200320052009

“THE LINE IT IS DRAWN

THE CURSE IT IS CAST

THE SLOW ONE NOW

WILL LATER BE FAST

AS THE PRESENT NOW

WILL LATER BE PAST

THE ORDER IS

RAPIDLY FADIN’.AND THE FIRST ONE NOW

WILL LATER BE LAST

FOR THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’.”

(From: Bob Dylan, The Times They Area-Changin’, 1964, Columbia Records;

Copyright ©1963, renewed 1991Special Rider Music)

Much has been written about BobDylan’s most famous song, butwhatever Dylan intended, much of whathe wrote reflects the cyclic nature oflife in academia.

I came to the University of Marylandfrom Kingston University (England) inlate February 1990. During the followingacademic year, the University facedsevere cuts to its State appropriation andthe Department was threatened withpossible closure. We weathered thatstorm. Over the past two decades,together we have built a departmentequal to the best on Campus with anational and international reputation,particularly in Geochemistry for whichUS News & World Report ranked us10th in 2006. As we ride out anotherstorm, I will finish the last of my fourterms as Chair (on June 30th, 2010), sothis is my final “Letter from the Chair”for the GeoGram. From a budgetaryperspective ‘plus ça change, plus c’estla même chose’!

Change means opportunity The economy has been on thedecline for a couple of years and nowwe face even deeper cuts to our Stateappropriation than we faced in the early1990s. However, our situation is muchdifferent now than then. TheDepartment’s existence is notthreatened; on the contrary, wecontributed significantly to the nationaland international reputation of theUniversity, which has pushed its rankingto 37th in the world (http://www.arwu.org/ARWU2009.jsp). Inaddition, Earth and the environment,particularly climate change, aresignificant areas of focus at all levels ofgovernment and society, and will besignificant areas of focus for theUniversity in the future. President Moteconcluded his State of the Campusspeech in mid-September as follows:

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

We must follow PresidentMote’s lead; we mustcontinue our climb to beamong the best departmentsin the world. A time ofchange is a time ofopportunity!

A little history Many of you arefamiliar with the history ofthe Department, but let mejust summarize how wehave reached where we aretoday before I speculate onwhere the next decade ortwo may lead us. After a

slow increase in faculty and classesoffered during the 1960s, the B.S. inGeology enrolled its first students in 1971.Changes in the faculty during the 1970sincluded the arrival Ann Wylie, now VicePresident for Administrative Affairs; the1980s began with the arrival of LukeChang in 1981, the first Professor ofGeology and Chair of the newlyestablished Department. Luke passedaway last summer (see Memorial articleon p. 3), but it is important to rememberthat the present success we enjoy as adepartment is built on the foundation thatLuke put in place in the 1980s. TheGraduate Program began in 1982, andin common with every decade, the 1980swas a period of faculty change; PhilCandela remains with us from thatperiod.

The 1990s was also a period of muchchange, but we finished the decade aswe began, with 11 tenure facultymembers, although we also had one full-time Lecturer and several researchfaculty, and we had begun our expansioninto additional space in the ChemistryBuilding. At the millennium, theDepartment was bringing inapproximately one million dollars in grantand contract income to support itsresearch activities, particularly throughstipends for graduate students andsummer support for undergraduate

“Accommodating theextraordinary budgetstringency this yearstresses all of us.Despite this, we willimplement continuingand new initiatives. Wemust never let up.”

THE TIMESTHE TIMESTHE TIMESTHE TIMESTHE TIMESTHEY ARETHEY ARETHEY ARETHEY ARETHEY ARE

A-CHANGIN’A-CHANGIN’A-CHANGIN’A-CHANGIN’A-CHANGIN’MIKEMIKEMIKEMIKEMIKE

BRBRBRBRBROOOOOWNWNWNWNWN

research. The last decade has seen amodest expansion to 16 tenure facultymembers (14.1 full-time equivalentpositions, including two jointappointments with the Earth SystemScience Interdisciplinary Center and onewith the Department of Physics), 2Senior Lecturers, 6 research faculty, and7 post-doctoral Fellows. This growth isreflected in an extraordinary growth inthe level of external support for ourresearch, which now exceeds fourmillion dollars per year in awardsreceived.

Our successes during the past year At this point let me report some ofthe achievements of our faculty, staff,students and alums during the pastyear—for this is the foundation of oursuccess. Our faculty accomplishmentsinclude: the election of Rich Walker asa Fellow of the American GeophysicalUnion and a Geochemical Fellow of theGeochemical Society and the EuropeanAssociation for Geochemistry; thechoice of Bill McDonough to receivethe 2009 College of Computer,Mathematical and Physical SciencesDistinguished Faculty Award; and, theaward of a Guggenheim Fellowship toJames Farquhar, who spent the 2008–2009 academic year as a VisitingProfessor in the Biology Institute at theUniversity of Southern Denmark.

Among our staff, Sandy Romeo wonthe 2009 CMPS Dean’s Non-exemptEmployee Award at the SpringAcademic Festival. CongratulationsSandy, I know the folks in Geochemistryare unable to get through the day withoutyou!

