Here at CC I teach a wide variety of classes, many of which seem on tangentially related to geochemistry. However, the act of preparing for class and talking with students in class often offers me a chance to revisit topics I might not have thought about since I was an undergraduate, and I often find that this leads to new geochemical insight on my part. More personally, I find teaching to be very satisfying, and I enjoy working with students, helping them learn new concepts, and seeing them grow as people and as geologists.
Here’s what I teach:
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Introductory Geology (GY130 and GY140). Basic introduction to earth materials and processes utilizing local geologic features and short field trips. My new plan is to let students design the syllabus on the first day – I’ll let you know how it works out!
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Earth Systems Science (EV155). Designed to provide our Environmental Science (link) majors with a solid understanding of earth materials, processes and systems, as well as an introduction to record of environmental change over time.
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Mineralogy (GY201). This is my one “core” class for majors in geology. Not surprisingly it has a strong geochemistry focus, particularly on the period table, mineral associations, and on basic thermodynamics. Lots of quality time is spent with hand samples in the lab, but we also manage a 2-day field trip to see minerals in context (and we do it in December!). An introduction to optical mineralogy is also provided.
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Historical Geology (GY205). Overview of organic evolution with a focus on several through-going themes such as the role of mass extinctions, climate change, and tropic-level ecological interactions. Changes in paleogeography of western North America over time are illustrated by way of a week-long field trip.
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Geochemistry (GY335). Case studies/journal articles are used as a starting point to introduce geochemical principles and illustrate some of their applications. In addition, real geochemical data are incorporated into problem sets. As a summary project, original research is undertaken by the class.
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Senior Seminar (GY400). Our version of a graduate-type seminar for seniors. Involves reading and discussion of journal articles as well as the collection, analysis, and presentation of original scientific data. Recent topics include: “Sedimentary basins as geologic libraries” and “Multiple methods of studying terrestrial environments of the past”.
I also teach a variety of upper level courses on topics like Isotope Geochemistry, Geologic Records of Past Environments, and Regional Studies (field-based) on a less frequent basis.
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