Active Research at CSU Chico!
There always seems to be a bit of activity around the lab. Currently, student projects are focusing on Paleoarchaean mats and early oxygenesis is South Africa, Silurian methane seep carbonates of Morocco, Early Cretaceous seep paleoecology, and the Miocene vertebrate fossil record of the Sierra Nevada foothills of California.
In addition to the primary research, we are engaged (with Bill Koperwhats) in achieving extreme quantification of major elements with our energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer and maximizing our photo capabilities of our petrographic cathodoluminscence microscope. While the latter might be 'old school' technology, we are achieving results that are challenging our understanding of limestone primary and secondary diagenesis.
In addition to the primary research, we are engaged (with Bill Koperwhats) in achieving extreme quantification of major elements with our energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer and maximizing our photo capabilities of our petrographic cathodoluminscence microscope. While the latter might be 'old school' technology, we are achieving results that are challenging our understanding of limestone primary and secondary diagenesis.
Current Students
Laurane Fogret. Laurane is a Ph.D. student at the Natural History Museum in Paris, France. She joined our lab to build new research opportunities with stromatolites, focusing on petrology, cathodoluminescence microscopy, and field work in Wyoming.
Evan Hoeft. Evan is a M.S. student looking at the initial evolution of the Dimerelloids--an extinct group of brachiopods that dominated hydrocarbon seeps for 230 million years. His research starts in the field, collecting fossils and representative limestone from the Western Meseta and Sub-Sahara of Morocco. The research will also involve geochemistry of the limestones and a cladistic analysis of the Dimerelloids.
Alina Landa. Alina is an M.S. Anthropology student who has joined the lab to test the applicability of x-ray diffraction (XRD) to identify rock-art pictoglyphs in northeastern California. Unfortunately, the lovely snows and rains have put a damper on her getting to the field so stay tuned for more details.
Sean Nies. Sean has already established himself as a professional paleontologist in the field and prep room. For his M.S. thesis, he is developing a wide-view understanding of the Miocene of northwestern Nevada. Specifically, his goal is to create a fuller understanding of the Miocene fauna (camels, rhinos, horses, etc.) using museum collections and new field work and tie that in to the tectonic evolution of the region. This work is in collaboration with the Bureau of Land Management.
Eden Pikowski. Eden is in the second year of her M.S. program which focuses on the paleoecology of Early Cretaceous (~130 Ma) methane seeps. This is the time period when brachiopods gave way to mollusks as the dominant macrofossil. But why? Her research is focused on a unique suite of seeps in northern California that are associated with a serpentinite diapir.
Kenji Watanabe. Kenji comes to Chico State from U.C. Santa Cruz. His M.S. research is investigating a potentially new microbialite fossil--"mat cracks". This form was discovered by Miles Stegge, an undergraduate student at Chico State, during field work in the 3.2 billion year old Moodies Group of the Makhonjwa Mountains of South Africa. Kenji will continue this research using cores and additional field work. Funding is provided by a grant from NASA Exobiology.
Evan Hoeft. Evan is a M.S. student looking at the initial evolution of the Dimerelloids--an extinct group of brachiopods that dominated hydrocarbon seeps for 230 million years. His research starts in the field, collecting fossils and representative limestone from the Western Meseta and Sub-Sahara of Morocco. The research will also involve geochemistry of the limestones and a cladistic analysis of the Dimerelloids.
Alina Landa. Alina is an M.S. Anthropology student who has joined the lab to test the applicability of x-ray diffraction (XRD) to identify rock-art pictoglyphs in northeastern California. Unfortunately, the lovely snows and rains have put a damper on her getting to the field so stay tuned for more details.
Sean Nies. Sean has already established himself as a professional paleontologist in the field and prep room. For his M.S. thesis, he is developing a wide-view understanding of the Miocene of northwestern Nevada. Specifically, his goal is to create a fuller understanding of the Miocene fauna (camels, rhinos, horses, etc.) using museum collections and new field work and tie that in to the tectonic evolution of the region. This work is in collaboration with the Bureau of Land Management.
Eden Pikowski. Eden is in the second year of her M.S. program which focuses on the paleoecology of Early Cretaceous (~130 Ma) methane seeps. This is the time period when brachiopods gave way to mollusks as the dominant macrofossil. But why? Her research is focused on a unique suite of seeps in northern California that are associated with a serpentinite diapir.
Kenji Watanabe. Kenji comes to Chico State from U.C. Santa Cruz. His M.S. research is investigating a potentially new microbialite fossil--"mat cracks". This form was discovered by Miles Stegge, an undergraduate student at Chico State, during field work in the 3.2 billion year old Moodies Group of the Makhonjwa Mountains of South Africa. Kenji will continue this research using cores and additional field work. Funding is provided by a grant from NASA Exobiology.
