Alumni News - items received in 2002

Alumni with news items are listed by decade of graduation. If you would like to submit a news item or update your directory listing, please send us your info to alumni at ees.nmt.edu.

1950s   1960s   1970s    1980s  1990s    2000s

Michael Bikerman (BS Geology '56) bikerman at pitt.edu
December 23, 2002
   Served as Academic Dean on Fall 2000 Semester-at-Sea voyage.

Alan H. Cheetham (BS Geology '50) cheetham.alan at nmnh.si.edu
December 24, 2002
   My wife, Marjorie, and I moved to Santa Fe earlier this year, where I am continuing my research part time from my new "branch office."

Donald H. Richter (BS Geology '50) drichter at usgs.gov
December 2002
   Received M.Sc. in 1952 from Queen's University. Presently compiling the geologic map of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska, the largest part in the National Park System.

Robert F. Lee (BS Geology '66) baldyeti at yahoo.com
December 24, 2002
   Married to Gloria for 43 years; have two sons (Bryan & David) and have two grandchildren (Tyler & Alyssa). Since leaving Socorro in 1966, I have worked for the Boeing Company (Renton, Wa.) and the Rogers Corporation (Chandler, AZ & Rogers, CT); have worked at Rogers for 34 years, with the last 24 being responsible for managing Environment, Health and Safety activities for Rogers at its facilities worldwide. I am planning to "retire" in early 2004 and do some consulting, a little traveling, and a lot of fishing.

Miguel A. Marino (MS Groundwater Hydrology '65) MAMarino at ucdavis.edu
December 23, 2002
   Received PhD in Civil Engineering from UCLA in 1972. See my web page for more information.

John Shenk (BS Geology '63) jcshenk12 at cox.net
December 25, 2002
   Tech in the Antarctic - Hum. I was a member of the 1964-65 Texas Tech Antarctic Expedition as a graduate student. Spent the Austral summer of 64-65 mapping the Shackleton Glacier region of the TransAntarctic Mountains. Since then I've been occupied as wellsite to exploration geologist in exotic locales such as Mobetee, Texas; Gotebo, Oklahoma; Linton, Indiana; and the Scottish North Sea (Scots conquered the English didn't they?)

1970s

Daniel Blodgett (Geology '71, Hydrogeology '73) energyhealermd at sierratel.com
December 25, 2002
   My daughter is a freshman at Tech this fall (2002).

Rena M. Bonem (BS Geology '70, MS Geology '72) Rena_Bonem at baylor.edu
December 30, 2002
   Just completed 3 years on GSA Council and am Chair of the GSA Membership Committee. Inducted into Women Divers Hall of Fame in March 2001 for work in Coral Reef Education. Board member of National YMCA SCUBA Program and Central Texas Dachshund Rescue.

Allen T. Cooper (BS Geology '73, BS Mining Engineering '77) stoperal at aol.com
December 24, 2002
   I have earned a degree in Environmental Technology from Pima Community College (graduated high honors).
   I have worked for ASARCO for 25 years. Recently relocated from the Technical Services Center (now closed) in Salt Lake City, Utah, back to the Mission Mine in Sahuarita, Arizona. Prior to ASARCO, I worked for Idarado Mining Company (Ouray, Colorado), Bear Creek Mining Company (Tucson, Arizona) and Occidental Minerals Corp. (Santa Fe, New Mexico).
   Grandfather of twins (boy and a girl) age 4. Married to Wanda Bauder (Major, USAF), Registered Nurse and Certified Case Manager. Stepson Craig is currently enrolled in the University of Arizona in Tucson.

John (Jack) Purson (BS Geology '76, MS Geology '85) purson at lanl.gov
December 23, 2002
   Just completed 27 years employment at Los Alamos National Laboratory--weapons classification analyst for last 3 years. Just finished buildinga new Santa Fe home in 2002. Still collect mining artifacts and ride dirt bikes. Have been LANL institutional recruiter for Tech past 5 years. Received MBA from University of New Mexico in 1997.

Judy A. Russell (MS Geology '79) judy_russell at oxy.com or jargeonm at aol.com
December 27, 2002
   I have worked as a Petroleum Geologist in international exploration for 24 years, part of that time living in Bogota, Colombia, working for Oxy. I have an 11-year-old son, and my husband, who is Colombian, works at Landmark Graphics.

Scott W. Singleton (BS Geophysics '79) ssingleton at jasongeo.com
December 26, 2002
   Married with 4-year-old daughter. Also received MS Geophysics from Texas A&M in 1988. Previously worked in seismic acquisition and processing; currently working in data analysis (acoustic impedance inversion).

