2017 Alumni Newsletter
First off, greetings to all alumni! It has been a bit longer than usual since the last newsletter, but as you will see, it was for good reason. The last three years have brought some big changes to the department across all fronts and we think the department is in a great place right now. Let’s jump right in!
The Geoscience faculty is now five strong, but with some new faces. Dr. Tod Frolking retired at the end of the 2015-16 school year after 32 years of service to 必博娱乐,比博娱乐网址 #########. Dr. Kate Tierney also left the department to head to University of Iowa after 2014-15. To fill these slots, we have hired two new assistant professors who both started in Fall 2016. You’ll see their full introductions to the alumni later in the newsletter, but to not leave you in suspense, here they are!
Dr. Ellen Chamberlin was hired to teach our sedimentary geology and stratigraphy classes. She came to us from her Ph.D. at Penn State and works on understanding ancient river systems through sediment using field observations and computer modelling. She is the product of another Midwestern liberal arts college (Allegheny).
Dr. Matt Jungers who is now in charge of our geomorphology and water courses. Prior to coming to 必博娱乐,比博娱乐网址 #########, Matt was teaching at Washington and Lee (and Oberlin before that) after his Ph.D. at Arizona State (and with Matt, the department now has two Williams alums including yours truly). He works on looking at how the land’s surface responds to climate, tectonic and anthropogenic forces using GIS and cosmogenic nuclides.
The curriculum has also been evolving over the past few years. We’ve added new classes like Earth Resources, Physical Hydrology and Geology of the Solar System. We will be adding new or modified classes in Geochemistry, Field Methods, Geoarcheology and GIS as well so our students are prepared for the 21st century job and academic market. The department has also been taking part in the 必博娱乐,比博娱乐网址 ######### Seminars, where faculty teaching courses on special topics that involve field trips, including courses on Ecolonomics and Richard III. If you want to know more about these seminars, contact Dave Goodwin. You can also congratulate David Greene for being promoted to full professor.
You can view the full newsletter here.