Recent Graduates
Brady Derick. Brady completed his M.S. Geosciences looking at the economic potential of megaton bedded barite deposits in central Nevada. His thesis, Linking Barite Paragenesis to Ore Quality in the Stratiform Barite of the Upper Devonian Slaven Chert, Central Nevada, received the Outstanding Thesis award from the College of Natural Sciences. Brady is currently living his dream job working for Nevada Gold Mines in Carlin, Nevada.
Harpreet "Harp" Batther. Harp finished her M.S. Geosciences after switching from a B.S. in Biology to become a well-rounded geobiologist. Her work on the sulfur isotopes of methane seeps and host barite deposits was revolutionary to our understanding of the formation of large bedded stratiform barite. She is currently working on her Ph.D. at the University of Colorado, Boulder under the supervision of Drs. Alexis Templeton, Sebastian Kopf, and Boz Wing.
Lane Bratz. Lane finished her B.S. Geology degree with a year-long honors project on the geochemistry and petrology of the oldest seep from the Silurian of Morocco. Lane added stable carbon, oxygen, and sulfur isotopes to her data on the trace metals and rare earth elements linked to unique petrofacies. In addition to being the oldest seep, the El Borj seep is unique for hosting abundant atrypid brachiopods and a bed of large modiomorphid bivalves and even stromatolites.
Sean Jones. Sean graduated with a B.S. in Geology. For his senior project, Sean investigated the effects of contact metamorphism on Paleoproterozoic (2.1 billion years old) stromatolites. Specifically, he used an energy dispersive spectrometer to perform quantitative analysis on amphiboles to see if there is a pattern of magnesium and iron changes with distance from diabase intrusions. His work has already shown interesting inclusions of apatite, titanite, and zircons associated with the intrusion.
Miles Stegge. Miles is a Geology senior and was part of our NASA Exobiology-funded team investigating the Paleoarchaean Moodies Group in South Africa. For their research, they are looking at reduced and oxidized minerals associated with putative microbial mats in a terrestrial deltaic setting from 3.23 billion years ago. It is hoped that the collaborative team effort will help resolve when and how Earth became oxidized.
Bradley Cobian. Bradley is a senior Geology student and fascinated with all things paleontology. For his project, he is cataloging and describing the ongoing collection of late Miocene (Hemphillian, ~ 8 million years ago) mammals that include gomphotheres, horses, giraffe-camels, tortoises, and tapirs. His work focuses on placing the taxonomy and taphonomy of the material in a spatial context within the distal volcaniclastic deposits. Check out his social media postings on his work at Gateway Museum!
Harpreet "Harp" Batther. Harp finished her M.S. Geosciences after switching from a B.S. in Biology to become a well-rounded geobiologist. Her work on the sulfur isotopes of methane seeps and host barite deposits was revolutionary to our understanding of the formation of large bedded stratiform barite. She is currently working on her Ph.D. at the University of Colorado, Boulder under the supervision of Drs. Alexis Templeton, Sebastian Kopf, and Boz Wing.
Lane Bratz. Lane finished her B.S. Geology degree with a year-long honors project on the geochemistry and petrology of the oldest seep from the Silurian of Morocco. Lane added stable carbon, oxygen, and sulfur isotopes to her data on the trace metals and rare earth elements linked to unique petrofacies. In addition to being the oldest seep, the El Borj seep is unique for hosting abundant atrypid brachiopods and a bed of large modiomorphid bivalves and even stromatolites.
Sean Jones. Sean graduated with a B.S. in Geology. For his senior project, Sean investigated the effects of contact metamorphism on Paleoproterozoic (2.1 billion years old) stromatolites. Specifically, he used an energy dispersive spectrometer to perform quantitative analysis on amphiboles to see if there is a pattern of magnesium and iron changes with distance from diabase intrusions. His work has already shown interesting inclusions of apatite, titanite, and zircons associated with the intrusion.
Miles Stegge. Miles is a Geology senior and was part of our NASA Exobiology-funded team investigating the Paleoarchaean Moodies Group in South Africa. For their research, they are looking at reduced and oxidized minerals associated with putative microbial mats in a terrestrial deltaic setting from 3.23 billion years ago. It is hoped that the collaborative team effort will help resolve when and how Earth became oxidized.
Bradley Cobian. Bradley is a senior Geology student and fascinated with all things paleontology. For his project, he is cataloging and describing the ongoing collection of late Miocene (Hemphillian, ~ 8 million years ago) mammals that include gomphotheres, horses, giraffe-camels, tortoises, and tapirs. His work focuses on placing the taxonomy and taphonomy of the material in a spatial context within the distal volcaniclastic deposits. Check out his social media postings on his work at Gateway Museum!