Category: Academics
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Senior Moments
The spring semester is rushing towards its conclusion. Classes have ended, final exams are underway, and graduation is just over a week away. The Geology Department’s class of 2012 is an accomplished and talented group. As I’ve noted before, all geology majors complete a year-long, independent senior thesis—this project is part of what makes the…
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A Mobile Mob: the Earth Structure & Dynamics Field Trip
This past Friday, the Earth Structure & Dynamics class assembled behind the Geology Department and then poured themselves into 3 vans and headed west to the Appalachian Mountains. Counting supernumeraries we totaled 36 people, which qualifies as a mobile mob. On this trip, students practice and hone their skills doing geology in the field and…
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What’s in a Name?
I’ve taught geology courses at William & Mary for over fifteen years, and during that time I’ve seen and heard a litany of student misconceptions about how the Earth, the Solar System, and the Universe work. Ask an introductory earth science class to explain why there are seasons in Williamsburg or what makes the sky…
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Earth Structure & Dynamics: Dreaming in 3D
One of the courses I am teaching this term is Earth Structure & Dynamics (GEOL 323), a second-level geology course, and a required class for all Geology majors. This course combines structural geology, tectonics, geophysics, and a pinch of historical geology. Thirty-four students enrolled in this year’s class, that’s plenty, and free seats are hard…
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Frost on the Pumpkin
Fall has reached its full crescendo in Williamsburg; leaves are a riot of orange, scarlet and russet, the temperature has dropped, and frost has been sighted on more than a few pumpkins. The National Weather Service has officially declared the 2011 growing season over. The growing season ends when the first freeze occurs (i.e. the…
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It All Averages Out
This morning I handed back the graded mid-term exam to the Geology 312- Weather, Climate, and Change class. The average (or mean) score was 78% with the high grade topping out at 92%. The grade distribution is skewed to the left (that is there is a long tail of lower grades) with a noticeable absence…
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Mountain Mayhem
As I’ve noted in these posts before, Geology Departmental field trips are unique as they bring together the W&M geologic community in a way that staying on campus never could. The Fall Field trip took an enthusiastic crew of students and faculty to the Blue Ridge Mountains for a weekend getaway. Our timing was just…
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Hark Upon the Gale! The Hurricane Irene Report
Hurricane Irene raked North America’s East Coast and put a kibosh on the start of William & Mary’s Fall semester. Students were sent packing to safer locales while most faculty and staff hunkered down in Williamsburg. Irene delayed opening convocation by a week, but last Friday the choir belted out a spirited version of William…
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It’s Not My Fault
This afternoon, our Geology faculty meeting was adjourned by a motion from the floor. A 20-second motion from the floor, but more to the point, a 20-second motion from the Earth. Virginia and the East Coast experienced a moderate, but widely felt earthquake at 1:51 p.m. (local time). It was quite a jolt. The earthquake’s…
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Williamsburg’s Triple H’s
Welcome to William & Mary, it’s the middle of August and the weather in Williamsburg is… Williamsburg’s Triple H’s- HAZY, HOT, and HUMID. For me August is not Williamsburg’s finest month and I’m not the only one with that point of view. Faculty colleagues who, in August, moved to Williamsburg from New England, northern California,…
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Making Hay with the Alberene Dream Team
August is here and a new semester looms just around the corner. As the old saying goes it is best “to make hay while the sun shines” and Alberene Dream Team did just that, they baled a bunch of “research hay” during their summer field campaign in the eastern Blue Ridge Mountains. Let’s review. The…
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Mid-Summer Dream Team Report
The Alberene Dream Team has left the building and is now safely ensconced back in the eastern Blue Ridge Mountains. The Dream Team took a well-earned respite from fieldwork last week to compile field data in the Geology Department. In my original post I noted that the Alberene Dream Team is conducting research in the…
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The Alberene Dream Team
The summer of 2011 will not be a quiet one in the Geology Department. In addition to a full complement of Geology majors working on research, the department is abuzz with construction as we convert the geology library into a new and commodious classroom. More than a dozen Geology majors are currently on campus collecting…
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Who’s unconformable (Part 2)?
It took well over a week to crawl out from under the pile of 170 final exams, a ‘gift’ delivered by my Geology 110 course, but the grading is now done and the holidays are here. This quick post draws to a close the research that my structural geology seminar completed. Recall that the seminar…
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Who’s unconformable?
I spent the spare moments over Thanksgiving break working to complete a geologic map of the Big Run watershed in Shenandoah National Park. Fun stuff. My structural geology seminar has Monday, December 6th as a deadline to turn in their geologic map, cross sections, structural contour map, and research report – thus it is my…
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Stars in the Geoblogosphere
Science blogging is a brave new world that grows at a prodigious rate. For me it is a wonderfully exciting, yet mildly distracting world. The Geoblogosphere offers much for those interested in taking the pulse of planet Earth. Two W&M Geology alums are among the brightest stars in that sphere. Jessica Ball (’07) and her…
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Dissection of a Mid-term Exam
It’s mid-term exam season at William & Mary. On Friday, October 1st 170 students in my Earth’s Environmental Systems course sat for their first exam. This is an introductory class that enrolls a diverse group of students. Many are there to fulfill a General Education Requirement in the physical sciences, many are fresh men and…
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Down a Lazy River
The Geology Department has a tradition of Departmental field trips that explore the landscape and geologic underpinnings of many locations in the mid-Atlantic region. This field trip is open to all, involving curious students in their first geology class as well as a core of seasoned students and a cadre of faculty. Last weekend the…