Monthly Archives: May 2016

What we learned in Climate Change (Geology 210, Spring 2016)

A dedicated group of geologists, physicists, archaeologists, political scientists, biologists, english and history majors joined forces to learn a bit about Climate Change in the natural laboratory of Northeast Ohio. Here they surround a glacial erratic in Secrest Arboretum of … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Echinoderm holdfasts from the Upper Cambrian of Montana

The white buttons above are echinoderm holdfasts from the Snowy Range Formation (Upper Cambrian) of Carbon County, southern Montana. They and their hardground substrate were well described back in the day by Brett et al. (1983). We have these specimens … Continue reading

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How we measure the chemical composition of Earth materials

San Diego, CA – If you’ve been following our adventures, you know that we’ve started a project on Black Mountain with our collaborators at the University of San Diego. We’ve dedicated a significant portion of our time in California to … Continue reading

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Construction of the new Life Sciences building begins, and the geologists welcome our new biologist labmates

Wooster, Ohio — The College of Wooster community will soon say goodbye to Mateer Hall (above), which has housed the Biology Department for decades. It will be demolished next month to make way for the new Ruth Williams Hall of … Continue reading

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Thinking like a scientist

San Diego, CA – Thinking like a scientist is a challenging and important learning goal for the Wooster Geologists, and one of the primary reasons that we engage our students in undergraduate research. Although science is often portrayed as a collection of facts … Continue reading

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Geochemists know preparation is key

San Diego, CA – While the University of San Diego celebrated their commencement, we commenced lab work on the Black Mountain Project. We began by drying and sieving the soil samples that we collected earlier in the week. While her samples dry, … Continue reading

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Field Work on Black Mountain

San Diego, CA – Amineh AlBashaireh (’18) and I are working with USD scientists, Dr. Bethany O’Shea, Elizabeth Johnston, and Eric Cathcart on the geology of Black Mountain in San Diego, CA. The Santiago Peak Volcanics are exposed in the park. … Continue reading

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Wooster Geologists in San Diego, CA

San Diego, CA – Wooster Geologists don’t waste any time getting to work on their summer research. Amineh AlBashaireh (’18) and I have made our way to the University of San Diego to start on a new research project with our … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A phyllocarid crustacean from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia, Canada

We are fortunate at Wooster to have a few fossils from the Burgess Shale (Middle Cambrian) collected near Burgess Pass, British Columbia, Canada, including this delicate phyllocarid Canadaspis perfecta (Walcott, 1912). This species is one of the oldest crustaceans, a … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A Recent Sponge Boring from South Carolina

We’re not actually looking at fossils here, but this bivalve-coral-sponge assemblage from the very modern Myrtle Beach in South Carolina is too cool not to share. Jacob Nowell (Wooster ’18) picked it up while on Spring Break this year and … Continue reading

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