Linda K. Trocki (BS Geology '76) lktrocki at bechtel.com
December 23, 2002
   After graduating from Tech, I worked at Los Alamos and the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna before returning to grad school in 1980 at Penn State, where I earned an MS in Geochemistry in '83 and a PhD in Mineral Economics in '86. Los Alamos National Lab was home base for the next several years, where I worked on systems engineering of advanced energy and environmental technologies. I have been with Bechtel for 6 years, serving in R&D and general management positions.

1980s

Cynthia Ardito (MS Geology '86) cardito at intera.com
December 23, 2002
   Married Tony Zimmerman, Hydrology graduate, 1988; son Dylan Zimmerman, born 11-19-01.

Dan J. Bobrow (MS Geology '84) evoltime at aol.com
December 24, 2002
   I am still working on the Bigdig in Boston and just bought a house here, come on and visit if you like but call first...  My son Aaron is almost 17--my how time flys!!!

Timothy M. Cowen (MS Geology '89) cowenoil at aol.com
December 23, 2002
   Married 8 years to Dana; sons Liam, 5; Quin, 3; expecting #3 in April 2003.

Charles A. Ferguson (MS Geology '86) wamego_kid at hotmail.com
December 23, 2002
   Elected as adjunct research scientist with the Dept of Geology and Geophysics, University of Arizona, October 2002.

Jeffrey E. Gerwe (BS Geology '82, MS Geology '86) jminchile at yahoo.com
December 24, 2002
   I have been working for Phelps Dodge for 16 years now. I am currently the Chief Geologist of the El Abra Mine in northern Chile. My family and I have been living in Chile for two years. I am married. My wife's name is Molly. We have two children: Alex, 12, and Brian, 9. We have had a chance to do a lot of travelling while living in South America (Chile, Easter Island, Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, and Cominican Republic).

Thomas L. Gibbons (MS Geology '82) beddedtongue at hotmail.com
December 20, 2002
   Married Jacqueline (Lafferton) Gibbons, former Techie, in 1981 Have two children, Mary (16 yrs) and Isabel (10 yrs). Have been geologist at NY State Dept of Environmental Conservation since 1988.

Diane Y. Hattler (BS Geology, BS Tech Comm '85) dhattler at aol.com
December 24, 2002
   I worked as a geologist for SAIC on the Yucca Mountain Project in Nevada for nine years. Then in 1995 totally changed my life, got two master degrees: MBA and Counseling Psychology, and worked first at a girl's probation house and now a group home for girls with mental illnesses (such as depression and trauma from being sexually abused). I actually use my geology--first at the probation house by teaching an Earth Science class and lab to the girls and now by taking the girls on field trips. The girls range from 12 to 18 years old. I stress each day with them the importance of school and college, which most of these girls say no one has ever done before.

Jeff Havlena (BS Geology '83, MS Hydrology '88) jhavlena at ameritech.net or havleja at dhfs.state.wi.us
December 23, 2002
   Moved back to the Midwest in 1996 to be close to extended family after the birth of our daughter, Zoe. Had worked as a consulting environmental hydrogeologist (for Dan Stephens, Sandia, myself, and others) until the bottom dropped out of the market. Wife Janice is Prof and heads the Art Therapy Program at Edgewood College. Healthy (knock wood!) and very happy with life and Madison, tho we miss NM!

John S. Hingtgen (BS Geology '85) jsh_uu at yahoo.com
December 23, 2002
   In my spare time I enjoy folk dance.

Kathy Muller Ogle (MS Hydrology '82) pkrogle at aol.com or kmogle at state.wy.us
December 23, 2002
   I married Philip Ogle shortly after leaving Tech. We have one son, Ray, who is 16. A golden retriever, Tess, and a goldfish, Brian, complete the household.

J. Michael Palin (MS Geology '84) michael.palin at stonebow.otago.ac.nz
December 24, 2002
   My wife (Candace Martin) and I joined the University of Otago faculty earlier this year (2002) after nearly 7 years at the Australian national University. We share the duties in geochemistry, Candace covers the environmental aspects, and I get the igneous and hydrothermal topics. We have found New Zealand to be a wonderful place to live and work!

