Category Archives: Uncategorized

Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: A trilobite hypostome with an encrusting cyclostome bryozoan (Upper Ordovician of Kentucky)

Mark Wilson May 26, 2017 12:01 am

A quick post this week. Above is a bit of a large isotelid trilobite my students and I found this past spring break on an expedition to the Upper Ordovician (Katian) of northern Kentucky. It was collected at a roadside outcrop … Continue reading →

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Lab Character(s)

mpollock May 25, 2017 8:30 am

Chapel Hill, NC – Every scientist who works in a lab knows that labs have unique characters. The Isotope Geochemistry lab at UNC Chapel Hill was bustling with Ph.D. researchers, graduate students, undergraduate students, and researchers from other institutions, including … Continue reading →

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Barbecue, Baseball, and Bluegrass

mpollock May 24, 2017 8:00 am

Chapel Hill, NC – Whenever we visit a field site or external lab for research, we see it as an opportunity to explore the local culture, in true liberal arts fashion. Our recent visit to UNC Chapel Hill’s Isotope Lab … Continue reading →

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Isotope analysis by TIMS is FUN

mpollock May 23, 2017 9:00 am

Chapel Hill, NC – Wooster Geologists have been hard at work preparing samples for isotope analysis. Now that sample preparation is complete, the next step is to analyze them on the thermal ionization mass spectrometer (TIMS). In the TIMS, a sample … Continue reading →

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An evening with Hutton, Lyell, and Darwin at the Davison Rare Book Room

mpollock May 22, 2017 8:00 am

Middletown, CT – The Wooster Geologists at the Keck Consortium were treated to a visit to the Davison Rare Book Room. The Special Collections Librarian set out an impressive array of historical texts with geological significance. We were even permitted to touch the books … Continue reading →

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Extracting a single element from a rock

mpollock May 20, 2017 12:23 pm

Chapel Hill, NC – As you know, Ben Kumpf (’18) and I are working in the Isotope Geochemistry lab at UNC Chapel Hill. We are measuring isotopes of strontium (Sr), lead (Pb) and neodymium (Nd) in basaltic pillow lavas from northern … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: A bouquet of barnacles on a pectenid bivalve from the Upper Miocene of Virginia

Mark Wilson May 19, 2017 12:01 am

These beautiful fossils were found in York State Park by Mae Kemsley (’16). It was a surprise gift I found on my doorstep! They are fossil barnacles completely covering the exterior of a valve of the pectenid bivalve Chesapecten middlesexensis … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologists graduate!

Mark Wilson May 18, 2017 9:28 am

WOOSTER, OHIO — We had the pleasure on Monday of watching our geology seniors cross the stage and receive their diplomas. It happens every year, of course, and every year is special. Above is an image of most of the … Continue reading →

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What is a clean lab?

mpollock May 16, 2017 10:18 pm

Chapel Hill, NC – Ben Kumpf (’18) and I are at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to use their lab facilities for isotope analysis. We’re working with small amounts of sample and the instrument has a high degree of … Continue reading →

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Let the summer research commence!

mpollock May 15, 2017 3:54 pm

Chapel Hill, NC – As the College of Wooster Commencement ceremony was just finishing, our rising seniors were starting their summer research. Ben Kumpf (’18) and I are visiting the labs in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of North … Continue reading →

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