School of Earth and Climate Sciences

The ERS 315 Sedimentology and Stratigraphy class, taught by Prof. Dan Belknap, went on a field trip October 22nd to look at sedimentary rocks and sediments in downeast Maine.  Stops included Lewis Cove in North Perry to see Perry Formation, a Devonian conglomerate, Lubec tidal flats, Jasper Beach, Peasley Corner, and Hay Creek bog.

Department of Earth Sciences and Climate Change Institute Ph.D. student Bess Koffman was  recently awarded an NSF travel grant to support development of a postdoctoral research proposal.  After she completes her doctoral degree, Koffman plans to continue work on using particulate matter in snow and ice cores to better understand the complex relationships between atmospheric […]

Research Professor Edward Grew, now in his 27th year at the University of Maine, was recently selected to chair the Subcommittee on Garnet Nomenclature for the International Mineralogical Association-Commission on New Minerals, Mineral Names and Classification (http://pubsites.uws.edu.au/ima-cnmnc/). The task of the subcommittee is to review existing nomenclature of the 32 approved species of garnets and […]

There are books about seashells and beach plants and birds, but no books about the geology of beaches. That is there were no books until Orrin Pilkey (Duke University), Bill Neal (Grand Valley State University), Andrew Cooper (University of Ulster) and Joe Kelley from the Department of earth sciences at UMaine wrote “The World’s Beaches: […]

JohnRyan MacGregor, an M.S. student working with Research Professor Ed Grew, took two trips in May and June, 2011 related to his investigations into boron-bearing minerals in granulite facies rocks and the crustal boron budget.  The first trip was to the Geological Association of Canada-Mineralogical Association of Canada spring meeting in Ottawa, where he presented […]

On Monday, May 16th, Marty Yates was honored for 25 years of service to the University.  Below is the text written to recognize his contributions. The Department of Earth Sciences welcomes the opportunity to recognize 25 years of service by Dr. Martin Yates to the University of Maine. Marty is the manager of the Department’s […]

Bess Koffman, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Earth Science and the Clmate Change Institute, and undergraduate major Eliza Kane were featured in the May 11, 2011, video on the government website science360. Link to the video.

We are pleased to announce that several ERS students and faculty have received College-wide awards. Congratulations! Karl Kreutz is this year’s winner of the Graduate Faculty Mentor Award in the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture, sponsored by the Graduate Student Government. According to the Graduate Student Government nomination criteria, “Graduate mentors offer their […]

Earth Sciences major Peter Strand will spend his summer at the highest point in the northeast – the Mt. Washington Observatory in New Hampshire. Peter was offered a position as a summer intern at the station, where he will assist with weather recording, ongoing scientific studies, and educational programs. For more information about the internship […]

Calvin Mako, an ERS major and member of the Honors College, has been invited to participate in a highly selective undergraduate research program run by the Keck Geology Consortium. The Consortium organizes several projects each summer in which undergraduates have the opportunity to work with faculty from around the country on cutting-edge research projects. Calvin […]

Tobias Koffman has been awarded the prestigious 3-year National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) provides fellowships to individuals selected early in their graduate careers based on their demonstrated potential for significant achievements in science and engineering. Three years of support is provided by the program for graduate study […]

The Geological Society of Maine Spring Meeting will be held: Friday, April 8, 2005, 1:00 PM Bates College, Lewiston, ME Department of Geology, Carnegie Science Hall, 44 Campus Avenue. Organizer: Marita Bryant mbryant@bates.edu, 207-786-6473 The Spring Meeting of the GSM will be held at the Bates College on Friday, April 15, 2011. Following our 31-year […]

The 10th annual Geddes W. Simpson Lecture is scheduled for Monday, April 4 in the McIntire Room of Buchanan Alumni House on the University of Maine, with a special program in honor of the tenth year of the series. The program will begin at 2 p.m. with a lecture by Elizabeth S. Bast, granddaughter of […]

Eva Wadoski, who received her M.Sc. in Earth Sciences from the University of Maine in August, 2009, was awarded a European Mineralogical Union (EMU) Poster Prize for her poster “Stepwise dehydration of goosecreekite: a structural study” co-authored with Thomas Armbruster, Biljana Lazic and Martin Fisch at the 20th General Meeting of the International Mineralogical Association, […]

Research Professor Ed Grew gave an invited Pardee talk “Evolution of the Minerals of Beryllium, and Comparison with Boron Mineral Evolution” at the GSA meeting in Denver on November 1, 2010. Robert Hazen of the Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, organized the Pardee Keynote Symposium, “Mineral Evolution: The Coevolution of the Geo-and Biospheres.” In […]

A bit of a belated news posting to relay a link to a Rolling Stone article featuring Gordon Hamilton: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/208775?RS_show_page=0

In the course of carrying out research for his Ph. D. thesis in the Department of Earth Sciences, Jeffrey Marsh became the first student at the University of Maine ever to discover a new mineral species, which was published in the October 2010 issue of The Canadian Mineralogist. Jeff’s new mineral, menzerite-(Y), is a species […]

Professor Scott Johnson has been elected Chair of the Structural Geology and Tectonics Division of the Geological Society of America. With approximately 1700 members, SG&T is the largest Division of the Society. As Division Chair, Johnson is responsible for communications with the Division members, overseeing various student and professional awards given by the Division, and […]

At the fall meeting of the Geological Society of Maine, Alice Kelley was elected as the society’s next president.  She takes over from Julia Daly of UM Farmington.  Kelley will serve a two-year term, leading the largest geological organization in the state.  The Geological Society of Maine has a broad membership, including those in professional […]

Ed Grew was invited by the Australian Antarctic Division and Chris Carson of Geosciences Australia to give a talk “Rare minerals in the Australian Antarctic Territory” at the Antarctic Science Planning Workshop in Hobart, Australia on September 21.  The workshop was one of several organized by the Division to design implementation plans for the newly […]