Borden R. Putnam, III (BS Geology '77, MS Geology-Geochemistry '80) bputnam at eastbournecapital.com
December 30, 2002
   Worked in industry from 1975 through 1990, with AMAX ('75-'81) and then Newmont Exploration ('81-'90), progressing to District Manager, Eastern Great Basin (Carlin Trend).
   1991-1996 as Chief Geologist and Vice President Geology with Mineral Resources Development, Inc. (MRDI) an international mining consulting firm, working worldwide on most of the world-renowned ore deposits geology audits, grade reconciliation studies, geostatistics and exploration compilations.
   1996-2001 with Robertson Stephens Investment Management (public mutual funds) as Principal and Analyst, responsible for gold and other natural resource equity investments.
   2001-present as Principal Analyst with Eastbourne Capital (pvt hedge fund), responsible for natural resources exposure.
   Married, living on Pacific Coast south of San Francisco, with two goldens.
   Most important, the Vigilante Band still returns to The Capitol Bar as "house band" for every 49ers celebration, and tours Jemez Springs during each July for our summer schedule. See you there...

Stephen D. Rosen (MS Geology '87) stephenr at tvmagic.tv
December 27, 2002
   Steve is President/CEO of TV Magic, Inc., a nationally recognized leader in the audio/video systems integration business. They provide high level engineering design services, installation services, and equipment sales with offices in San Diego, Hollywood, Denver, and Phoenix.
   Steve is married and is the proud pappa of two baby boys ages 3 and 1 1/2. If you're not careful, he may email you pictures. He'd love to hear from Tech folks!
   Steve remembers when he started TECHtonics as a weekly newsletter back in the 80s and reminded us of the great cartoons it had that picked on the various geoscience faculty. He still has a TECHtonic t-shirt in his closet (but it doesn't fit any more) ;--)

George (AA) Scott III (BS Geology '81) gscott at lapsurgical.com
December 27, 2002
   My partner and LapSurgical's President, Donald Wenner, MD, FACS, is also NM Tech alumna. Recently received FDA clearance to market LapSurgical's surgical instruments, which are patented by Wenner and Scott.

Charles P. Spalding (MS Hydrology '85) cpspalding at tds.net
December 23, 2002
   I have two children 1 and 3.5 years old and I am enjoying my career as a hydrogeologist.

Jeffrey L. Walker (BS Geology '85) walkerjl at cdm.com
December 23, 2002
   Married with one daughter 8 years old.

1990s

Tony Astacio (MS Geology '98)
April 2, 2002
  Tony worked in mining and oil before getting an MBA in Supply Chain Management from ASU. He's currently working for IBM in North Carolina as a Supply Chain Analyst. His work e-mail address is: astacio at us.ibm.com

Mark Boryta (PhD Geochemistry '97)
June 2002
  Mark (mboryta at mtsac.edu), who completed a PhD thesis on the geochemistry of high grade Archean rocks in northern China, is now a community college instructor at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, CA. Mt SAC is the third largest campus of public higher education in California--larger than most UC and CSU campuses. It serves about 40,000 students each year. Mark teaches oceanography, Earth science, and environmental geology in addition to more traditional geology courses. Most of his students are taking courses for transfer credit--only a few are (or will be) geology majors. Mark says, "this leads to one of the important things that I like about my job: introducing my students to new ways of thinking about the world around them."

Peter W. Burck (MS Hydrology '93) aquitards at prodigy.net
December 26, 2002
   Techies working in Santa Fe meet for lunch several times a year. Chris Holmes organized the recent lunch at Cleopatra Cafe on 12/19/02. Susan Hoines, Robin Brown, Beilling Liu, Dana Bahar, Rob Pine, and Peter Burck were present. We welcome others to join us. Contact Chris for more info (chris_holmes at nmenv.state.nm.us).

Matthew M. Flynn (MS Hydrology '94) mflynn at gci.net
December 26, 2002
   I have been plying my trade in environmental restoration efforts throughout Alaska since completion of school work in May of 1992. I've had the incredible fortune of traveling all across this great state of Alaska these past 10 years. I've worked on the North Slope in the winter with temperatures at -35F and wind chills greater than -120F. I've worked in the Aleutian Islands where the wind and rain never stops. I've worked at locations in the interior of Alaska where the temperatures constantly break 80F, and where the mosquitoes are so thick you can't help but breathe them in. I've worked and lived in such remote locations that the only way to the job site is by small airplane, the nearest village is 75 miles away, communications are only by satellite phone, and wildlife is so abundant you need a rifle to make it to the outhouse. I've come face to face with a 1,000-lb brown bear, been within visual distance of a polar bear, been surrounded by a mother wolf and her cubs, been chased by a very angry and very large bull moose, and have been in the middle of a herd of over 50,000 caribou. But the best part about this work is that I get to continue to restore places in Alaska back to their pristine and incredibly wondrous conditions.