A Physics undergraduate student,Carolyn Harbitz, who completed hersenior thesis research with AndyCampbell, won the Monroe Martin Prizefor Undergraduate Research—awardedby the Institute of Physical Science andTechnology to Physics Majors—for herexperiments on melting silicateperovskite. Madara Jayatilake, a high-school intern working with Richard Ash

and Bill McDonough, received awardsfrom the Washington, D.C. AreaChapter of the American ChemicalSociety (for excellence in Chemistry)and the American Nuclear Society (forefforts and accomplishments in NuclearScience and related fields), including the2nd Place Prize in the MontgomeryCounty Science Fair, for his research“Preparation and Analysis of UraniumIsotope Standards for Laser Ablation.”Rebecca Fischer, who was a SummerIntern with Andy Campbell in 2008, hascome back to the Department as agraduate student in 2009, supported bya National Science Foundation GraduateFellowship and a Flagship Fellowshipfrom the University.

Our graduate students continue topublish peer-reviewed papers en routeto completing their theses anddissertations (see http://www.geol.umd.edu/pages/graduates/gradpubs.htm).

From among our many alums, theDepartment selected Bill Smith, whograduated with a B.S. in Geology in1981, as the Department of GeologyDistinguished Alumnus for 2009 (see

related article on p. 4). Bill completed asenior thesis entitled “MorphologicDistinction of Formations Using FourierAnalysis” under the direction of GaltSiegrist, one of the founders of theDepartment.

The College and our future—willthey remain linked? The formation of our department andits development has occurred within theCollege of Computer, Mathematical andPhysical Sciences, which celebrates its25th anniversary in Academic Year2010–2011. However, the times theyare a-changin’. We are all aware ofthe possible causes and consequencesof global climate change: the loss of icemass at the Poles and in Alpine glaciersis well documented; and, sea-level riseis a threat to large tracts of land alongthe East Coast of North America. Inprinciple, the Campus is well positionedto contribute to both understanding thecauses of these issues and proposingstrategies to ameliorate theconsequences. However, in practice, theCampus’ resources are distributedamong a number of small units acrossseveral colleges and the Campus lacksa clear high-profile focus on Earth andthe environment. This may change. Thenext 25 years of our development mightbe tied to a new College-level unitfocused on these issues. But, whateverthe future has in store for us, we mustwelcome the opportunities it provides,and if called take a leading role in theestablishment and development of newinitiatives, to continue advancing thereputation of the University.

Future challenges—a call for action There is no doubt we face severechallenges, but they will be met withdetermination by faculty and staff,forbearance by our students in the faceof reduced resources, and support fromour alumni and friends as we continueto push forward.

This is a call for action. Today—right now—we have an opportunity asa community to contribute to issues

Mike Brown at the Geological Society ofLondon with William Smith and his map

that changed the geological world

Dr. Luke L.Y. Chang passed away on August 3, 2009 at the age of 74. Dr. Changserved as Professor of Geology from 1989 to2004 when he retired as Professor Emeritus. Hewas the first Chair of the Geology Departmentholding that seat from 1981 through 1989.According to Ann Wylie, there were a surprisingnumber of external candidates for the job, butfew that were interested in building a department.“Luke was the most important hire we made atthe time,” she said. He had experience in buildingthe Geology Department at Miami of Ohio andtransferred that knowledge to Maryland. Wyliesaid, “Chang took a gamble to advance our

agenda by moving the department into CMPS.”

“Luke’s dream,” said Phil Candela “was to compete with the best programs in thecountry.” On meeting Phil at the 1981 GSA meeting, the pragmatic Chang said, “We aregoing to create a great graduate program from the ground up, and grow this departmentday-to-day.” Luke oversaw the move of the Geology Department from the attic of H.J.Patterson Hall to the newly renovated Geology Building. Chang set an importantexample for the expanding department by continuing his own active research agenda,and insisting on teaching mineralogy and other courses each year. He was a supportiveand collegial Chair interested in leading the faculty into the world of competitive researchat the highest level. For nine years he put his heart, soul, and mind into the developinggraduate program.

Chang was an interdisciplinary scientist before that term became so commonly used.He was a classical experimental geologist out of the same mold as Bowen, Tuttle, andGoldsmith moving effortlessly between geology and material engineering. “Herecognized no boundaries,” Candela said. “Chang ran his lab on wit, creativity, and hisfundamental knowledge of materials and engineering.” In addition to his many peer-reviewed journal articles in the fields of materials science, ceramics, mineralogy,geochemistry and metallurgy, Luke wrote two books, “Rock-forming Minerals: Sulfates,Carbonates, Phosphates, Halides”, published by Longman in 1996, and “IndustrialMineralogy: Materials, Processes, and Uses” published by Prentice Hall in 2002. In1997, a new mineral discovered at Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, was described and namedafter Luke for “His contributions to the study of carbonate group minerals”; the mineralis Lukechangite-(Ce), [ideally Na3Ce2(CO3)4F].

Jeanne Martin fondly remembers Luke, who hired her in 1982. She wrote, “I canremember his two children, Julian and Audrey stopping in to see him and he would takethem to lunch. He was very proud of them, telling me of their successes after graduation,and of his grandchildren. Whenever I think of Dr. Chang, it’s always with a smile. Itwas my pleasure and honor to work with/for him.”

Luke was a dedicated family man devoted to his wife and was a great father to histwo children, and four grandchildren. Upon his retirement, he and his wife went on anumber of cruises around the world sharing new adventures with family and friends. He also spent a lot of time reading, followingthe stock market, watching his beloved BostonCeltics, and spending time with hisgrandchildren. Chang is survived by his wifeMargaret, daughter Audrey, son Julian anddaughter-in-law Catherine, and two sistersNatalie and Irene. He also leaves behind fourgrandchildren: Nicolette, Courtney, Luke, andCalvin.

