Henry Fricke
Professor
Department Chair
Geology
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You have made your way to the web page of Henry Fricke, "the geochemist" in the geology department at the Colorado College. Before arriving at CC I was a postdoctoral research scientist in Washington DC, both at the Smithsonian Institution and at the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution. I did my graduate work in stable isotope geochemistry as a student of Jim O'Neil's at the University of Michigan, and I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago.
I became interested in geology because I wanted to understand the history of the landscape around me (the great state of Pennsylvania), and over the years this interest in earth history has translated into the study of subjects ranging from cosmochemistry, metamorphic petrology and structural geology to geomorphology and geoarchaeology. Fortunately in stable isotope geochemistry I have found a set of analytical techniques that allow me to maintain theses interests as well as to expand my learning and research into new fields such as terrestrial paleoecology and paleoclimatology.
My goal here at Colorado College is to get students as excited as I am about geology, and to give them a chance to become actively involved in using stable isotope and other geochemical methods as a way of learning more about the world that surrounds them and about its history.
It has become axiomatic that doing science is one of the best ways for students to learn science. Doing science also provides an excellent introduction to quantitative reasoning, and it provides a showcase for students to display their self-motivation and communication skills to graduate schools, professional schools, and/or future employers. For these reasons, I involve students in all aspects on my research, including collaborative efforts with other faculty and with other students, and I strongly encourage them to present their results at national scientific meetings (see Publications). I also advise students who take part in research as part of the Keck Consortium.
Regular Classes
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:
- Introductory Geology (GY130 and GY140). Basic introduction to earth materials and processes utilizing local geologic features and short field trips.
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Introduction to Global Climate Change (EV128). Designed to provide our Environmental Science (link) majors with an introduction to geologic time, chemical cycles, climate change over time, and the impact of this change on plant, animal and human ecosystems.
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Rocky Mountains as a Physical and Chemical System (GY210). This sophomore-level course provides an introduction to all the of the sub-disciplines of geology that we teach at CC (earth materials and processes, structural geology, geomorphology, geophysics, stratigraphy). This is done by have students undertake field and laboratory investigations of regional geologic features with the goal of learning about the history of the region.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
