E&ES Graduation 2002

Graduation 2002

2002 graduates on the south lawn of Brown Hall

May 11, 2002 -- Two hundred and sixty-six students, along with professors, advisors, family, and friends, gathered on the lawn south of Brown Hall to receive degrees from New Mexico Tech. Among the degree recipients were 12 undergraduate and 17 graduate students from the Department of Earth and Environmental Science who are listed below along with a few photos. We offer them a very special Congratulations! and wish them well in their new endeavors. (Photos courtesy Jose Alberto Amarante, PhD Student Geology and Rob Bowman, Professor of Hydrology)

Bachelor of Science Degrees

Misti walking up to podium to receive diploma Misti Renae Baldwin, BS in Geology (minor: biology)

Erika receiving diploma from President Lopez *Erika Rodriguez Barraza, BS in Geology with Environmental Geology Option

*Lara Estelle Beasley, BS in Environmental Science with Geology Option

+Aaron L. Berger, BS in Geology

**+ Emily K. Desmarais, BS in Geology (minor: mathematics)

John David Dietrich, BS in Geology

Jason Defibaugh y Chavez, BS in Geology

*Monica Faith Hartmann, BS in Geophysics with General Geophysics Option

*Lisa Majkowski-Taylor, BS in Geology (minor: history)

*+ Becky J. McGill, BS in Geology (minor: chemistry)

*Carolyn Jay Munk, BS in Geology

Charlotte with Rob Bowman and Fred Phillips *Charlotte Maria Salazar, BS in Environmental Engineering

*Natalie Renee Smith, BS in Environmental Science with Biology Option

(* Honors, **High Honors, ***Highest Honors, +Awards (see below))

Master of Science Degrees

Kristine E. Baker, MS in Hydrology
(Advisor: Rob Bowman)
Estimating hydraulic properties at the Hybrid Hydrologic-Geophysical Inverse Technique (HHGIT) Infiltration Site
Kristine is currently a Senior Scientist at Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, primarily supporting subsurface, unsaturated flow research.

Laura M. Bexfield, MS in Hydrology
(Advisor: Fred Phillips)
Geochemical evolution of groundwater in the Middle Rio Grande Basin
Laura is curently a Hydrologist with the USGS in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her research interests are the natural occurrence of arsenic in ground water--specifically, the source of arsenic in ground water of the Middle Rio Grande Basin, NM, where lowering of the EPA standard will have a large impact on the drinking-water supply of the City of Albuquerque.

D. Michael Chapin, Jr., MS in Geology

Dan receiving diploma from President Lopez Daniel Charles Dolmar, MS in Hydrology
(Advisor: Jan Hendrickx)
History matching and model validation for the 1D unsaturated flow code "HYDRUS" using data from a 600-year-old tracer signal at an abandoned Native American Pueblo

Bonnie shaking hands with VP Yee Bonnie A. Frey, MS in Geochemistry
(Advisor: Kent Condie)
Bonnie is now a Senior Research Specialist with New Mexico State University. She is working on a Department of Defense bioremediation project studying the use of plants to absorb depleted uranium on Socorro ("M") Mountain. She works with EES adjunct faculty Dana Ulmer-Scholle at the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mines.

Patty receiving her diploma from Pres Lopez and VP Yee Patricia L. Frisch, MS in Geochemistry
(Advisor: David Norman)
Patty is now Assistant Curator at the Mineralogical Museum in the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mines.

Harland Lowell Goldstein, MS in Geology

Marta receiving diploma from President Lopez Marta J. Hemmerich, MS in Geology

Behnaum Moayyad, MS in Hydrology
(Advisor: Jan Hendrickx)

Douglas Stewart Oliver, Jr., MS in Hydrology
(Advisor: Rob Bowman)
Laboratory experiments to assess microbial reduction of chromate and to develop methods to enhance bioremediation of chromate in the vadose zone

Soichiro Ota, MS in Geology

Graciela Rodriguez-Marin, MS in Hydrology
(Advisor: Rob Bowman)
Investigation of the influence of three-dimensional carbonate conduits ("pipes") on groundwater recharge in arid environments

Doctor of Philosophy in Earth and Environmental Science Degrees

Timothy James Callahan
PhD in Earth and Environmental Science with Dissertation in Hydrology
(Advisor: Robert Bowman)
Laboratory investigations and analytical and numerical modeling of the transport of dissolved solutes through saturated fractured rock

Beverly Ann Chomiak
PhD in Earth and Environmental Science with Dissertation in Geochemistry
(Advisor: David Norman)
Bicarbonate-rich fluid inclusions in relic quartz pehnocrysts, Zinkgruvan Basin, Sweden

Vladimir after receiving his diploma Vladimir Olegovich Ispolatov
PhD in Earth and Environmental Science with Dissertation in Geochemistry
(Advisor: David Norman)
Geology ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology and fluid inclusion study of the Solton Sary Mesothermal Gold District, Kyrgyzstan

Geoff calming the audience after receiving his diploma + Geoffrey Callis Rawling
PhD in Earth and Environmental Science with Dissertation in Geology
(Advisor: Laurel Goodwin)
Structural geology and hydrogeologic characterization of poorly lithified sediments

Michelle after receiving her diploma + Michelle Ann Walvoord
PhD in Earth and Environmental Science with Dissertation in Hydrology
(Advisor: Fred Phillips)
A unifying conceptual model to describe water, vapor and solute transport in deep arid vadose zones

+Awards (see below)

Awards
Aaron Berger, BS Geology, 2002
Estwing Award, for the outstanding senior in geosciences in 2002.

Emily Desmarais, BS Geology, 2002
Association of Women Geoscientists (Certificate)

Becky McGill, BS Geology, 2002
NMGS Undergraduate Grants-in-Aid, 2002, $500
NMGS Lucille Pipkin Book Scholarship, $100

Geoff Rawling, PhD Earth & Environmental Science: Geology
NMGS Fall 2001 Field Conference Award 2001
Langmuir Award, 2001, for best paper written by an alumnus or grad student:
Rawling, G.C., Goodwin, L.B., and Wilson, J.L., 2001, Internal architecture, permeability structure, and hydrologic significance of contrasting fault-zone types: Geology 29: 43-46.

Michelle Walvoord, PhD Earth & Environmental Science: Hydrology, 2002
Association of Women Geoscientists (Certificate), 2002
Outstanding Student Paper Award from the Hydrology Section of AGU, 2002
Deuterium, Oxygen-18, and Chlorine-37 stable isotope profiles as clues into the recharge histories of desert vadose zones

Last Updated: August 29, 2002
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