MEMENTO MORIrelated to climate change, nationalsecurity and sustainable resources, andto provide solutions for the bettermentof society.

“We” means all of “us”—faculty,staff, students, alumni and friends—forwe must all be involved in a partnershipif we are to continue our developmentto be the best we can be and to providethe best education and opportunities tofuture generations of young geoscientistswho will contribute solutions to globalissues relevant to society. Thechallenges we face can be met throughcollaborations between Governmentagencies and the University, and withthe support of those of us who haveachieved our goals on the foundation ofour education. If you are reading thisGeoGram, you know what we are tryingto accomplish and you can makeconnections between what is importantto you and our work, and help us achieveour goals (see page 12).

I thank everyone for their supportover the past twenty years, and I lookforward to your continuing involvementand support as we move forward undernew leadership in 2010.

10-22-2009

Call to Alumni

We would like to providemore alumni informationin this annual newsletter,but we need to hear fromyou. Please update us by

visiting our alumniwebpage where you canprovide contact informa-tion, news and download

images for futureGeoGrams.

http://www.geol.umd.edu/pages/alumreg.htm

RECOGNITION AND AWARDS

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUSBill Smith 1981 The 2009 Geology DistinguishedAlumnus is Bill Smith. This is the 9th yearof this award, and Bill represents the 4thDistinguished Alumnus whose career hasbeen as a professional geologist inindustry, complementing three who workas scientists for the Federal Governmentand two from the professoriate. This rangeillustrates the broad reach and utility of aneducation in Geology.

Bill graduated from the University ofMaryland with a B.S. in Geology in 1981,having completed a Senior Thesis entitled“Morphologic Distinction of FormationsUsing Fourier Analysis”, under thedirection of Galt Siegrist, one of thefounders of the department. He has alsoearned an M.B.A., with a concentration inEnvironmental Management, from WidenerUniversity in 1999. In talking with

Bill Smith with Galt Siegrist before theCMPS Academic Festival

undergraduates Bill emphasized, as othershave done before him, the importance of theSenior Thesis in training him for the workenvironment.

Bill is the President and PrincipalHydrogeologist of Environmental Alliance,Inc., an engineering and environmentalconsulting firm headquartered in Delawarethat he started in 1992. His company worksprimarily for other industrial companies,utilities and law firms, supplying consultingservices in the areas of environmental site

assessment and remediation, permitting,air-quality services, and expert testimony/litigation support services.

Prior to starting his own firm, Bill servedas Chief Operating Officer and Senior VicePresident of Technology for GroundwaterTechnology, a publicly-held consultancycompany that grew from 2 in 1981—Billwas the second employee—to about 1900employees and close to $200M turnoverby the time he left a decade later. Early inhis career he managed several technologygroups concerned with research anddevelopment, remediation—particularlybioremediation, engineering design andregulatory compliance. These activitiesled to opportunities to make keypresentations at national environmentalconferences and to write papers on diversetopics from complex, large-scale pump-and-treat projects to integratedsequenced biodegradation projectsutilizing aerobic and/or anaerobicdegradation pathways.

left to right, in chromatographic order:geochemistry Professors Rich Walker,James Farquhar, and Bill McDonough

2009 was an exceptional year forDepartment of Geology faculty, staff,and student recognition and awards.Among the faculty important recognitionwas bestowed on three of ourgeochemists. Rich Walker was elected

to be a Fellow of AGU, the GeochemicalSociety, and the European Associationof Geochemistry. James Farquharwas awarded a mid career GuggenheimFellowship, which is intended for menand women who have alreadydemonstrated exceptional capacity forproductive scholarship or exceptionalcreative ability. The purpose of theGuggenheim Fellowship program is tohelp provide Fellows with blocks of timein which they can work with as much

Administrative Assistant II Sandy Romeo:2009 CMPS non-exempt faculty award

creative freedom as possible. Finally,Bill McDonough received the 2009CMPS Distinguished Faculty Awardselected by the Board of Visitors. TheAward, established by the College’sBoard of Visitors, recognizes outstandingaccomplishments over the previous fiveyears that have had a major impact, andthereby contributed significantly toraising the profile and visibility of theCollege.

Among our staff, Sandy Romeowon the 2009 CMPS Dean’s Non-exempt Employee Award at the SpringAcademic Festival. Sandy joined ouradministrative staff in 2001 to providemuch-needed support to the growingnumber of Geology students, post-docs

and faculty who reside in the ChemistryBuilding. “She has done a phenomenaljob over these years,” said RobertaRudnick. In addition to her routine tasksSandy also handles all travel relatedactivities for Geology researchers in theChemistry Building. Jay Kaufman said,“Sandy provides full-time productivity ona part-time salary. She is punctual,organized, and friendly to all who enter herdoorway, and furthermore she acts as thecement that holds the various faculty alongthe Geochemistry corridor together as aunified team.” According to BillMcDonough, “dependability, commitment,calmness, timeliness and a wonderfullypositive attitude are Sandy Romeo’shallmark attributes.” Rich Walker put itsimply, “Life as we know it would not bepossible without Sandy.”

Many of our graduate andundergraduate students, as well as our highschool interns, have also beenacknowledged this year for theiroutstanding academic efforts andcontributions to the University of Maryland(see following page). Congratulations toeveryone for a a banner year of awardsand recognitions.

