), chemical tracers, and removing pollutants from soils with an electrode system. Bowman is currently chair of the EES department. El Defensor Chieftain article.

EES Christmas Party 2007

December 7, 2007 -- Since Pat Mills has retired, we had to change the venue for this annual shindig. The party was held at one of the historical houses of Socorro where a group of EES graduate students currently live. More.

Houston Receives Space Scholarship

November 27, 2007 -- EES undergraduate student Shari Houston was awarded a New Mexico Space Grant Consortium Scholarship for her senior thesis project "Cave Pearls as Biosignatures." Shari is working with her advisor Peter Mozley, and Cave and Karst Studies Director Penelope Boston on this effort. Samples come from a variety of locales including Cueva de Las Canicas in Tabasco, Mexico, Lower Cave in Carlsbad Caverns, NM, and recently removed gall stones from Dr. Boston. -- from SCOPE

Heath in CO2 Article

November 6, 2007 -- PhD Hydrology Candidate Jason Heath is mentioned in an article about carbon sequestration in the Salt Late Tribune. Heath is pictured above with Stephanie Carney of the Utah Geological Survey setting up monitors in southeastern Utah in summer 2006 to study possible locations for carbon dioxide capture underground. (Photo by Jim Urquhart, Salt Lake Tribune.)

SAHRA Wins UN Prize

November 6, 2007 -- SAHRA, an NSF Science and Technology Center which has New Mexico Tech as a partner, is one of two institutions that won the 2007 International Great Man-made River Prize, awarded by UNESCO, the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization. Many hydrology program faculty and students participate in SAHRA, which stands for Sustainability of semi-Arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas.

Kyle Featured in Book on Antarctica

November 6, 2007 -- Philip Kyle was one of 10 Antarctic scientists featured in a recently published book "Antartide: Il cuore bianco della Terra" by Lucia Simion. The book is in Italian and there is a French translation.

Kyle on National TV for Two Seconds

November 5, 2007 -- The NBC Today Show's Ann Curry visited Antarctica, and Philip Kyle reported that he flew with Ann up to Mt. Erebus and Cones to do some interviews. Sharp observers reported seeing Phil and Ann flying over Mt. Erebus for a few seconds on the November 6th broadcast. A search of video clips on the Today Show website turned up only stories featuring women, clean-shaven men, and penguins.

ERTH 445 Class in the News

November 2, 2007 -- Cathy Snelson's Exploration Geophysics class (ERTH 445) was recently featured in the Albuquerque Journal. Students wielded a sledgehammer to generate shockwaves that bounced off the water table beneath the athletic field. Geophones placed at the surface and at different distances from the sledgehammer impact area picked up the reflected waves and sent the data to a device that calculated the distance to the water table based on the different arrival times of the reflected waves. (Photo by Richard Pipes, Albuquerque Journal)

Faculty Retreat 2007

Front: Jeremy Fairbanks, Cathy Snelson, Penny Boston, Shari Houston, Barbara Fazio, Gary Axen, Bill McIntosh. Back: Glenn Spinelli, Peter Mozley, Andy Campbell, Rick Aster, Fred Phillips, Mark Person, Rob Bowman, Bruce Harrison, Jan Hendrickx, Dave Norman

October 19, 2007 -- The EES faculty held their annual retreat today at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge north of Socorro. Each year the faculty takes this opportunity to discuss long-term educational goals, new and upcoming research opportunities, and ways to improve the university experience for our students. Also attending were student representatives Jeremy Fairbanks and Shari Houston, Administrative Services Coordinator Barbara Fazio, and new hydrology faculty member Mark Person who will be joining the faculty full time in January 2009. -- Rob Bowman

Bilek and Mozley Honored as Outstanding Teachers

October 16, 2007 -- Sue Bilek and Peter Mozley were nominated by NMT students in spring 2007 as Outstanding Teachers. The awards were announced this fall by New Mexico Tech's Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL), the Office for Academic Affairs, and the New Mexico Tech Community College. Memorable quotes submitted by students included for Dr. Bilek, "She has tremendous dedication to both her students and to her teaching . . . ," and for Dr. Mozley, "He is open to students' questions and possesses an immense knowledge of the subjects that he teaches." Full article.

