Students and professors at Colgate carry out geologic research exploring a wide range of topics at locations around the world.

In addition to research studies run by Colgate professors, the department is also a member of the Keck Geology Consortium, a multi-college collaboration that opens up a broad range of research opportunities for both undergraduates and faculty members. Students involved in Colgate or Keck-related research often travel with their research adviser to their study locations in order to gain firsthand field experience.

Africa

  • Aubreya Adams studies the origin and evolution of the East African Rift System, and its relationship to the African Superplume and researches the origin of the enigmatic Cameroon Volcanic Line.

Mars

  • Joe Levy is prospecting for glacier and permafrost ice deposits on Mars that might contain traces of past habitable environments or that could be used by future explorers using satellite and rover data.

    Antarctica

    • Amy Leventer does extensive climate change research on the East Antarctic Margin.
    • Joe Levy studies the sediment, water, and ice in Antarctica’s Dry Valleys to understand the connections between climate change, hydrology, and life in extreme environments.

    Galápagos Islands

    • Karen Harpp researches the volcanic processes and history of the Galápagos.

     

    Eastern North America

    • Aubreya Adams investigates the seismicity and crustal structure of the Adirondack Mountains.
    • William Peck studies metamorphic and igneous rocks in Quebec, New York, and New Jersey to determine the tectonic history of Eastern North America 
    • Paul Harnik studies the impacts of human activities, in particular eutrophication and climate change, on coastal ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico by comparing live populations with the remains of historical populations preserved in seafloor sediments.

    Western North America

    • Joe Levy is measuring the flow rate and internal structure of debris-covered glaciers in Alaska and the mountain West to determine how changing temperature and precipitation is encoded in glacial landscapes.
    • Martin Wong's work in the southwestern United States aims at gaining an understanding of the mechanics of metamorphic core complexes.
    • Aubreya Adams uses seismic data recorded along the southern Alaskan margin to determine how upper mantle structures and dynamics relate to spatial variability of earthquake and volcanic behaviors.

    Student Theses

    Student research is a significant feature of our undergraduate curriculum that often leads to presentations at professional meetings and publications in scientific journals. To qualify for honors in geology, students must complete a year-long senior thesis, the culmination of a research project usually started the summer before their senior year. Following is a list of theses completed by Earth & Environmental Geoscience students in recent years.