* * *

Undergraduate Natalie Sievers:American Chemical Society SUMR

Fellowship

Undergraduates Jodi Gaeman (top) andGarrett Mitchell (bottom) with CMPSDean Steve Halperin and Chair MikeBrown: Dean’s Award for Academic

Achievement

Eleanor Roosevelt High School studentJessica Marbourg with Roberta

Rudnick: Geology Department prize forBest Earth Science related project at the

Prince George’s County Science fair

Graduate students Miriam Galenas(right) and John-Luke Henriquez (left):American Federation of Mineralogical

Societies Scholarship Foundation grants

Graduate student Kristen Miller: Centerfor Teaching Excellence 2008-2009

Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award

* * *

* * *

Ann Wylie Dissertation Fellowships for2008-2009

Rick Arevalo, Jr., Kateryna Klochko,Barry Reno, and Kate Scheiderich

Graduate student Rebecca Fischer: NSFGraduate Student and UMCP Flagship

fellowships

Walt Whitman High School internMadara Jayatilake: American

Chemical Society of Washington andAmerican Nuclear Society awards

Undergraduate students (l-r) Achyut Dangol, Jill Gribbin, and T. J. Deane:Fernow Field Camp Scholarships

UndergraduateCarolyn Harbitz:Monroe MartinUndergraduatePrize from the

Institute of PhysicalScience andTechnologyUndergraduate

Brodie Marrow:Green Scholarshipin Environmental

Science and PolicyESP

* * *

* * *

Graduate studentXiaoming Liu:

AWG Sand StudentResearch

PresentationTravel Award

* * * * * *

College Park Scholars (http://www.scholars.umd.edu) is a residential honors (living-learning) program for academically-talented freshmen and sophomores. Students invitedto College Park Scholars participate in one of a dozen different programs that focus onsome large interdisciplinary field of study. Students in any given Scholars program takemany of the same classes, live in the same dorms, and attend the same extracurricularactivities.

In the Fall of 1999 I and Dr. John Merck premieredthe Earth, Life & Time program (http://

www.geol.umd.edu/~jmerck/eltsite), a Scholars program focusing on the natural historicalsciences: geology (of course), but also evolutionary biology, archaeology, anthropology,climatology, and more. Our motto was “The Science of Nature, and the Nature of Science”,reflecting our interest not only on the discoveries made by the scientific community butalso the process, methods, and ethos of the scientific enterprise and its role in our society.Through the Earth, Life & Time program we led several expeditions to Arizona and tothe Galápagos Archipelago, as well as geological and other natural sites much closer toCollege Park. We guided students of all major through the writings of researchers and science writers on topics such aspseudoscience, climate change, evolution, and extinction.

In the Spring of 2009 at the request of the top officials of the college anduniversity, we reorganized the geoscience Scholars program to have a greaterfocus specifically on issues concerning climate change research. This newprogram—Science & Global Change (http://www.geol.umd.edu/sgc)—recruited its first cohort for the incoming class of Fall 2009. While retainingour interest and examination of critical thinking, the scientific method, andthe societal aspects of the geosciences and related disciplines, the newprogram finds greater concentration on issuesof global change science: climatology and itshistoric and ancient record of changes; computermodeling of complex systems; the impact ofclimate changes on biological systems, including

agriculture and disease distribution; and the future of energy resources and production.

We have already had considerable interest by the new students in our changed focus. We areplanning a new field program in Iceland (with possible side trip to Greenland) as part of theScience & Global Change experience. We look forward to seeing how our new curriculum developsand especially to incorporation of the research of scientists from within our department, from theEarth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, and from other units on campus in these exciting,changing times.

SCIENCE & GLOBAL CHANGE: A NEW COLLEGE PARK SCHOLARS PROGRAM IN THE GEOSCIENCESTHOMAS R. HOLTZ, JR.

On January 5, 2009, AssistantProfessor Aaron Martin flew with fourstudents to Tucson, Arizona to teach anew winter-term course for the GeologyDepartment titled Advanced FieldMethods. Over the next three weeks,these students learned the ins and outsof detailed structural mapping,measuring stratigraphic sections, andcollection of oriented samples whileworking in the fantastic exposures of theAmerican Southwest. This outdooreducation transformed students’understanding of one main way in whichgeologists collect data as well as howmany different sub-disciplines of geologyfit together.

The course is a joint graduate-undergraduate offering, with moreresponsibilities for graduate students.Seventy-five percent of therequirements were met in the field, andthe remaining twenty-five percent werecompleted during the semester followingthe field work, Spring 2009.Development of the course wassupported by a grant from UMD’sCenter for Teaching Excellence.

The first week in the field was spentmaking a very detailed structural mapof a small part of a canyon on the west

NEW FIELD METHODS COURSEAARON J. MARTIN

side of the Tucson Mountains. Here,the students studied brittle structures insedimentary rocks deformed during LateCretaceous-Early Cenozoic shortening.Dr. Martin also taught the studentsmethods for collecting an orientedsample – one of the only field methodscourses that provides such instruction.The students completed this module byanalyzing and interpreting the field dataand writing a report using computers atthe University of Arizona library.

After resupplying, the group movedto the Galiuro Mountains of southeasternArizona for four days. Here, thestudents measured a stratigraphicsection through a mixed clastic andcarbonate succession that filled a half-graben during late Oligocene extension

related to metamorphic corecomplex formation. Thestudents also had theopportunity to inspect apreserved trackway madeby an Oligocene rhinoceros-like mammal called aBrontothere. The studentscompleted this part of thecourse by interpreting thefield data and writing areport.

Next, theparticipants left southeasternArizona and headed east intosouthern New Mexico tosearch for mantle xenoliths atKilbourne Hole, a famouslocality for chunks of themantle. This crater formedabout 80,000 years ago as partof volcanism related to the RioGrande rift.

