alumni reception - Syracuse Universe Department of Earth Sciences ...

ealize they do not know as much as they thought
they did, and I was no different. After was all said
and done, I passed, and came away with a much more
focused idea of what I need to do to accomplish my
research goals.
Once my exam was over I traveled to the
University of Arizona to analyze U-Pb in detrital
zircons as part of a collaboration between SU and the
USGS. The rock samples were collected from Vermont
to Virginia. The trip was a huge success, and has
started to give my collaborators and me much insight
into where Cambrian sedimentary rocks along this
part of eastern North America originated. This project
is still ongoing, as I hope to analyze several thousand
more zircons, this time from Virginia to Missouri.
Combined with the previous data, the new study will
give us a picture of how the entire eastern part of
North America formed in the early Cambrian.
Finally, I would like to thank the department for
recognizing my efforts with several awards: a Student
Publication award for my paper in the Journal of
was a very busy year for me. In addition to serving as
Head ta for the department, I also made considerable
My exploration and field work in Iceland.
Sampling ancient gneiss in the Minnesota River Valley.
Geology and the Newton C. Chute award for my
service to the department and professional promise. I
would also like to thank donors to the John J. Prucha
field fund for awarding me money to collect ~1 billion
year old rock samples along the eastern US. By
collecting and analyzing these rocks I hope to learn
more about potential sources to the Cambrian rocks
mentioned above, and gain a better understanding of
how the eastern US might have looked approximately
500 million years ago.
Drew Siler
I’m starting the fifth year of my dissertation
research at Syracuse in the Fall of 2010. Last year
progress on my research. In addition to presenting a
poster at AGU in December, I published my first, firstauthored
publication with my advisor Jeff Karson.
I also went to the SIMS lab at UCLA and collected
the last of my data, U/Pb in zircon geochronology
data from Icelandic rhyolites. In May, I attended the
ExxonMobil Big Horn Basin Field Trip, where we
learned the basics of petroleum geology and play
elements. This summer I am an intern at Chevron in
Houston, TX, working in a reservoir management
team on an oil field off the coast of Angola. I plan to
finish my research and defend my dissertation in the
Spring of 2011.
Tonny Sserubiri
It has been a great first year for me at the
Heroy Geology Laboratory with lots of new things to
marvel at. I’m thankful to the various Professors at
the Department, especially my advisor Chris Scholz
and graduate students who have made my stay here
memorable.
Having completed my first year of Graduate
School, my current focus is my Master’s thesis, which
will comprise various sedimentological aspects,
ranging from seismic data analysis and interpretation,