Natalie Latysh (MS Geochemistry '97)
June 2002
  Natalie (nlatysh at usgs.gov), who studied upper crustal xenoliths from the Four Corners volcanic field as her MS thesis with Kent Condie, now works as a hydrologist for the USGS in Denver. She helps administer quality assurance projects for the National Trends Network within the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP/NTN). Her responsibilities include: writing and editing quality assurance reports for the USGS in evaluating national trends in precipitation chemistry;  formulating synthetic precipitation samples to assess laboratory and site operator performance; and evaluating variability of precipitation chemistry due to sample collection procedures.

Robert Mace (BS Geophysics '89, MS Hydrology '91) robert.macetwdb at state.tx.us
January 2003
   Received PhD in Hydrogeology in 1998 from the University of Texas at Austin.

Debi Maucione (BS Geophysics '91) dtmnm at netscape.net
December 30, 2002
   Received MS Geophysics (1993) and PhD in Petroleum Geology (1996) from University of Wyoming.

Pat Mattie (MS Geochemistry '96)
June 2002
  Pat (pmattie at aetllc.com), who did his thesis with Kent Condie on lower crustal xenoliths in the Navajo Volcanic field, is currently branch manager for Advanced Environmental Technologies, LLC (AET) in Gainsville, Florida. AET, LLC provides environmental consulting services including assessment, remediation, and a complete range of scientific, engineering, planning, and management services. Pat is a licensed Professional Geologist and manager of a branch office that comprises environmental engineers and geologists.

Matt Morgan (BS Geology '96)
February 5, 2002
  Currently working for the Colorado Geological Survey in Denver, CO. I've been here for over 5 years and am now mapping geology on 1:24,000-scale quads and conducting Neotectonics field investigations. Completing my MS in Geology at the Colorado School of Mines on the Alamo Impact Breccia in Southeastern Nevada. His work e-mail address is: Matt.Morgan at state.co.us. Married to Karen (Spiker) Morgan (BS Geology '96)

Karen (Spiker) Morgan  (BS Geology '96)
February 5, 2002
  Currently working for the Colorado Geological Survey in Denver, CO, after stints at USGS and the Orkand Corporation in Denver. Karen is a Geologist but has branched out as a GIS Analyst and Web Developer. She received her MS in Geology from the Colorado School of Mines in 2000. Married to Matt Morgan (BS Geology '96)

Dennis L. Newell (BS Geology '92) dnewell at seabase.com
December 23, 2002
   Married to NMTalumni Patricia (Gallegos) Newell. Received MS in Geology from Colorado State University in 1997.

William F. Purtymun (BS Geology '92) pico at lanl.gov
December 23, 2002
   Paige and I are both doing well and are living and working in Los Alamos. The past six years I have worked in the Emergency Management and Response Group within the Security Division at LANL. Our group responds to the field for pre-emergency preparedness and planning. In emergencies we function as Incident Commanders coordinating actions between responders (ie. Protective Force, Fire Department, HazMat, Facility and Researchers). I think I worked about twenty-one (very long) days straight during the Cerro Grande Fire, some very long hours after September 11, but all seems to be going well. We are currently in the process of having a new Emergency Operations Center being built for us.
   While I may have strayed from geology, I still nose around in the field a bit, and drive Paige slightly crazy stopping to look at rock outcrops, talking about geology. I have found that the broad geological background in chemistry, physics, hydrology, geology, radiation protection (the old DOE WERC Program) and other sciences at Tech has been a big plus in my current career. This has been augmented by the opportunities that have been afforded to me by LANL which has allowed me to take further courses in radiation protection, medical treatment of rad/chem/bio accidents as well as short courses related to planning for Hazardous Material disasters at the Harvard School of Public Health. I still have maintained my Emergency Medical Technician Paramedic and work occasionally at the ski area in Santa Fe. The latest course I have taken has helped me to obtain my Wilderness Medicine Certification.
   I occasionally see a few people from Tech but it is mostly like ships passing in the night. Denny Newell is up in Los Alamos but I'm not sure where. We summited Rainer a couple of summers back and that was a good trip. Bruce Hallet is in Florida and I hear from him occasionally and he and the family seem to be doing well. Paige and I went to Dan Mancano and Anja Covington's wedding a couple of summers back and they also are well. Paige and I hope to begin traveling again if things ever slow down in both our jobs.

Claudio J. Saleta (MS Geology Dec '99) claudiosaleta at chevrontexaco.com
December 24, 2002
   I am currently working in Venezuela for an oil field operated by ChevronTexaco in Maracaibo.