Loaded down with densemantle rocks, the groupreturned to Tucson for the lastfield module. The final daysof field work were spentmaking a detailed structural map of theductilely-deformed granites of theCatalina-Rincon metamorphic corecomplex and collecting oriented samples

of foliated and lineated rocks. Theexpedition concluded with a trip to thetop of the Catalina Mountains forspectacular views of the surrounds anddiscussion of regional tectonics.

After returning to the University ofMaryland, the students completed theremaining twenty-five percent of thecourse by cutting billets to make orientedthin sections, writing reflections onseveral aspects of field work, andmaking a digital, Geographic InformationSystems version of their map from theTucson Mountains.

Advanced Field Methodssupplements traditional field camp, butdoes not replace it. Two of the studentshad completed field camp before takingthe course; these students were pleasedthat they learned new skills during thecourse, and practiced old ones. One ofthe other students took field camp duringthe summer after Advanced FieldMethods, and she reports a muchimproved field camp experience as aresult of taking the course. All agreethat the first offering of the course wasa success, and new students are lookingforward to taking the course when it isoffered again in 2011.

2009 field party near the top ofthe Catalina Mountains. From

left to right: Nina Wernecke, JillGribbin, Sarah Regen, Lisa

Walsh, Aaron Martin.

Graduate student Lisa Walshwalks in the footsteps of

Brontotheres.

DEPARTMENT HIGHLIGHTS

ALAN J. KAUFMAN

FACULTY HIGHLIGHT

E-an Zen

Zen and the Art of a Contingent Life

The heart of geology – accordingto emeritus Adjunct Professor E-anZen – is embedded in the sequencingof strata in Earth’s thin yet mobile crust.The stratigraphic subdivision preservesevidence for Earth contingent historyof intertwined tectonic, environmental,and biological change. Similarly, the lifeof this eminent gentleman scientist isone of contingency. Zen started fromChinese roots in Peking, but the windsof change (and the Japanese invasion)blew him to America where heembraced geological opportunitiesprovided by his deep insight toAppalachian Earth history – and roseto the ranks of the National Academyof Sciences.

Urged by parents that wanted theirchildren to be educated in the U.S., Zenset out on his voyage of geologicaldiscovery in the heart of theAppalachian Mountains as anundergraduate at Cornell University inIthaca, New York. There he met andwas strongly influenced by Bill Holser,a prescient geologist focused onhistorical records of global change, whoalso charted a contingent plan to getZen through his Chemistry Departmentrequirements. After graduation E-anwent to Harvard University where hecompleted his Ph.D. in four years under

the tutelage of Jim Thompson, a world-renown metamorphic petrologist, andMarland Billings, a structural geologistwidely considered to be one of the greatest20th century authorities on North Americangeology.

Zen subsequently worked at the WoodsHole Oceanographic Institute as a post-doctoral fellow investigating sediments inthe deep trench offshore of Chile and Peru.“These studies did not pan out,” said E-an, “because I was brought up in theHarvard tradition, which urged caution,caution, caution.” The world view heldthere suggested that “the idea of a mobileEarth was pure heresy.” Had Zen appliedthe new ideas of Harry Hess andcolleagues to these deep ocean sediments,he may have been one of the originatorsof the plate tectonic theory. Notably, noone at Harvard or at the USGS whereZen subsequently worked for 30 years iswritten in the history of plate tectonics –although Bill Menard, a Harvard Ph.D.deserves at least an Honorable Mention.

While the paradigm shift associatedwith plate tectonics was the most profoundoverall change experienced by 20th

century geology, E-an contends that – atthe working level – the recognition of thecyclic nature of geologic history preservedin ancient sediments had the greatestimpact on his early studies of the TaconicMountains in New England. The TaconicOrogeny was a great mountain buildingperiod, with the preserved rocksrepresenting “many, many differentsnapshots” of discrete events. In a seriesof publications over 15 years Zen solvedthe Taconic puzzle, which was thecrowning achievement that propelled himinto the National Academy of Science in1976. With regard to these studies E-ansaid that he “let the rocks lead me to newdiscoveries, rather than have me tell themwhat to say.”

E-an completed a brief stint at theUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel Hillbefore joining the USGS in 1959. It was“a very brave thing for them [USGS] tohire a foreigner at that time,” said Zen.

He was brought on board with anumber of his Harvard colleagues bybranch chief Preston Cloud and GeneRobertson. “There was such anincredible atmosphere at the survey,”said Zen, and they had confidence that“this young generation of bright youngTurks would do something good.”

In 1989 Zen retired from the USGSand became an Adjunct Professor atthe University of Maryland in that sameyear. Ann Wylie, currently the VicePresident for Administrative Affairs atthe University of Maryland, providedhim with a microscope and a computerso that he could get started right away.At Maryland Zen had an open doorpolicy and was always available toanyone that would come to see him, buthe was unlikely to poke his head intoother people’s business. Zen was awelcome voice of reason at facultymeetings and a constant source ofquestions at departmental seminars aswell as graduate and undergraduatepresentations. During these years heworked most closely with KarenPrestegaard insofar as he “alwayswanted to be a geographer or ageomorphologist.” Geomorphology, hesaid, “is perhaps the most challengingaspect of Earth science today. Thesurface of the Earth is such a dynamicsystem.”

