Department of Earth Sciences

We are deeply saddened to learn that UCR Earth Sciences alumnus Pete Collier passed away suddenly on Thursday, August 27 in the town of Burney, northern California, where he lived with his wife Fran.  Many of you will remember Pete as a jovial, generous, and big-hearted fellow.  He graduated with a degree in Geology from the Department in the 1970s and worked as a staff scientist for the geothermal program until the late 1980s.  He was always ready for a Departmental volleyball or softball game, and enjoyed hunting and fishing and training his dogs.  He last visited UCR during our 50th anniversary alumni party in February of 2007.  
































There will be a Celebration of Pete Collier's Life on Sunday, Sept. 6 from 2-5 pm at:   Authentic Leadership Center
11344 Coloma Road, Suite 435
Gold River, CA  95670
 http://www.authenticleadershipcenter.com/contactusmap.html

In lieu of flowers, Fran has asked that donations be made to a scholarship program for students in Earth Sciences. 
Please make checks payable to "UCR Foundation" with a memo line that says
 "Earth Sciences Dept. - Peter C. Collier Scholarship Fund"
and send them to:  
Peter C. Collier Scholarship Fund
c/o Michael McKibben
Dept. of Earth Sciences University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521 

 Earth Sciences Welcomes our incoming Graduate Students!

Student	MS/PHD	Program	Outgoing University
Laura Bilenker	MS	Netechtonics or mineral deposits	University of Maryland
Charles Burton	MS	GCEC	US Navel Academy
Joseph Collette	PhD	Paleo	Univ. Mass, Amherst
Jacquelyn Gilchrist	PhD	Geophysics	UC Santa Cruz
Richard Knecht (RJ)	MS	Paleo	Tufts University
Daryl Kohut	MS	GCEC	Kutztown University
Kayla Kroll	MS	Geophysics	Cal State Polytechnic
Bradley Lipovsky	MS	Geophysics	Cornell University
Andrew Robinson	MS	Biogeochemistry	UC Riverside
Michael Trumbower	MS	GCEC	St Lawrence
Aaron Sappenfield	PhD	Paleo	UC Riverside
Jeremy Owens	PhD	Biogeochemistry	UC Riverside

Earth Sciences Welcomes our new undergraduates

Belen Mendoza
Yichung Chiu
Bryna Grinyer
Keneth Kim
Anthony Leang
Gabriel Lutack
Aurel Quintana
Marion Rutledge

We look forward to meetinging you all at our Welcome BBQ on September 25th at noon in the geology courtyard.

Scientists Expose "Buried" Fault that Caused Deadly 2003 Quake in Iran UC Riverside's Gareth Funning is member of research team
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Using satellite radar data, NASA-funded scientists, including UC Riverside's Gareth Funning, have observed for the first time the healing of subtle, natural surface scars from an earthquake in Iran that occurred on a "buried" fault extending several miles below the surface-a fault whose fractures are not easily observed at Earth's surface.

Reporting March 5 in Nature, the scientists, led by geophysicist Eric Fielding of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., describe how so-called "buried" faults are not so hidden after all.

Using as a case study the magnitude 6.6 earthquake that killed more than 30,000 people and devastated Bam, Iran, in 2003, the scientists analyzed radar images from the European Space Agency's Envisat satellite to study the land surface above a fault buried about half a mile under Earth's surface. They discovered a shallow, narrow surface depression that formed and evolved after the quake.

"Using data that cover the first three and a half years after the earthquake, we observed subsidence and lateral contraction of the Earth's crust surrounding the fault on which the earthquake occurred," said Funning, an assistant professor in the Department of Earth Sciences. "After testing many models, we concluded that this can only be a result of volume reduction in the crust - the closing of cracks that were opened up during the earthquake. In other words, we observed the crust healing after the earthquake. This has been inferred before using seismological methods, but never before seen from surface movements."  To read more on this story click here

 

An international team of scientists from UC Riverside, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other institutions has found the oldest evidence for animals in the fossil record.

 

 

 

 

The researchers examined sedimentary rocks in south Oman, and found an anomalously high amount of distinctive steroids that date back to 635 million years ago, to around the end of the last immense ice age. The steroids are produced by sponges – one of the simplest forms of multicellular animals.

The researchers argue that the discovery of the sponges is evidence for multicellular animal life beginning 100 million years before the Cambrian explosion, a well-studied and unique episode in Earth history that began about 530 million years ago when, as indicated by the fossil record, animal life diversified rapidly.

The discovery can help scientists reconstruct Earth’s early ecosystems and explain how animal life may have first evolved on the planet.

“Our findings suggest that the evolution of multicellular animals began earlier than has been thought,” said Gordon Love, an assistant professor of Earth sciences, who led the research group. Love began working on the project while he was a postdoctoral researcher at MIT. “Moreover, sponges live on the seafloor, growing initially in shallow waters and spreading, over time, into deeper waters, implying the existence of oceanic environments which contained dissolved oxygen near the shallow seafloor around 635 million years ago.”

