Banner showing CofC students working in a variety of field settings.

Undergraduate Student Research

Geology Club
One of the greatest strengths of this department is the emphasis placed on undergraduate student research. Every year a number of students work with faculty members on a wide range of projects. Because undergraduate education is the focus at the College, faculty are committed to the supervision of the projects. Students conducting undergraduate research develop independent research and problem-solving skills beyond the traditional classroom academic experience. These are highly regarded by industry and graduate schools. Some students are awarded summer research funds. This page features sources of funding which are currently available for undergraduate student research, undergraduate student research projects currently in progress, and a listing of conferences/presentation opportunities at which students can present the results of their research. With renewed emphasis on undergraduate research at the institutional level, we anticipate that a larger number of geology undergrads will be funded to conduct research and present results at national, regional, and state meetings.

Undergraduate Research Funding Opportunities:

College of Charleston Undergraduate Research: This recently developed initiative provides up to $5000 to fund undergraduate students-faculty research projects. Mini-grants ($250) are also available. More detailed information is available at the Undergraduate Research website.

School of Science and Math Summer Research Assistantship: Currently this assistantship, funded by the School of Science and Mathematics, provides $2500 of summer research support for 1 or 2 students selected by the Geology faculty each spring.

Katuna Endowment: This recently formed endowment currently provides $2500 to support students conducting summer research. Students are selected by the faculty in the Department of Geology each spring.

South Carolina Space Grant: Each spring, the South Carolina Space Grant Consortium funds students with an interest in aerospace or space-related research. Awards in the Undergraduate Scholarship/Research Program range from $1,500 to $2,500. Selection of undergraduate students for this award is made in January at a meeting of Space Grant campus directors across the state.

Funding from Faculty Research Grants: Several students in the past have obtained money for research from individual professors who have been funded for various research projects (see Latest News).

Royal Hartenberger Memorial Fund: This fund provides partial support for geology majors taking GEOL 360 (Field Studies in Geology). Alumni and friends are encouraged to contribute to the Royal Hartenberger Fund.



2002-2003 Undergraduate Research Projects:

Geologic Remote Sensing: Cascades

Jessie Sladek used AVIRIS hyperspectral remote sensing data to map potential volcanic debris flows at Mount Hood Volcano in Oregon. Dianne Turgeon used AVIRIS data to identify hydrothermally weakened rock at Three Sisters Volcano, Oregon. Jessie and Dianne presented research results at the Geological Society of America meeting in Denver, CO. All three projects were supervised by Dr. Robert Nusbaum

Dianne Turgeon, Jessie Sladek, and John Pennington locating themselves using a GPS at Mount Hood, Oregon.
Dianne Turgeon, Jessie Sladek, and John Pennington locating themselves using a GPS at Mount Hood, Oregon. A visit to Mount Hood and Three Sisters was part of their summer research. Funding for the field work was provided by the Geosat Committee and the Geology Department.


Hydrology

John Pennington is working on a project entitled, Database Programming for a Long-term Forest Hydrology Site, Santee Experimental Forest, South Carolina. James Weeg is completing research on Metadata Collection and Database Management in Forested Wetlands Research. Both undergraduate research projects are supervised by Dr. Tim Callahan.

Coastal Geology, GIS, and Lidar Remote Sensing

Jordan Felber has been working with Elizabedth Rhodes to analyze the onshore movement of sandbars at the north end of Sullivan's Island, SC.

Seismology

Jay Stevens has been working with Dr. Steve Jaume to install two seismometers in the Lowcountry. They have completed preliminary tests of the instrumentation.

Remote Sensing and Stratigraphy in Egypt

John Pennington and recently, Marina Drazba have been working with Dr. Kem Fronabarger to map sedimentary units near Luxor Egypt as part of their Egyptological research.

Neotectonic Activity Related to the 1886 Charleston Earthquake

Dayton Dove is continuing his research using high resolution altimetry data to reconstruct river profiles in the Charleston/Summerville area. He hopes to determine if there are signs of recent uplift along the faults located in the Summerville area. This research is supervised by Dr. Erin K. Beutel.

Remote Sensing and Soils

Erin Rea is working with Dr. Robert Nusbaum to complete a preliminary map of clay minerals in Charleston areas soils using AVIRIS remote sensing data. Erin will present results at the Southeastern Section of the Geological Society of America Meeting.

Subsurface Mapping Using 3-D Seismic Data, Offshore Gulf of Mexico

David Gorney is using Kingdom Suite software to construct subsurface maps using 3-D seismic and well log data from offshore and onshore Gulf of Mexico. Alum Mike Johnson is supervising the research.

NE Trending Mesozoic Dike Swarms and The Breakup of Pangaea

David Edwards is working with Dr. Erin Beutel to map mafic dikes of different orientations throughout North Carolina and South Carolina in an attempt to understand more about the forces present during the breakup of Pangaea. David will present resarch results at the Southeastern Section of the Geological Society of America Meeting.

Volcanic Hazards and Remote Sensing

Carolyn Sprague and Carly Smith are using AVIRIS remote sensing data to map hydrothermally weakened rocks to identify debris flow hazards at Lassen Peak and Mount Shasta, CA. Amy Bondurant is using digital elevation models to construct hazards maps for Cascade volcanoes. Marina Drazba is using ASTER satellite data and digital elevation model data to map volcanic units at two volcanoes in Nicaragua. Dr. Robert Nusbaum is supervising these projects.


2001-2002 Undergraduate Research Projects:

Geologic Remote Sensing and Mineral Spectroscopy

Dianne Turgeon used Modis-Aster Simulator remote sensing data to map volcanic debris flows and lahars at Lassen Peak Volcano in the southern Cascades. Dianne presented research results at the Geological Society of America meeting in Lexington, KY. Jason Silvers is studying clay minerals using different infrared reflectance spectra techniques. Both undergraduate students have submitted abstracts to the 2002 GSA meeting in Lexington, and are supervised by Dr. Robert Nusbaum.
Three-dimensional map of Lassen Peak produced by using MASTER remote sensing data draped with DEM
Lassen Peak Volcano (CA) viewing southeastward: Three-dimensional map of Lassen Peak and surrounding areas produced by using MASTER remote sensing data draped with a US Geological Survey DEM (digital elevation model): yellow (dacite lava), magenta-purple (lahars), red (glacier). Linear streaks in the foreground indicate Chaos Jumbles rock avalanche. Image width is approximately 6 miles. Dianne Turgeon is completing the research on this project.


NE Trending Mesozoic Dike Swarms and The Breakup of Pangaea

Michael Alexander has been studying Mesozoic Dike swarms in South Carolina and North Carolina. He has mapped and sampled several dikes of different orientations throughout the low-country in an attempt to understand more about the forces present during the breakup of Pangaea. This research is supervised by Dr. Erin K. Beutel.

Neotectonic Activity Related to the 1886 Charleston Earthquake

Dayton Dove will be using high resolution altimetry data to reconstruct river profiles in the Charleston/Summerville area. He hopes to determine if there are signs of recent uplift along the faults located in the Summerville area. This research is supervised by Dr. Erin K. Beutel.

Subsurface Mapping Using 3-D Seismic Data, Offshore Gulf of Mexico

Laura Anatalek, David Gorney, and Russ Willis are using Kingdom Suite software to construct subsurface maps easing 3-D seismic and well log data. Alum Mike Johnson and Dr. Robert Nusbaum are supervising the research.
Last Updated: May 15, 2006