Along the contingent path of hiscareer Zen received many honors anddistinctions in addition to hismembership in the National Academyof Science. He is currently emeritusthere; “even cardinals retire,” he said.Along the way E-an led many differentorganizations: in 1975/76 he wasPresident of the Mineralogical Societyof America, in 1992 he was Presidentof the Geological Society of America,

and in 1974 was the President of theGeological Society of Washington wherehe has been a regular fixture since 1959when he gave his first talk on “Mineralassemblages in slate in westernVermont.” This was the first of fivepresentations he gave at the GSW,including his presidential address in 1974.More impressively, he is known as theGrand Inquisitor of the society. SocietyHistorian Jeff Grossman demonstratedat the last annual meeting that E-anasked more questions of speakers – in31 different years – than anyone sincethe GSW was founded in 1893 by C.D.Walcott and others.

John McPhee, the Pulitzer prizewinning author considered a pioneer ofnarrative nonfiction, featured E-an in aNew Yorker magazine article onPlymouth Rock. He characterized boththe glacial erratic and Zen as exotic[visitors to the Geology Museum can seea piece of the rock and its detaileddescription]. McPhee also highlightedZen in his book titled Irons in the Fire.For sure, E-an has been an iron in theMaryland Geology fire for twenty years;his example provides us with a guidingprinciple through changing times andfuture global change.

The discipline of geology cancontribute to future contingencies, Zensaid, by “providing an appreciation thatthe earth is a closed system, except forthe fixed input of solar energy, thathumans are a part of the ecosystem, andthat time scale is especially important. If we tamper with a complex systemcontaining subsystems running ondifferent time scales, we might find thepath that the larger system actuallyfollows is not what our preconceptionshad led us to expect.”

(See sidebar: WHAT ISSUSTAINABLE LIVING?).

WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE LIVING?E-an Zen

If you have been following news accounts of current events, youprobably have encountered the term “sustainable living”. What do we meanby it, and why is it important?

To live sustainably means to live within our means. Photographs ofthe Earth taken from space by astronauts show what a beautiful place it is:the “blue planet” with oceans and clouds, verdant with vegetation, in contrastwith the other solar planets and their satellites: which are either “dead”,brown and dry, or, like Venus, hot enough to melt lead, with a sulfuric acid-rich atmosphere.

But these space shots also tell us that Earth is an isolated globe inspace. Except for the so-far minuscule human effort to inject material intoouter space, it must remain self-sufficient except for the input of sun’s energyand occasional in-fall of meteorite.

Virtually all living things require solar energy for sustenance. Manyalso need other living and nonliving earth material. Humans are far ahead ofother life forms in utilizing earth materials, including rocks, water, soil, plants,and animals. We consume the locked-up fossil energy such as petroleum,natural gas, and coal, derived from pre-historical sunlight, and nuclear energyfrom chemical elements formed since the beginning of the earth. We userocks and minerals (“ores”) for our industry. We change the configurationof the land by earth-moving machines; we change the composition of theatmosphere and the climate by the waste heat and gasses from our energyconsumption. We dump waste in landfills, rivers, and oceans. Humans aregrowing in numbers, so cumulatively we consume earth resources atincreasing rates, much too fast for natural recovery (remember: even“renewable” resources become functionally non-renewable if the rate ofuse exceeds the rate of replenishment).

To save the earth as livable place for our children and their children,we need to change the way we regard the ethics of expanding humanpopulation, prolonging life expectancy, and consuming earth resources. Thechallenge applies to every society in the world, but we in the United States,being the leading consumers and generators of waste, both as a group andon a per-person (per capita) basis, must take the lead to assure the futureof a healthy world ecosystem. Remember: without a healthy ecosystem,there can be no healthy human society. A healthy ecosystem requiresunpolluted water and soil, accessible to non-humans and humans alike, sowe must see to it that humans do not hog it all. We need to do all this whileensuring justice and fairness to all societies in the world, to future generations.See http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/local/sustainin0.html for more discussions.

Is that so hard? Yes and no. Yes because of the vast scale of thetransformation, because we are racing against time, and because we mustrein in “growth”. Growth is the nemesis of sustainability. But no, becausewe have no choice. When something must be done for survival, nothing canbe too hard.

What do you think?

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTHIGHLIGHT

Brittany Jenner

GRADUATE STUDENTHIGHLIGHT

Ricardo Arevalo, Jr.

sciences. When she was ready to rejoinuniversity life her FCC advisor, BobFord, suggested that Maryland was stillthe place to go. On her return visit JohnMerck assured her that the GeologyDepartment was small and collegial, andthat she would find a welcome home withus.

She really got hooked into the majorafter taking GEOL 123: Causes andConsequences of Global Change(including lectures by ElizabethBrabson and Jay Kaufman in theGeology Department), and found thatGeomorphology with KarenPrestegaard “was the coolest classever.” Brittany also took Watershed andWetlands with Karen and next spring willbe enrolled in Karen’s graduate levelcourse Fluvial Geomorphology. Thereis little wonder that Brittany’s seniorthesis entitled “Hydraulics of aFreshwater Tidal Wetland: ExploringChanges in Velocity and Discharge withSeasonal Variations in VegetativeRoughness” is advised by Prestegaard.

After the spring semester Brittanyhopes to join the rolling field camp courseoffered by the University of Miami(Ohio), which explores the geology ofthe national parks in the northwest USAand southwest Canada to finish up herundergraduate degree. She then planson taking a walkabout throughout thewestern part of the country to “embracethe geology” she never appreciated as achild, but has now learned to love.