    • Isabel Dove
      Advisor: Amy Leventer
      Exploratory Holocene Climate Records from Edward VIII Gulf, Kemp Land Coast, East Antarctica
    • Patrick Matulka
      Advisor: Joseph Levy
      Rounding and Comminution Rates of Ice Clasts Using the Titan Tumbler: Fluctuating Circularity and Stepped Mass Loss
    • Samuel Timothy
      Advisor: William Peck
      Geochemical Analysis of Wollastonite Skarn Rock from the Lewis Deposit, Adirondack Mountains
    • Mark LaPan
      Advisor: William Peck
      Stable Isotope Geochemistry and Calcite-Graphite Thermometry of Marbles in Lewis and Oak Hill Wollastonite Skarn
    • Shae Labbe
      Advisor: William Peck
      Formation of Calcite Veins in Wollastonite Ore from the Lewis Deposit: Insights From Textures and Chemistry
    • Michelle Tebolt
      Advisor: Joseph Levy
      Slope, Elevation, and Thermal Inertia Trends of Recurring Slope Lineae
    • Faith McDonald
      Advisor: William Peck
      Passive Carbon Sequestration at a Wollastonite Mine: Mineralization: X-Ray Diffraction Analysis
    • Victoria Arnold
      Advisor: William Peck
      Passive Carbon Sequestration at a Wollastonite Mine: Stable Isotope Analysis
    • Adam Coles
      Advisor: Joseph Levy
      Sea Ice Recession in Relation to ANWR Oil Potential: Decreasing Summer Ice Coverage Adds Additional Drilling Concerns
    • Monica Dimas
      Advisor: Joseph Levy
      Madison County Watershed Chemistry
    • Natalie Kozlowski
      Advisor: Amy Leventer
      Radiolarians as Proxies for Oceanographic Change Along the East Antarctic Coast
    • Allison Callanan
      Advisor: Amy Leventer
      Identifying Microplastics in Antarctic Marine Sediment: The Amundsen Sea and the Northeastern Antarctic Peninsula
    • Hayley Pearson
      Advisor: Karen Harpp
      Magma Chamber Evolution in the Galápagos
    • Adrian Heath
      Advisor: Joseph Levy
      How Does Water Deposition Occur in the Driest Soils on Earth?: Salt and Sediment Properties of Hygroscopic Soils in Antarctica/li>
    • Chelsea Jacques
      Advisor: Joseph Levy
      Characteristics of Boulder Halos on Mars: Northern vs. Southern Hemisphere
    • Sara Gillis
      Advisor: Amy Leventer
      Education Modules and Curriculum Guides on the Geology of Eleuthera,The Bahamas
    • Camila Loke
      Advisor: Amy Leventer
      Searching for Pleistocene Glacial-Interglacial Cycles in the Southeast Indian Ridge
    • Erica Nathan
      Adviser: Karen Harpp
      Here Comes the Sun: Multi-Line Spectral Analysis of Solar Flares
    • Alexander Taylor
      Adviser: William Peck
      Isotope and Geochemical Analysis of Adirondack Anorthosite and Implications for Massif Emplacement History
    • Julia Barcello
      Adviser: William Peck
      Formation of Wollastonite Ore from the Lewis Deposit: Insights from Garnet Chemistry
    • Lily Daggett
      Adviser: William Peck
      Chemical Zoning in Garnets from the Lewis Deposit, Adirondacks
    • Regina Pimental
      Adviser: Karen Harpp
      San Cristobal, An Early "Plumer": An Analysis of the Evolution of Magma Plumbing Systems in the Galapagos Archipelago
    • Meghan Duffy
      Adviser: Amy Leventer
      Diatom proxy record of Quaternary glacial-interglacial cycles, Sabrina Coast, East Antarctic Margin
    • Lily Ganske
      Adviser: Amy Leventer
      Diatom proxy reconstruction of the Late Pleistocene, Sabrina Coast, East Antarctica
    • Austin Sun
      Adviser: Amy Leventer
      Phytoplankton Community Composition off the Eastern Coast of New Zealand
    • Seamus Crowley
      Adviser: Constance Soja
      Educational Exercise and Database Development on the State Fossil of New York: Eurypterus remipes
    • Carlie McCumber
      Adviser: Constance Soja
      A Day in the Life of a Devonian Trilobite: An interactive teaching tool
    • Jake Mahr
      Adviser: Karen Harpp
      Rejuvenescent Volcanism on San Cristóbal Island, Galapagos: A Late "Plumer"
    • Hannah Bercovici
      Adviser: Karen Harpp
      Isla Rabida, Galapagos: A little island with a big secret
    • Taylor Dawson 
      Adviser: Martin Wong
      EBSD and Ti-in-quartz analysis of mylonites from the Harcuvar core complex region
    • Glenna Thomas
      Adviser: Amy Leventer
      Antarctic Radiolaria
    • Grace Howard
      Adviser: William Peck
      Thermometry and geochronology of Adirondack anorthosite
    • Oleg Kozel
      Adviser: William Peck
      Pseudosection analysis and geochronology of Adirondack anorthosite
    • Taylor Mooney
      Adviser: Karen Harpp