Keith Sheets (MS Hydrology '94) ksheets at ch2m.com
December 26, 2002
   Have worked at CH2M Hill in Oakland since graduation on a variety of site characterization, remediation, and water resources projects.
   Married for two years, expecting a child in January 2003. Still get 40 pounds of fresh green chile shipped out every fall from Rosales Produce, and have gotten numbers of friends and co-workers addicted to green chile.

Ellen Wilch (MS Hydrology '96) wilchell at msu.edu or ewilch at albion.edu
December 30, 2002
   PhD student in Genetics Program at Michigan State University, just finished my first semester. Joe is 11, 6th grade; Miriam almost 6, K.

Mitchell M. Withers (MS Geophysics '95, PhD Earth & Environmental Science-Geophysics '97) withers at ceri.memphis.edu
December 2002
   Serve as Regional Coordinator for the Mid-America region of the Advance National Seismic System (www.anss.org).

2000s

Kristine E. Baker (MS Hydrology '02)
August 6, 2002
  Kristine is currently employed at the Idaho Engineering and Environmental Laboratory in Idaho Falls, ID as a hydrologist primarily supporting subsurface science, unsaturated flow research using innovative geo-centrifuge techniques. More.

Stephanie Lyn Bell (MS Geochemistry '01)
June 2002
  Stephanie (stephbell22 at yahoo.com), who studied a Precambrian arc system in western Brazil as her Masters' research with Kent Condie, is currently working for Westinghouse TRU Solutions supporting the National TRU Waste Program in Albuquerque, NM. She provides technical support for the permitting and regulations related to the transportation of transuranic waste from U.S. DOE waste generator/storage sites to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, NM.

Bonnie A. Frey (MS Geochemistry '02)
June 2002
  Bonnie (bonfrey at yahoo.com), who recently finished her MS thesis on a possible accreted oceanic plateau in the Proterozoic of Arizona with Kent Condie, is currently working at the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources on a phytoremediation project intended to clean up waste from depleted uranium testing. The project involves growing, collecting, and chemically analyzing plants from a contaminated site located on M Mountain near Socorro, New Mexico.

Darren Mallory Hart (BS Geophysics '95, MS Geophysics '01) dhart at nmt.edu
December 23, 2002
   Currently working on Matseis program development. Matseis is a Matlab-based seismic data analysis toolkit.

Shannon (Lindaas) Logan (MS Geology '00)
December 23, 2002
   I miss green chiles, after-seminar seminars, and all the wonderful friends I met at Tech!

Regina G. Rone (BS Geology '99, MS Geology '01) chinle65 at yahoo.com
December 24, 2002
   Where else do you get paid to run around in the woods??? I provide and conduct standard forest and rangeland soil resources inventories and watershed restoration needs, assist in writing watershed restoration and erosion control plans, and provide guidance and standards for Best Management Practices (this involved the Olympic Games in 2002, which by the way were awesome!)
   During fire season (which seems to be all summer long!!!) I am part of the BAER (Burned Area Emergency Restoration) team, mapping burn severity on soils with the objective of identifying severely disturbed landscapes for post fire treatment and rehabilitation.
    This has been an extremely rewarding job that involves plenty of field work during the summer, including horse pack trips, camping, as well as snowshoeing and skiing in the winter.
   Call me if you want more info or just say hello if we've "suffered" together through the geology program.
   Cheers!

Charlotte Rowe (BS Geology '81, PhD Geophysics Dec '00) char at lanl.gov or carowe at cybermesa.com
December 23, 2002
   Received MS in Geophysics from University of Alaska, Fairbanks in 1988. Happy to be back in New Mexico.

Joseph Michael Sterling (MS Hydrology '01) jsterli1 at CH2M.com
December 26, 2002
   I am working as a consulting hydrologist for CH2M HILL, in our Santa Ana, California office, the largest office in our Southwest Region. I have predominantly worked on large Superfund projects, with the EPA as our client. My work involves planning and implementation of field work and other characterization studies to develop corrective action plans and design appropriate treatment systems. I am involved in everything from development of monitoring plans, to design, drilling, installation, and sampling of wells, to planning and analysis of aquifer tests, to evaluation of sampling data, to modeling support, and in the reporting and documentation of all of these activities. My excellent education at NM Tech has provided me with a solid foundation on which to build my career. I strongly advocate for graduates of NM Tech, and we have since hired two additional students from the E&ES program at Tech (Kevin Boggs and BJ Lechler).