“I am passionate about the Earth, andprotecting it,” she said, “and wetlandsare one of its most importantcomponents. There is mountingevidence that the Earth is changing andI think that there are too few people outthere trying to do something about it. Iwant to help make a difference.”

With her exceptional drive anddetermination, we are sure that Brittanywill make a difference and succeed inwhatever role she will play in protectingEarth’s fragile ecosystems.

The undergraduate student highlightthis year is Brittany Jenner, a nativeof nearby Gaithersburg, Maryland.Brittany, who is major in Geology with aminor in Math, has been at the top of allof her Geology classes, especially thosefocused on Earth’s fragile wetlands. Inher application for a Measurement andSignal Intelligence (MASINT)scholarship, she said, “It is essential thatwe understand how sea level rise isimpacting wetland environments asthese delicate areas need attention.”Brittany won the scholarship this year,which takes the form of a $10,000 awardfor tuition, books, and/or room and board.

Originally a Math major, Brittany leftthe University of Maryland for severalyears as in the major she just “felt like anumber.” She nonetheless continued herstudies at Frederick Community Collegefocusing there on the environmental

Rick Arevalo, Jr. – the graduatestudent highlight this year – wanted alife, “a more dynamic existence” thanthe future he faced in medical school.

Arevalo grew up everywhere havingmoved with his family across the nation11 times in ten years. Wherever hewent, he found common ground inacademics, and meteorology. Theseinterests ultimately led Rick to theUniversity of Florida where hecompleted his Bachelors of Sciences in2005 as a Geology major working withMike Perfit.

Rick’s senior thesis was on Pbisotope geochemistry was the foundationof his tungsten isotope and trace elementstudies here at Maryland. These arelargely focused on evaluating the degreeof heterogeneity of the mantle – andhence its relative heat production –through the analysis of mid ocean ridgeand hot spot basalts. Rick is developingcompositional models of the modernmantle, and by extension to betterunderstand the driving forces behindmantle mixing and plate tectonics.

Together Arevalo, his advisor BillMcDonough and colleagues in thedepartment have already published fivepapers in high impact journals includingChemical Geology, Geochimica etCosmochimica Acta, and Earth &Planetary Science Letters.

Rick is a “can do kind of guy,” saidMcDonough, “He provides andunparalleled level of reliability.”

Arevalo is finalizing his Ph.D. for aMay graduation while funded by an AnnWylie Dissertation Fellowship. Graduatestudents in the Geology Department havegreatly benefited by these universityfunds with four (Arevalo, Klochko,Reno, and Schiederich) supported in2009. Rick is leaning towardsgovernment work although the commonground of academia may lead him to apost-doc first.

He concluded “There are a lot ofcrises facing the country, and I think Ican do my part [within the government]to save the world…but I would also liketo teach!” Whatever the direction, weare sure this dynamic young scientist willsucceed in making a difference.

SENIOR THESIS PROGRAM

To see the posters from this year’spresentations and lists of theses overthe past 36 years go to http://www.geol.umd.edu/pages/under-graduates/SeniorThesis.htm.

The Department of Geology seniorthesis program, coordinated by PhilCandela for 13 years has been a fixtureof the Department of Geology since1972. Senior thesis posters haveenhanced the program since 2003; theserepresent one of the four presentationsassociated with the long establishedprogram, which is used as a model ofsuccess across campus. We wish eachof our departing students, and newestalumni, the best of luck with their futureendeavors.

The 2008-2009 Senior Thesis Class (left to right): Jeff Lillibridge, Jessica Little, Darya Slobodyanik, Susan Drymala, Jill Gribbin, Marcie Occhi, Phil Candela, Achyut Dangol, Garrett Mitchell, Cory Hanson,

Gus Kingman, Nina Werneke, and Jodi Gaeman

Dangol, Achyut: Transport and Storage of Coarse and Fine Grained Sediment, Little Paint Branch Creek (Advisors: Prestegaard/Blanchet);Drymala, Susan: Floral Indicators of Late Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum Climate Change in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming (Advisors:Holtz/Kaufman/Wing); Gaeman, Jodi: Thermal Evolution of an Early Magma Ocean (Advisor: Hier-Majumder); Gribbin, Jill: Insightsinto deep-sea hydrothermal vent environments from measurements of permeability and porosity (Advisors: Zhu/Tivey); Hanson, Cory:Vein Related Mass Transport in the Ritter Range Roof Pendant during Late Cretaceous Contact Metamorphism (Advisors: Penniston-Dorland/Piccoli/McDonough); Kingman, Gus: Constraining depositional ages of Potomac Terrane formations by zircon U/Pb isotopeanalysis (Advisors: Martin/Piccoli); Lillibridge, Jeffrey: Estimating water flux over a tidal cycle in tidal marsh networks based on tidalprism and gauge height (Advisors: Prestegaard/Seldomridge); Little, Jessica: Biomarker analysis of carbon rich shales of the BambuiGroup (Advisor: Kaufman); Mitchell, Garrett: Rift interaction at the Galápagos Triple Junction (Advisor: Montesi); Occhi, Marcie:Sources of Stream Discharge in the North East and North West Branches of the Anacostia Watershed (Advisor: Prestegaard); Slobodyanik,Darya: Using Chemical Contaminant Profiles to Determine Sediment Depositional History at Little Paint Branch Creek (Advisors:Prestegaard/McDonough/Ash); Wernecke, Nina: The Color of the Lower Mantle (Advisor: Campbell)

WE ACKNOWLEDGE OUR DONORS

We are grateful for the generosity andcontinued commitment of our donorsduring the past several years, and we salutethose of you who contribute each year. Weacknowledge the importance of eachcontribution in support of our educationand research missions. Making availableopportunities for students to be involvedin the excitement of advancing knowledgeis critical to the development of the nextgeneration of scientists who will solveproblems of societal relevance. In addition,for many of our undergraduates our abilityto help with the costs of field camp andsenior thesis research is critical to theirsuccess. Please accept our apology forany error or omission; please notify us ofany such infelicities so that we do notrepeat the mistake in future.

