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Newsletter
Fall 2002
Click here for previous news items.

November 11, 2002 -- E&ES Professors Rick Aster, Philip Kyle, and Bill McIntosh, along with geophysics graduate student Mario Ruiz and the Bureau's Nelia Dunbar and Rich Esser, are all leaving for the Mt. Erebus volcano (pictured above) in Antarctica on November 17. During their 6-week jaunt they plan to install new equipment so they can monitor the active volcano in real time from the comfort of sunny Socorro. Read all about it in the Mountain Mail. And check out the Mt. Erebus website for exciting video.

What's it like to visit Antarctica for the first time? Read the adventures of Tim Vermaat, a high school teacher who traveled to Antarctica with the 2001 NMT team. Photo by Philip Kyle.

November 11, 2002 -- Penny Boston, our Cave and Karst professor, was featured in an article in the Albuquerque Tribune today. In the article Penny describes some of the lifeforms she has found in caves.

October 31, 2002 -- Tech's Student Chapter of Sigma Gamma Epsilon, the National Honor Society for the Earth sciences, held a spooky bake sale as the first of upcoming holiday-themed events. The offerings were appropriately festive and quite tasty. In the picture above, chapter secretary Jen Wilson, vampire bride, collects some cash from Aaron Abel, masquerading as himself.

October 30, 2002 -- Twenty-three geoscientists from the Dept of Earth & Environmental Science and the NM Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources gave presentations at the 2002 meeting of the Geological Society of America, held in Denver, Colorado, on October 27-30. The presentations described some of the latest research being done in geoscience at New Mexico Tech. Click here for a list of the presenters and titles as well as links to presentation abstracts. In all, about 40 geoscientists from NMT attended the meeting. GSA is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences and boasts over 16,000 members worldwide. Its primary activities are organizing meetings/conferences and publishing scientific literature.

October 22, 2002 -- Eleven E&ES faculty members spent the day at the Sevilletta National Wildlife Refuge on Friday, October 18th. No, they weren't playing hooky--it was an academic holiday, and the students were celebrating 49ers. Instead, they immersed themselves in the quiet solitude of this beautiful place, surrounded by the rich New Mexico geology they bring to their classrooms, and they reflected on important issues that aren't easily tackled during a typical faculty meeting, such as current and future plans for the department.

Top Row: Laurel Goodwin, Andy Campbell, student representative Glen Gettemy. Bottom Row: Xiaobing Zhou, John Schlue, Penny Boston, Harold Tobin, Peter Mozley, Fred Phillips, Rob Bowman, Dave Johnson, Philip Kyle. (Pat Mills took the picture and had a great time too.)

October 11, 2002 -- Brian McPherson, Associate Professor of Hydrology, was recently quoted in the October 1st issue of EOS about a proposed U.S. national underground science laboratory (NUSL). Although the research emphasis at this proposed facility would be neutrinos and physics, the earth sciences could have a significant role in the facility.

McPherson was among 70 geoscientists attending an international workshop, underwritten by the National Science Foundation, on Neutrinos and Subterranean Science (NESS) in Washington DC in mid-September. McPherson and other geoscientists formed working groups to prepare an executive summary of potential earth science research at the proposed deep sub-surface facility. That summary can be found here. McPherson's quotes in EOS focused on how site selection would influence the types of earth science research possible at the proposed facility. (From EOS, Transactions, 1 Oct 2002, Vol 83, no 4. Copies in 2nd floor lounge and library.)

October 11, 2002 -- Penny Boston, Associate Professor of Cave and Karst Science, was recently featured in the PBS program NOVA: The Mysterious Life of Caves. Early in the program, Boston and other scientists descend into Lechuguilla, a southern New Mexico cave in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, where they look for evidence that the gypsum formations were created by bacteria. The footage of the cavers roughing it, collecting samples, and camping overnight is fascinating. Additional commentary outside the cave by Boston and colleagues provides interesting details.

Other caves are explored in the program, including one in Mexico where bacteria are excreting so much hydrogen sulfide gas that the cavers have to wear respirators. The hydrogen sulfide gas reacts with the oxygenated cave water, forming sulfuric acid which dissolves limestone leaving behind gypsum. The scientists observe sulfuric acid dripping from mucous-like strings (dubbed snottites) hanging from the ceiling. Although this acid dissolves their clothing and burns their skin, they can see mites and bugs swimming in it, probably eating the bacteria. Marveling at the abundance of life they are finding in the harsh environment, the scientists' gas monitors suddenly alert them to a dangerous drop in oxygen levels, and they hastily retreat.

If you missed this broadcast, the NOVA link above leads to a complete transcript as well as lots of pictures. The October 2002 Smithsonian Magazine has a companion article to this broadcast. Boston and crew are also enjoying international broadcast exposure: German TV last August; England's Channel 4 broadcasting The Day the Earth Was Born: Parts 1 and 2 on October 14 and 21; French TV in Spring 2003; and Japanese TV will be filming them in Lechuguilla Cave next month for broadcast in early Summer 2003. (NOTE: Penny Boston was still with the University of New Mexico when NOVA was filmed.) Photos by Val Hildreth-Werker.