Study results appear in the Feb. 5 issue of Nature.  To read more on this story click here.

 
Dr. Larissa Dobrzhinetskaya, Principle Investigator, and her Co-Investigators Dr. H. Green (UCR), Dr. I. Hutcheon and Dr. P. Weber (LLNL) have received UC-Laboratory Research Program Award $737,577 for the 3 year project: "Experimental Studies of Metal Nitrides in Extreme Conditions: Implication to Earth's Interior, Planet Formation, and Technological Needs".

             The goal of the project is to study isotopes of carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) in high pressure metal nitrides, that the team has recently discovered within mantle rocks in Tibet, to understand isotopes' primary reservoirs and their roles in Earth's formation. The second goal is experimental synthesis of metal nitrides to understand their stability field and phase transitions at extreme pressures (5 - 20 GPa) and temperatures (1000- 1600 ^oC) using a Walker's-style multi-anvil apparatus. The higher-pressure experiments at 20-130 GPa and temperatures of 1000-3500 ^oC will be carried out in a laser-heated, diamond anvil cell device coupled with synchrotron-assisted micro-X-ray in situ studies of run products.

             The project bridges together the UCR Department of Earth Sciences and the Division of Chemistry, Materials, and Life Sciences of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The project provides a unique opportunity for students to appreciate the mix of basic science and experimental technology, which is made possible by LLNL's unique position midway between UC academia and national industry.

 

Master's student Camille Partinhas been accepted into the Ph.D. program at the University of Manitoba, in the Geological Sciences Dept., where she will be working with Dr. Andrey Bekker. There, she will be studying Paleoproterozoic stratigraphy, geochronology and geochemistry, in particular, applying paleoredox proxies to black shales. Camille's Ph.D. research will be supported by the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) Research Affiliate Program. Next summer she will begin mapping with the GSC on Melville Peninsula in the Canadian Arctic.

Check out our Hewett Club News Letter

      

Awards and Honors

• Tien Lee received an award of Chapter Citation of Merit from the Inland Empire Chapter of the Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists in appreciation for organizing and managing continuing education courses and his continued support of the AEG Inland Empire Chapter.



• Philip Nee and Monica Galaviz were both awarded Brunton Compasses as recognition for their achievements as Geoscience students, and their potential for future success.



•  The department was awarded a Brunton Compass to help students perform field work.  We greatly appreciate the continued support that AEG has given our education and research programs here at UC Riverside.
• Alumni Stan Finney is presently the Vice-chair of the International Commission on Stratigraphy.  At the 33rd International Geological Congress in Oslo, Norway in August 2008, he will begin a four-year term as Chair of the International Commission on Stratigraphy.  

 

• CONGRATULATIONS to Emma Britton, an Undergraduate soon to be graduating this Spring 2008 has been recognized for her hard work.  Emma was awarded the 2008 Earth Sciences Academic Excellence Award and the 2008 College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences Outstanding Achievement Award.

• CONGRATULATIONS to Dr. Harry Green Distinguished Professor of Geology and Geophysics for the Deaprtment of Earth Sciences has been elected "President-elect" of the Tectonophysics Section of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). He will serve in 2008-2009 as the President-elect and in 2009-2010 as the President of the section.

Recent Graduates

Graduates from the Earth Sciences Department have a high success rate in finding academic jobs in their field. Here are a few of our most recent graduates:

 PhD

Ben Gill (Spring '09)













Mike Vredevoogd (Summer '08)

 

 MS

 
Margie DeRose











Aaron Sappenfield (Spring '09)
Aaron will be continuing his studies here at UCR and beginning the PhD program.











Erica Clites(Spring '09)









Greg Lawson (Fall '08)

 

Neil McKenzie (Spring '09)
Ryan (Neil) will be continuing his studies here at UCR and beginning the PhD program.

 

 

 

Dan Garson (Spring '09) 





 BS 
  

 Andrew Robinson (Spring '09)
Andrew will be continuing his studies here at UCR and beginning the Master's program.

 

 

 

 

Job Opportunities

Here is a link to the AIP Career Network Web site. The AIP Career Web site has a proven record of providing helpful career information and job opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students.
The SMI website , is designed to help prospective teachers seeking professional career planning advice.

Hewett Club Seminars

The Hewett Club presents a number of speakers throughout each school year. Lectures span a wide range of topics relevant to the Earth Sciences and usually last between one and two hours depending on the amount of questions. Lectures are usually scheduled every Tuesday at 4:10p.m. in INTL/CHASS Room 1002. Lectures are free of charge. All are welcome and encouraged to attend.

• Hewett Club Lecture Series Schedule

GEO 250 Seminar

Oral reports by graduate students, faculty, and visiting scholars on current research topics in geological sciences. Scheduled every Monday at noon. Selected faculty will present talks on their current research during Fall quarter.

• GEO 250 Schedule