Up to $99.00 per annumLeon Basdekas

Carol and Norm BaloneRobert G. Beauchamp

Mr and Mrs. Michael H. DennisRobert B. FinkelmanJohn H. Fournelle

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. GorePeter L. Guth

Ms. Jennifer Leanne HarveyWilliam S. Kirk

Anthony J. Kosiba, Jr.Douglas L. Leftwich, III

John M. LiebertAllen S. Perper

Andrew E. SabinMark G. ShupeBarrett L. Smith

Charles Edward Stoner, IVJohn P. VarndellEric S. Windsor

$100.00–$250.00 per annumBenjamin L. Barnes, III

Campus Club of the UMC. Victor ChevillonDavid R. GroganEdwin Jacobsen

Jacobsen Builders, IncorporatedDazhi Jiang

Pedro J. JugoAlan J. Kaufman

Steven T. KeirsteadRobert L. McCormick

Philip M. PiccoliDr. and Mrs. Henry G. Siegrist

Myron E. TaylorTimothy E. Ungrady

Robert L. VirtaE-an Zen

> $250.00 per annumAAA Simon Holding, LLC

Michael and Jennifer BrownMichael A. DanahyMark D. Feigenson

Gem, Lapidary & Mineral Society ofMontgomery County

Gem, Lapidary & Mineral Society ofWashington

David W. GuthWilliam F. McDonough

Roberta L. RudnickRichard J. Walker

Ann G. Wylie

Front row, left to right: Aaron Martin, Igor Puchtel, Richard Ash, Rich Walker, James Farquhar, Jay Kaufman, Bill McDonough (in photo),Tom Holtz, Zella, Roberta Rudnick, John Merck, Karen Prestegaard, Sash Heir-Majumder, Mike Brown, Phil Candela, Ann Wylie,Andy Campbell, Phil Piccoli, James Day, Mike Evans, Wenlu Zhu

Second row along stairs, left to right: Craig Hebert, Sang-Tae Kim, Garrett Mitchell, Michael Mengason, Emily Seldomridge, RyanKerrigan, Kristen Miller, Lin Qiu, Nick Gava, Lisa Walsh, Yu Huang, Harry Oduro, Brian Harms, Xiaoming Liu, Tracey Centorbi,Kate Scheiderich, Tommy Tamarkin, Brian Mumaw, Rick Arevalo, Gregory Shofner, Jill Gribbin, Jingao Liu, Jodi Gaemon, MiriamGalenas, Daniel Hawkins, Brian Tattich, Marci Occhi, Madalyn Blondes, Jeremy Bellucci, Todd Karwoski

Back row, left to right: Suzanne Martin, Jeanne Martin, Dorothy Brown, Sandy Romeo

2009 Department of Geology, University of Maryland

CALL TO ACTION – HOW CAN YOU HELP US?

This is a difficult time at Maryland; please consider strengthening your connection to the Department. We have one of the bestGeochemistry Programs in the world, and we are in the process of building one of the best Geophysics Programs as well; our goalis to become one of the top Geology Departments in the Nation. Our Faculty and students are receiving recognition for theirachievements. But, we need your help to reach our goal to be the best!

How can you help us? In this tight economy, the support of alumni and friends like you is the key to our success and tomaintaining our commitment to excellence. Whether you support us yourself or put us in contact with someone who can, yourcontribution is sincerely appreciated. A tax-deductible donation will help us strengthen our program with faculty and studentrecruitment tools, state-of-the-art facilities, an enhanced fieldwork program and research opportunities for our undergraduates,and innovative outreach programs.

A growing problem for our undergraduates is the transfer of the cost of Tertiary education from the State to the individual viareduced State support and increased tuition rates. The extra cost commonly increases the time it takes to complete the degree, andour ability to help is limited by a significant under-funding in scholarship support for students. In Geology, this is particularlyimportant, since there are the additional costs associated with field camp and research for the Senior Thesis, and additionalfinancial help to those in need commonly allows these students to succeed. Through the generous support of our faculty, alumni andfriends we were able to provide financial support to several students to assist with the costs of field camp and research in 2008–2009. But we must do more.

You can assist us to support future generations of Geology majors by earmarking your tax-deductible gift for Geology.

Gifts to the Department of Geology also may be made directly to the Department by check or online (https://advdev.usmd.edu/Admin/OnlineGiving/umcp_online_giving_first.cfm) using a credit card. Contributions to the Department of Geology by checkshould be made out to the University of Maryland College Park Foundation with “Geology” in the memo. To ensure that Geology isthe receiver of your gift to the University of Maryland, please be careful when completing the Online Gift Form. In response to thedrop down menu “Select School,” please specify the College of Computer, Mathematical and Physical Sciences; and, in response tothe drop down menu “Select Fund,” please specify Department of Geology. If you do not specify these items correctly, Geology willnot receive your gift.

I want to thank those of you who have responded in previous years, offer my thanks in advance for your early and positive responseto this request for your help this year.

Michael Brown, Professor and Chair of the Geology Department