Basso received his PhD from Michigan State in Crop and Soil Sciences. Basso is a recognized leader in crop modeling for evaluating land use sustainability. His research deals mainly with water, carbon, nitrogen cycling and modeling in agro-ecosystems, and spatial analysis of crop yield. Basso’s modeling research has focused on extending soil-crop-atmosphere models to spatial domains at the field scale, and in particular on developing, testing, and deploying SALUS, a next-generation process-based model that integrates crop productivity with water, carbon, and nutrient fluxes in a spatially explicit manner. Through this research, it has been possible to integrate the effects of topography and soil properties on soil water balance, and thereby partition surface vs. subsurface flows in different landscape positions. This has important value for better understanding and predicting nitrogen conservation patterns in cropped landscapes as well as soil carbon change – and has led to important insights for the likely effects of climate change on carbon and water footprints of future cropping systems, as noted in recent publications.

Basso is a sought-after international keynote speaker, and has a strong externally funded research program, with ongoing projects in Europe funded by the European Science Framework Program and in the USA with projects funded by NSF, EPA, USGS, USDA-NIFA. He collaborates worldwide with International science agencies (FAO-UN, WMO-UN). His research has been recognized with various prestigious international research and teaching awards. Basso’s expertise will complement hydrogeology research in the Department in the field of water and sustainable natural resources management and other water-focused initiatives across the MSU campus.

Links:
Basso’s Department profile, including contact information
The SALUS (System Approach to Land Use Sustainability) program

Nicole Ladue received a Geological Society of America Student Research Grant for her project “The Influence of Spatial Ability on Geologic Problem Solving.”

Sheldon Turner’s presentation at the 2012 AAAS meeting in Vancouver, BC, on “The Effectiveness of Visualizations in Communicating Natural Resource Issues“, won the student poster contest in the Science in Society category.

Trisha Smrecak received the Paleontological Society Student Research Grant: Steven J. Gould Award from the Paleontological Society for a project titled “A Test of the Epibiofacies Model: Assessing Impacts of Changing Marine Conditions on Encrusting Organisms”.

From within MSU, awards were given by the College of Natural Science, MSU Graduate School, and the Environmental Science and Policy Program:

PhD students Nicole Ladue, Summer Ostrowski, and Christy Steffke were awarded a College of Natural Sciences / Graduate School Dissertation Continuation Fellowship. Summer Ostrowski also received a Graduate School Dissertation Completion Fellowship.

PhD students Robert Drost and Sheldon Turner were both awarded Environmental Science and Policy Program (ESPP) Graduate Student Summer Research Funding grants.

Incoming PhD candidates Alexandria Kuhl and Daniel Burk were awarded a CNS Graduate Fellowship and Rasmussen Fellowship, respectively.

“”We now believe that the western portion of the rift formed about 25 million years ago, and is approximately as old as the eastern part, instead of much younger as other studies have maintained,” said Gottfried, Michigan State University associate professor of geological sciences. “The significance is that the Rift Valley is the setting for the most crucial steps in primate and ultimately human evolution, and our study has major implications for the environmental and landscape changes that form the backdrop for that evolutionary story.”

Gottfried worked with an international team led by Eric Roberts at Australia’s James Cook University who added that the findings have important implications for understanding climate change models, animal evolution and the development of Africa’s unique landscape.

The Rukwa Rift (a segment of the western branch) is an example of a divergent plate boundary, where the Earth’s tectonic forces are pulling plates apart and creating new continental crust. The East African Rift system is composed of two main segments: the eastern branch that passes through Ethiopia and Kenya, and a western branch that forms a giant arc from Uganda to Malawi, interconnecting the famous rift lakes of eastern Africa.

Traditionally, the eastern branch is considered much older, having developed 15 to 25 million years earlier than the western branch. This study provides new evidence that the two rift segments developed at about the same time, nearly doubling the initiation age of the western branch and the timing of uplift in this region of East Africa.

“A key piece of evidence in this study is the discovery of approximately 25 million-year-old lake and river deposits in the Rukwa Rift that preserve abundant volcanic ash and vertebrate fossils,” Roberts said. These deposits include some of the earliest anthropoid primates yet found in the rift, added Nancy Stevens of Ohio University.

The findings imply that around 25 to 30 million years ago, the broad uplift of East Africa occurred and re-arranged the flow of large rivers such as the Congo and the Nile to create the distinct landscapes and climates that mark Africa today.