Phillips Elected AAAS Fellow

October 12, 2007 -- The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) recently elected Fred Phillips to the rank of AAAS Fellow. Dr. Phillips is being honored for "pioneering interdisciplinary work with interactions between hydrology, geochemistry, and geology, especially cosmogenic isotopes and surface exposure dating."

Each year the Council elects members whose "efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications are scientifically or socially distinguished." The honor of being elected a Fellow of AAAS began in 1874 and is acknowledged with a certificate and rosette, which will be presented to Dr. Phillips at the Association's Annual Meeting in Boston in February 2008.

Condie Receives Honorary Doctorate

September 26, 2007 -- Kent Condie was awarded a DSc (Honoris Causa) from the University of Pretoria in September 2007. Prof C. W. I. Pistorius, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, stated "This is in recognition of the significant contributions you made to global geosciences. The Council decided to honour you as a leading thinker and innovator in the greenstone belt studies, mantle plumes and super plumes. Your involvement with the University of Pretoria is also recognized. On behalf of the University, I extend to you my heartiest congratulations on this exceptional achievement." Details. NMT Article

GSA Student Research Conference Awards

September 25, 2007 -- Five EES graduate students received awards at the NMT Graduate Student Association's Breaking the Mold Student Research Conference held at Macey Center on September 20-21, 2007. Congratulations to the following winners:

Emily Engle, MS Student in Geology (Advisor: Phillips)
First Place Poster in Geology/Hydrology: "Detection of Soil Unit Boundaries using Remotely Sensed Images"

Shasta (McGee) Marrero, MS Student in Hydrology (Advisor: Phillips)
First Place Oral Presentation in Natural Science: "Paleoclimate Implications After Cosmogenic Chlorine-36 Dating of Shoreline Deposits in Panamint Valley, CA"

Frederick Partey, PhD Candidate in Geochemistry (Advisor: Norman)
Overall Best Oral Presentation: "Adsorption of Arsenic from Water using Natural Materials"

Jana Stankova-Pursley, MS Student in Geophysics (Advisor: Bilek)
Second Place Oral Presentation in Engineering: "Characteristics of the October 2005 Microearthquake Swarm in the Socorro Region, New Mexico"

Kinwai "Bill" Tai, MS Student in Hydrology (Advisor: Vivoni)
Second Place Poster in Geology/Hydrology: "Offline Coupled WRF-Distributed Hydrological Modeling: Preliminary Testing for a Warm-Season Flood Event in the Southwestern US"

Antarctic Geophysicists Featured in El Defensor Chieftain

September 8, 2007 -- Hunter Yarbrough, PhD candidate in geophysics, is leading research to image the interior of Mt. Erebus using seismic waves artificially generated by a series of explosions set up around the volcano. Yarbrough, along with Kyle Jones, senior in geophysics, and geophysics professors Rick Aster and Cathy Snelson, will be traveling to Antarctica between October through January to work on this research. More.

NMGS and LAGS Student Awards

August 30, 2007 -- Congratulations to the following students for winning New Mexico Geological Society Field Conference Scholarships:

• Matt Baillie, PhD Student in Hydrology
• Doug Berlier, BS Student in Earth Science-Geology
• Colin Cikoski, MS Student in Geology
• Christina Forbes, MS Student in Geology

Congratulations to Matt Zimmerer, MS Student in Geology, for winning a Los Alamos Geological Society scholarship.

Harsh Realities of Polar Regions

August 29, 2007 -- Rick Aster and other NMT seismic researchers were featured in an article by Argen Duncan of El Defensor Chieftain. Aster's West Antarctic ice cap and Mount Erebus studies were mentioned.

Shari Houston Profiled in Albuquerque Journal

August 23 , 2007 -- Shari Houston, a senior in Earth Science-Geology, talks about how she came to New Mexico Tech, and her success with the New Mexico Distinguished Public Service Awards scholarship program. See article (PDF).

Last Updated: March 18, 2008. Email comments to Webmaster.
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