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

A LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
Dear Alumni & Friends,
As we start a new academic
year, it is a time for both reflection
and anticipation. I am ending my first
term as Chair of the Department and
have just agreed to another 3 years in
this position. I am very proud of the
accomplishments of the Department
over the past couple of years and
it is exciting to set some new goals that will keep us on a steep
trajectory. Since I became Chair we have engaged in strategic
planning, had an important External Review, and revamped the
administrative structure of the Department. Thanks to the efforts
of the faculty we have strengthened our research programs,
broadened our curriculum and developed much stronger ties with
alumni and friends of the Department. This continues to be a
very exciting and rewarding place for faculty and students alike.
Looking ahead, we plan to continue to hire new faculty, start
essential building renovations, and acquire new research facilities
that will allow us to extend the scope of our research programs. It
is going to be an exciting time!
The faculty continues to evolve. Connie Weyhenmeyer
left the Department in May and we wish her well in her future
endeavors. Hank Mullins will retire at the end of Spring 2011.
With these changes we look forward to making hires in the
general areas of paleoclimate, geophysics and petrology to
maintain the strength and balance of the faculty.
On the other side of the ledger, the Department is
proud to welcome new Assistant Professor Dr. Zunli Lu who is
currently a postdoctoral investigator at Oxford University. Zunli’s
specialty is aqueous geochemistry and his expertise will bring
additional breadth and depth to geochemistry and hydrology
programs across the SU campus. Zunli is married to Dr. Li Jin,
who earned her PhD with Dr. Don Siegel just last year, so they
are no strangers to the Department. We look forward to their
arrival in January 2011.
Changing faculty interests and laboratory needs will
require some renovations to the Heroy Geology Laboratory.
We are making space for a new TIMS for Dr. Scott Samson, an
ICPMS and supporting chemical labs for Dr. Lu. Creating these
spaces results in a domino effect that will cause a number of
other moves. These renovations are planned in the context of
a master plan developed by Mike Cheatham that we hope will
progressively transform the 1971 Heroy Geology Laboratory to a
much more modern and efficient facility over the next few years.
Many honors were bestowed upon the Department in
the past year. Don Siegel was awarded a prestigious Laura J.
and L. Douglas Meredith Professorship, which will allow him
to merge his research and teaching interests. Suzanne Baldwin
received a Chancellor’s Citation Award for Faculty Excellence
and Scholarly Distinction in recognition of her outstanding
research and leadership. Two graduate students, Kwasi Gilbert
and Ryan Gordon, won highly competitive National Science
Foundation Fellowships. David Gombosi received a coveted
NASA Fellowship. A number of graduate students and recent
grads had internships or received outstanding job offers in
industry and academic institutions. You will find details in the
pages that follow. The Department is very proud of these welldeserved
honors.
Research continues to be the driving force behind the
Department. In the pages that follow, you will find details about
the many funded research projects of the faculty, postdoctoral
investigators, and students ranging from Central New York to the
far corners of the Earth and beyond. Funding for these projects
comes from a wide variety of sources including various programs
at NSF, NASA, Syracuse University, major Foundations, and the
Petroleum Industry. Gifts to the Department and the Prucha Field
Research Fund continue to support graduate student research
opportunities. The results of these projects appear regularly
in major scientific journals and are reported at national and
international scientific meetings. Do not hesitate to contact any of
us for more information.
Thanks to the generosity of our many alumni and
friends, the Department has a family of endowments and funds
that allow the Department, faculty and students to take advantage
of research or educational opportunities that might otherwise be
missed. Recently the Department has received two new major
awards: the John J. Prucha, PhD, Endowed Fund from Dr. Carlos
Dengo (BS ’76) of ExxonMobil Corporation and the Shirley and
Donald Elston Endowed Fund from Shirley Elston of Flagstaff,
CO. These funds will provide support for faculty development
that will be a lasting tribute to their names. If you wish to make
a donation to any of the funds of the Department you will find
directions inside. Thanks to all of you for your contributions,
great and small.
As always, we are eager to keep the lines of
communications open with our loyal friends and alumni. In
addition to this Newsletter, you can keep abreast of the activities
of the Department at our website (http://earthsciences.syr.edu).
Please send along any news or images to Julie Neri (jjneri@syr.
edu) or to Dr. Cathryn Newton (crnewton@syr.edu), who is the
Department’s Alumni Coordinator.
We hope you will plan to join the Department at one
of our annual events. We will have an alumni get together on
the SU campus during Reunion (Homecoming) Weekend,
October 16 and we will hold our annual Alumni Reception at the
Geological Society of America Meeting in Denver, November 1
(details for both events elsewhere in this Newsletter). If you are
in Central NY, please drop by the Heroy Geology Laboratory.
We are always happy to show you around and reintroduce you
to the Department. Or you can simply take a self-guided tour of
the halls where there are numerous posters featuring ongoing
research projects. I hope we will see you here sometime soon!
In closing, I want to thank all those who contributed to
this Newsletter and especially to Pat Bickford, Julie Neri and Dan
Curewitz who brought it all together. I hope you will enjoy this
annual snapshot of the Department.
With warm regards,
Jeffrey A. Karson
Jessie Page Heroy Professor & Department Chair