———-
Contact: Dr. Michael Gottfried, Geological Science; phone: (517) 432-1614, email: gottfrie@msu.edu
Article obtained from MSU news: http://news.msu.edu/story/geologists-correct-a-rift-in-africa/
Link to Nature Geoscience article

More details on the 2012 University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF) can be found here. Presentation times of students associated with the Department of Geological Sciences are:

Oral Presentations:

Diana Brown (Adviser: Long)
UNDERSTANDING SOURCES FOR DISSOLVED CHLORIDE IN AN EASTERN MICHIGAN GROUNDWATER SYSTEM
Time: 2:00 PM
Location: MSU Room

Heather Hartmann, Nick Somoski, Jeremy Shinn (Adviser: Brandt)
THE APTITUDE OF YOUTUBE IN THE DELIVERANCE OF SCIENCE
Time: 9:00 AM
Location: Green Room

Poster Presentations

Rose Curtis, Hunter Craig, Meyessa Mansour (Adviser: Brandt)
FACEBOOK: THE NEW FACE OF SCIENCE?
Time: 1:30 – 3:30 PM
Location: Gold Room

Nicole Hart (Adviser: Hampton)
INSIGHTS ON PROVENANCE AND SEDIMENT DISPERSAL DURING THE MIDDLE- AND LATE-STAGE DEVELOPMENT OF MIDCONTINENT RIFT SYSTEM: U-PB DETRITAL ZIRCON GEOCHRONOLOGY OF THE KEWEENAWAN SUPERGROUP
Time: 1:30 – 3:30 PM
Location: Parlor A

Andrew Hayes, Connor Teevens (Adviser: Brandt)
TWEETING SCIENCE
Time: 9:30 – 11:30 AM
Location: Parlor A

Briana Jasinski (Advisers: Hyndman, Kendall, Martin)
A HISTORY OF BEAVER ACTIVITY IN THE JORDAN RIVER WATERSHED: SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION, SUCCESSION, AND SEDIMENT
Time: 9:30 – 11:30 AM
Location: Parlor A

Kraig Koroleski (Adviser: Hampton)
APPLYING U-PB DETRITAL GEO/THERMOCHRONOLOGY TO CONSTRAIN PROVENANCE AND THERMAL HISTORY OF PRECAMBRIAN METASEDIMENTARY STRATA FROM THE GREAT LAKES TECTONIC ZONE, NORTHERN MICHIGAN
Time: 1:30 – 3:30 PM
Location: Parlor A

Sydny Landon (Adviser: Gottfried)
TWO JOINTS ARE BETTER THAN ONE: JAW ARTICULATION IN THE GREAT WHITE SHARK
Time: at 1:30 – 3:30
Location: Parlor A

Rachael LeFevre, Agnieszka Felczak, Emily Kolean (Adviser: Brandt)
THE SCIENCE OF BLOGGING: BEST PRACTICES IN SCIENCE COMMUNICATION
Time: 1:30 – 3:30 PM
Location: Gold Room

Cody MacDonald (Adviser: Hampton)
PRELIMINARY U-PB DETRITAL ZIRCON AGES FROM UPPER PALEOZOIC STRATA OF THE FAREWELL TERRANE, SOUTHERN ALASKA: TESTING FOR A SIBERIAN VERSUS NORTH AMERICAN TECTONIC ORIGIN
Time: 1:30 – 3:30 PM
Location: Parlor A

Ryan Nagelkirk (Advisers: Kendall, Basso, Hyndman)
PREDICTING THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON AGRICULTURAL YIELDS IN THE MAUMEE RIVER WATERSHED
Time: 1:30 – 3:30 PM
Location: Ballroom

Gregory Ruetenik (Adviser: Libarkin)
APPLICATION OF SPATIAL ANALYSIS TOOLS TO PROJECTION OF EYE TRACKING DATA
Time: 9:30 – 11:30 AM
Location: Ballroom

“Journey to the Center of the Earth is a grand adventure story with charismatic performances, imaginative production design, and a superb Bernard Herrmann score that enhances the film’s sense of wonder. The high point in veteran director Henry Levin’s career, Journey wisely veers away from the procedural nature of the Jules Verne source novel, adding a central conflict and more diverse character development.” (from allrovi.com)

The screening on February 7, 2012, begins at 7:00 p.m. in the Main Library North Conference Room, W449. The event is cosponsored by the MSU Museum in coordination with Darwin Discovery Day. More information: http://www.lib.msu.edu/general/events/index.jsp?e=12

Join us for a weekend in Copper Country! Space is limited to 40 alumni so register today.

Geology Field Trip 2012

August 24-26, 2012

Keweenaw Peninsula, MI

The Keweenaw Peninsula contains the remnants of the Midcontinent Rift System, which was on the scale of the modern Gulf of Aden-Red Sea Rift. It almost separated the North American craton into two continents one billion years ago and was the last major tectonic event to affect the Midcontinent USA. The native copper hosted by the rift deposits triggered a major human migration in the 1840s that was on the same scale as the California gold rush.

