Prospective graduate students are encouraged to visit the Graduate Access Page, MyGAP. Using MyGAP you can create a personalized web page containing information about all SDSU graduate programs that you are interested in. Click on the MyGap image to the left to begin.
Welcome New Students
Thank you for your inquiry concerning graduate studies in the Department. Our program aims to help students develop skills and acquire knowledge necessary for work as leaders in research, professional practice, and teaching in Geoscience
1. Independent research:
We strive to teach students how to define scientific problems, analyze and interpret data, communicate results, and argue in support of conclusions. As in most graduate programs, we emphasize research work as the best means for developing skills of critical thinking and self-motivation.
2. Coursework:
We strive to offer courses at the graduate and advanced undergraduate levels that efficiently communicate state-of-the-art information on topics in Geoscience
3. Teaching:
Many of our students have the opportunity to serve as teaching assistants. We view TA's as apprenticeships in teaching. They provide students with the opportunity to refine their own understanding of Geoscience, and to organize and present coherent explanations.
Our department encourages contact of potential students with possible thesis advisors. Feel free to either contact me or other faculty members regarding possible class-work or research interests.
Geology, and paleontology specifically, took me by surprise during my undergraduate study. I had always thought rocks were aesthetically pleasing but rather boring, until I took my first geology course. Since then I have been completely hooked, and I love the challenge of piecing together the puzzles of ancient life.
Thesis Using rank-abundance curves to quantify the changes in community structure of brachiopods during the End Ordovician mass extinction on Anticosti Island, Quebec. In the fossil record, this ecological technique identifies early warning signs before an extinction and an exact recovery point after the extinction.
Interests Paleoecology, extinction events, environmental change, hiking, observing nature, reading, dancing, singing, drawing, exploring new places and activities
Honors and Awards Yale University Bateman Award 2008, Invitation to ExxonMobil Shortcourse March 2008, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society SDSU, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Grants-in-Aid 2007, American Museum of Natural History Lerner Gray Grant 2007, Geological Society of America Student Research Grant 2007, Paleontological Society Stephen J Gould Student Research Grant 2007, Chevron Graduate Fellowship 2006, SDSU Geology Department Graduate Scholarship 2006, Cornell College Outstanding Senior Biology Student 2006, Cornell College Dean's List with Honors 2002-2006, 2nd Place Frank G Brooks Award for Excellence in Student Research 2005, Tri-Beta Biology Honor Society Cornell College, Mortarboard Honor Society Cornell College
Undergraduate DegreeB.A. in Environmental Science and Biology with a minor in Geology, from Cornell College, graduated Magna Cum Laude May 2006
Paleoecology, extinction events, environmental change, hiking, observing nature, reading, dancing, singing, drawing, exploring new places and activities