Students have the opportunity to conduct research and participate in my lab in a variety of ways. Many of these projects have been presented as papers in regional and national conferences. Here is a sampling of some of these projects.
Graduate Research
Nishanthi Wijekoon (NOAA NERR Doctoral Fellow) - Nishanthi has been studying changes in water quality in Old Woman Creek using a combination of
remote sensing and field sampling methods. Her work is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration through its National Estuarine
Research Reserve (NERR) Fellowship program. She has presented her work as talks and posters in several conferences. Here is a sampling of her work:
2007 KSU Water Resources Research Institute Annual Conference Poster (Best Student Presentation Award)
2007 Midwestern Evolution and Ecological Conference Poster
2005 Estuarine Research Federation 18th Biennial Conference Poster
Matt Wilsbacher (KSU Geology Master of Science candidate) - Matt reconstructed the paleoproductivity of the California margin off Baja California.
Mike Hubbard (KSU Archeology Master of Science candidate) - Mike is using diffuse spectral reflectance to estimate provenance of chert and
soapstone archeological artifacts of paleo-indians from Ohio.
Matthew McClellan (KSU Honors Student and Geology Bachelor of Science candidate) - Matt participated in the New Zealand Sediments international research cruise and is using diffuse spectral reflectance as a stratigraphic tool to intercorrelate sediments from the cruise.
Lyanne Yurko (KSU Honors Student and Geology Bachelor of Science candidate)
Brian Meeks (UMEB Scholar and Earth Science Bachelor of Arts candidate)
Chris Stefano (KSU Honors Student and Geology Bachelor of Science recipient ) - Chris used diffuse spectral reflectance to estimate clay mineralogy in marine sediments off baja california.
(click here to visit the WRRI REU website)
Drew Feucht (College of Wooster Geological Sciences Bachelor of Science recipient) - Drew used the Department of Geology's Malvern Mastersizer 2000 laser particle size analyzer to estimate the concentration and particle size spectrum of suspended particles in Sandusky Bay and the western basin of Lake Erie
Sarah Reagan (KSU Biology Bachelor of Science recipient ) - Sarah evaluated the utility of various SeaWiFs chl a algorithms at estimating plant pigment biomass in Lake Erie.
Independent Study Projects
Kevin Mauser, a student in the College of Education's TLCS Department, studied ways to use inquiry to teach students about color theory and Diffuse Spectral Reflectance.
Chris Wargo, a Geology Bachelor of Science recipient used wind data from Lake Erie to estimate wave power spectra and the impact variations in wave power have on coastal erosion in Lake Erie. (Chris is now a graduate student in the Geology program at the University of South Carolina).
Nate Sacraceno, an Honors student and Geology Bachelor of Science recipient cataloged the micropaleontology collection at Kent State, and verified the taxonomic identification of the specimens. He also quantified benthic foraminiferal concentrations in sediment samples from cores off Baja California.