Led by Professor Emeritus Bill Cambray and Assistant Professor Tyrone Rooney, the field trip will highlight the evidence used to interpret this area as the southern margin of the rift and its subsequent deformation into the Lake Superior Syncline.

Schedule

Friday, August 24

By 6:00pm Arrive in Houghton

6:30pm – 8:00pm Welcome reception & overview at the Franklin Square Inn

Saturday, August 25

8:30am – 5:30pm Excursions to various Keweenaw sites. Transportation & lunch provided.

6:30pm – 9:00pm Reception & Dinner at the Franklin Square Inn

Sunday, August 26

8:30am – 4:30pm Excursions to various Keweenaw sites. Transportation & lunch provided.

Lodging

Participants are responsible for making their own lodging reservations and transportation to and from Houghton, MI.

Rooms are available August 24, 2012–August 26, 2012 at:

FRANKLIN SQUARE INN

820 Shelden Avenue

Houghton, MI

RATE: $84/night single occupancy plus applicable taxes. Add $8 for each additional guest per room.

RESERVATIONS: 888-487-1700

ROOM BLOCK NAME: MSU Geology

RESERVATION DEADLINE: August 1, 2012

Registration

Rates

$275/person if you register by February 3, 2012

$325/person if you register by February 24, 2012

Current members of the MSU Alumni Association will receive a $35 discount off the above rates. Join the MSU Alumni Association and select “Natural Science” as your constituent.

$40/person for Saturday Reception & Dinner Only (for spouses/guests)

Registration includes:

• Friday evening welcome reception & overview
• Bus transportation to field sites on Saturday & Sunday. Participants MUST travel to the field sites in the bus; driving in separate vehicles will not be permitted.
• Saturday & Sunday lunch
• Saturday reception & dinner
• Field trip handbook

All Registrations will be handled online. CLICK HERE to register.

If you do not have computer access, please call Elizabeth Wheeler at 517-884-0290.

The “FINE PRINT”

Your credit card will be charged at registration, and all registrants will receive an email confirmation upon receipt of their registration.

This program is funded solely by registration fees; therefore, a minimum number of participants are required. Any proceeds beyond expenses will go to the Geology Endowed Field Study Fund to support MSU students on future geology field trips. Registration fees are not tax deductible as a charitable contribution. Make an additional contribution to the Geology Endowed Field Study Fund.

All registrants will receive a confirmation from Elizabeth Wheeler, CNS Alumni Relations, by March 1, 2012 noting whether the minimum has been reached and if the field trip will proceed. In the event the minimum is not reached, a full refund will be processed to the credit card originally charged.

No cancellations or refunds will be accepted after February 24, 2012; however, substitutions are welcome.

Questions? Please contact Elizabeth Wheeler via email or (517) 884-0290.

Tominaga is a marine geophysicist currently finishing her postdoctoral research at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution – the largest private non-profit oceanographic institution in the world. She will be moving inland this summer to join the faculty of MSU’s Department of Geological Sciences as an assistant professor.

“Joining the faculty at Michigan State allows me to expand my expertise and skills to inland water, specifically the Great Lakes,” Tominaga says. “My research will complement the hydrogeological and environmental research in the Department of Geological Sciences. The collaborations with top researchers across the university on fresh water resource studies attracted my interests and I am excited about the opportunities for establishing geophysical contributions to both local and global societal issues.”

Tominaga says that being a professor at a public university will allow her to build her leadership skills in both science and education while engaging in public service.  She began her marine science career as a graduate student on an expedition in 2002 to the Jurassic Quiet Zone in the Pacific Ocean. The zone is a region of low amplitude, difficult-to-correlate magnetic anomalies located over the oldest ocean crust. Her research utilized underwater vehicles and seafloor drilling to investigate magmatic and volcanic processes and large scale tectonics.

Since her initial expedition, she has also been involved in five Integrated Ocean Drilling Program expeditions. Currently she is the chief scientist on the 2011 Jurassic Ocean Crust Magnetic Survey which is measuring the magnetism, bathymetry, gravity, and structure of the Jurassic seafloor to investigate the history and nature of the Earth’s magnetic field. Scientific outcome from this cruise will advance our knowledge on how the planet Earth’s magnetic field has been operated, how Cretaceous supervolcanism interfered with Jurassic basement, and the extension of Jurassic geological time scale.

Tominaga received a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from Waseda University in Tokyo Japan. She then attended Texas A&M University where she received an M.S. and Ph.D. in Geological Oceanography. She is an expert in applied geophysics and engineering development, including seismics, potential field data analyses, high-resolution bathymetry and chirp sonar data analyses, numerical modeling, and physical properties of the Earth.