September 25, 2002 -- Madison, Wisconsin. The home of cheese, cheeseheads, the Wisconsin Badgers, brats and beer, and one of the five Ironman competitions in North America. You may be thinking "Ironman? Isn't that some sort of power lifting or wrestling competition?" Well, not exactly. It is a long distance triathlon event where competitors swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and finish with a 26.2 mile run.

This year marked the first annual Ironman Wisconsin, which was held on Sunday, September 15th. The swim was a two-lap rectangular course where almost 2,000 athletes started together in the water. I have never been inside a washing machine, but that is what it felt like after the start cannon went off. There were arms flying, legs kicking, and splashing water everywhere. Thankfully, Christian and I managed to survive the swim (an equivalent distance of 156 lengths of the Tech 25 yard pool) with no major kicks to the face or elbows to the head. Christian was 38th overall out of the water in a time of 00:54:22, and Laura's time was 1:10:02, placing her 8th in the collegiate division.

After a short transition was the 112 mile bike ride, about the same distance as from Socorro to the VLA visitors center and back. The two-loop course weaved along beautiful country roads and rolling hills, with several substantial climbs that will rank this course among the most difficult of the 17 Ironman competitions held annually worldwide. Although our bike splits were not among the best of the day, I feel that we raced smart, saving our legs for the run. Christian maintained an average speed of 19 mph and I kept my pace at 17 mph.

The final segment of the Ironman competition was a marathon run. Highlights of the two lap Madison course, located almost entirely on the University of Wisconsin campus, took us around the capitol, through Camp Randall Stadium (home of the Wisconsin Badgers), and on State Street, the downtown hub of activity. Aid stations full of enthusiastic volunteers were handing out everything from Gatorade to grapes to chicken soup every mile. Christian passed many athletes on the run with a marathon time of 3:43:34. His total time was 10:45:02, good enough for an impressive first-time Ironman finish of 150th overall. I was happy with my marathon time of 4:23:56, considering the bike was so difficult. I learned a lot from this race and was completely satisfied with my final time of 12:19:10 that placed me 5th collegiate (this race was a collegiate championship meet) and 696th overall. A total of 1,802 athletes (393 women, 1409 men) finished the race before the cutoff time of 17 hours.

One of the best parts of the entire experience was the enormous community support that was shown from an estimated 50,000 to 75,000 people that were cheering on race participants that day. Thousands of upbeat and enthusiastic people lined the shores of Lake Menona and the streets of downtown Madison and surrounding towns, making the day seem like something out of the Tour de France. My running career has included high school and college championship races, but none of these came close to the thrill of this Ironman. The energy of the crowds and volunteers was contagious and made the event one of the most thrilling experiences of my life. Both of us feel that we left much room for improvement and eagerly look forward to our next Ironman.....date and location to be determined!

Laura is a second year masters candidate in hydrology, and Christian is seeking a degree in environmental science/hydrology.

September 24, 2002 -- David Boutt, Hydrology PhD candidate, has been selected to receive the American Geophysical Union's prestigious Horton Research Grant in Hydrology for 2002. Dave is one of three selected nationwide to receive the research grant which supports research projects in hydrology and water resources by doctoral candidates at institutions of higher learning. The grant's objective is to foster graduate student research leading to the completion of doctoral dissertations. Dave will be formally awarded at the upcoming AGU 2002 Fall Meeting in San Francisco, California.

Dave received his BS in environmental geosciences (1997) and MSc in geology (1999) from Michigan State University working with David Hyndman. Dave's current advisor is Brian McPherson. Dave also works as a student intern in the Geomechanics Group at Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque. His research interests include fluid-solid coupling in geologic materials, regional scale fluid flow, and natural hydraulic fractures. His dissertation is titled "Role of Fluids in the Control of Opening Mode Fractures Using a Coupled Discrete Element Poro-elastic Model." (From EOS, Transactions)

September 16, 2002 -- Peter Mozley, Associate Professor of Geology, has won the E&ES Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award for 2002. This award is sponsored by New Mexico Tech's Student Chapter of Sigma Gamma Epsilon, the National Honor Society for the Earth Sciences.

Each spring, Sigma Gamma Epsilon asks all students in the department to vote for the professor that has been an excellent teacher over the past year. The selected professor gets a certificate, a geo-trophy (hand-made by members of the society), and an informal award ceremony at the department's welcoming party. The geo-trophy will be kept in Dr. Mozley's office for a few weeks, and will then be placed in the E&ES conference room display case. A plaque with the names of past recipients will also be placed in the conference room. (Article courtesy Jen Wilson)

Last Updated: March 18, 2008 . Email comments to Webmaster.
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