      A Diatom-Based, Paleolimnological Study of Shadow Lake, Waupaca County, Wisconsin
    • Alex Campbell
      Adviser: Bruce Selleck
      The Trace Element Geochemistry of the Trenton-Utica Boundary in Herkimer County, New York
    • Natalie Smith
      Adviser: Bruce Selleck
      Flat Creek, Jackson, Wyoming: Assessing Impacts of Development on Water Quality
    • Jonathan (Jonny) Miller
      Adviser: Aubreya Adams
      Sources of Rifting in the East African Rift System: A Rayleigh Wave Tomography Study
    • Veronica Vriesman
      Adviser: Martin Wong
      Cold Relamination in California: A Petrological Study of Salina de Sierras' Schist Emplacement
    • Matthew (Matt) Quinan
      Adviser: William Peck
      Provenance of detrital zircons in the Paleoproterozoic Morin terrane, Quebec
    • Brett Field
      Adviser: Constance Soja
      An interactive educational exercise on local Devonian trilobites for teachers and students in Hamilton, N.Y.
    • Aurelia Casarrubias
      Adviser: Amy Leventer
      A Holocene climate record based on diatoms from the Sabrina Coast, Antarctica
    • Ciara Pettinos
      Adviser: Bruce Selleck
      Nitrogen and Carbon Isotopes in Bivalve Tissue and Shell Organic Matrix: Differentiating Impacted vs. Non-impacted Watersheds, Central and Northern New York
    • Jackson Lucas
      Adviser: Amy Leventer
      Ice Retreat in the Eastern Antarctic Peninsula: The Application of Diatoms for Understanding Climate Change
    • Tiong Hua (Andy) Sia
      Adviser: Richard April
      Effects of Liming on the Soil Geochemistry of the Adirondack Mountains
    • Ellis Van Slyke
      Adviser: William Peck
      Carbon isotopes and sugars in birch, black walnut, butternut, and maple syrup
    • Nathan (Nate) Taylor
      Adviser: Karen Harpp
      Magnetite T.I.: The Case of the Blue Lava or Origin of Surficial Color in the Blue Dragon Lava Flow, Craters of the Moon National Monument
    • Kevin Varga
      Adviser: Karen Harpp
      Understanding magmatic plumbing system dynamics at Fernandina Island, Galapagos
    • Julia Home
      Adviser: Karen Harpp
      Volcanological Perspectives on Paulin and East Lakes, Newberry Crater, Oregon
    • Ariel Hampton
      Adviser: Karen Harpp
      Interaction of Basaltic Lava Flows with Patterned Ground: Field and Analog Studies
    • Katherine (Kate) Hardock
      Adviser: Martin Wong
      40Ar/39AR thermochronology of Harcuvar metamorphic core complex, Arizona
    • Sarah Katz
      Adviser: William Peck
      Mineralogy and Stable Isotopes of Taconic Metasedimentary Rocks in Dutchess and Litchfield Counties
    • Teymoor Tahbaz
      Adviser: Bruce Selleck
      Regional correlation and geochronology of a Late Ordovician K-bentonite from the Wells Outlier, New York
    • Ann (Annie) Preston
      Adviser: Bruce Selleck
      Sequence Stratigraphy Correlations and Depositional Environments of the Late Ordovician Sequence in the Wells Outlier (Wells, New York)
    • Rebecca (Becca) Silardi
      Adviser: Bruce Selleck
      Syndepositional and Post Deposition Tectonism in the Late Ordovician from the Wells Outlier in Wells, New York
    • Maggie McGuire
      Adviser: Karen Harpp
      Geochemical Evolution of Espanola Island, Galapagos Archipelago
    • Ashlynne Rando
      Adviser: Richard April
      Geochemistry of the Adirondacks: A Liming Study
    • Ryan Clements
      Adviser: Martin Wong
      Kinematics and temperature conditions of mylonitization in the Harcuvar metamorphic core complex, Az.
    • Michael (Mike) DuBois
      Adviser: William Peck
      Geochemical analysis of pyroxene megacrysts from massif anorthosite in the Adirondacks region
    • Zachary (Zac) Sawin
      Adviser: Karen Harpp
      Effect of Barrier Design on Hazard Mitigation of Lava Flows
    • Erin Cummings
      Adviser: William Peck
      Causes of Variability in Carbon Isotope Ratios in Maple and Birch Syrups
    • Megan (Meg) Ryan
      Adviser: Constance Soja
      Analysis of Trilobite Taphofacies at Geer Road Quarry, New York
    • Kegan Thompson
      Adviser: Constance Soja
      Paleoecology of Devonian trilobites at Geer Road, Lebanon, New York
    • Michael (Mike) Yavorek
      Adviser: Richard April
      Mineralogy of the Karheen Formation in SE Alaska
    • Kevin Lough
      Adviser: William Peck
      Constraining Metamorphic Conditions of the Morin Shear Zone, QC, Using Thermobarometry
    • John Quazza
      Adviser: Karen Harpp
      Investigation into the Insulating Properties of Scoria on Basaltic Lava