Tominaga’s research interests cover a wide area of geodynamic processes of the Earth, including magmatism, volcanism, and lithosphere evolution. Her research also covers CO₂ sequestration, plate tectonics, geomagnetic field of the Earth, and the Jurassic-Early Cretaceous Geological Time Scale.

“Having Tominaga at MSU opens up new areas of research regarding the Great Lakes,” says David Hyndman, chair of the Department of Geological Sciences. “She will be able to contribute to underwater biology and chemistry studies as water research plays an expanded role at MSU. Her experience in the analysis of reservoirs and modern seismic methods makes her a good resource as both an educator and a researcher on oil, gas, and mineral exploration.”

Another project she will focus on is building MAPLES – a Multiscale mAgnetic and Physical Properties Lab for Earth Science. “MAPLES encompasses a full spectrum of geophysical collaborative research with scientists across MSU and around the globe,” says Tominaga. “We will be conducting cutting-edge research on Earth’s geodynamics and environmental problems while training both undergraduate and graduate students.”

Tominaga is a rising star among early career geologists. She has been Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-PI on National Science Foundation (NSF) research grants that are dedicated to field programs with utilizing University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) ships and National Deep Submergence Facility (NDSF) underwater vehicles as well as Scripps Institution of Oceanography seismic system. She has published 13 peer reviewed papers and received several awards, including an American Geophysical Union Editor’s Highlight for the paper “Origin of the smooth zone in early Cretaceous North Atlantic magnetic anomalies.” Tominaga will begin her teaching and research at MSU in August 2012.

Written by Mike Steger.  Photo by William C. Koeppen.

Stoney taught Mineralogy as well as other geology courses and served as field trip director for the Department of Geological Sciences for many years. He was the departmental advisor for undergraduate majors and Earth Science teachers before retiring in 1989.

Originally from Walton-on-the-Hill, a small village near Stafford, England, Stoney received his Ph.D. in Geochemistry, Economic Geology, and Mineralogy  from the University of Toronto in 1952. He worked for American Smelting and Refining in New Jersey, and then the Illinois Geological Survey before coming to Michigan State University (MSU) in September, 1955.

Following his Fulbright Fellowship in Earth Science Education (K-16) in 1973, Stoney served on various state education committees to improve the teaching and learning of science in Michigan. He was named the Outstanding Education Specialist in Michigan in 1981.

Shortly after the founding of the Michigan Earth Science Teachers Association (MESTA) in 1967, Stoney started the long-standing association between MESTA and MSU; he served on its board and as journal editor, and worked tirelessly to promote the excellent teaching of Earth Science. He was a MESTA Honorary Life Member and the Stoney Award, a mini-grant program to support innovative K-12 classroom ideas, was established in his honor.

In 1983, Stoney helped transfer the MESTA experience to the national level as he helped establish the National Earth Science Teachers Association (NESTA). He served as the Executive Advisor to NESTA from 1983 until 1991.  He was named a Fellow of the association in 1994 and NESTA’s Jan and Stoney Award for Significant Achievement is named in his honor.

Stoney was actively involved in the Michigan Science Olympiad and National Science Olympiad. He served on the national board from 1984 to 2002.  He coordinated the first two National Science Olympiad tournaments at Michigan State University and the three of the Michigan Science Olympiad Tournaments.

He is survived by his wife, Janet Woerner, four children from his first marriage and two grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be made in Stoney’s name to the National Earth Science Teachers Association, the Michigan Earth Science Teachers Association, the National Science Olympiad, or the Michigan Science Olympiad.

“Endowed professorships and endowed graduate fellowships are critical building blocks for excellence in every academic area,” MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said. “Comprehending the forces that shape our world, specifically water and energy resources, requires research leaders who also can carry that knowledge into the classroom. This gift enables us to attract rising stars in geological sciences who can make an immediate impact on our research and education.”

The search for three early career faculty members for the new endowed professorships will likely begin in 2012. A portion of the gift leverages a scholarship matching fund provided by a previous anonymous donor to MSU and will endow graduate fellowship support for attracting the best and brightest graduate students.

“Graduate fellowships are a cornerstone of strong research programs and this funding allows us to recruit the most capable,” said R. James Kirkpatrick, dean of the College of Natural Science. “The fellowships will provide funding for students to earn their degree while undertaking advanced research alongside leading faculty. Together, these professorships and fellows will significantly enhance MSU’s Department of Geological Sciences.”

Another portion of the gift completes funding for the Thomas Vogel Endowed Chair in Solid Earth. The chair was established in 2006 in honor of the retirement of longtime geology professor Thomas Vogel. Endowed chairs are the highest honor awarded to faculty.

The gift was directed specifically to the Department of Geological Science in the College of Natural Science.

Written by Mike Steger, College of Natural Science