Geology students at Vasquez Rocks outside LA, taking notes in the field

Recent Senior Theses

Cassandra Walker, 2023

Petrographic characterization of the Pelona Schist at Portal Ridge.

Peter Grimmett, 2023

A lake sediment record of past wildfire and environmental variability in the Eastern Sierra, California during the Holocene.

Lane (Xiaolu) Wang, 2023

Reconstructing Holocene Hydrological Changes in the Great Basin from Sediments at Summit Lake, Nevada.

Adrian Aviles, 2023

Utilizing contemporary varve-counting methods to detect annually-deposited laminae in Delta Lake, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.

Amelia Muscott, 2022

Latest Pleistocene and Holocene records of past glacier and climate change in the Teton Mountain Range, WY from alpine lake sediments.

Madeline Doyle, 2022

Variations in Uplift Rates Across the Sierra Nevada and Tehachapi Mountains, CA, from Stream Channel Analyses.

Sam Sachs, 2021

An Analysis of Anthropogenic Influences to the Geomorphology of Fluvial Networks in Washington State.

Marvin Osorio, 2021

Silica Scaling: Formation and Mitigation Solutions in Geothermal Power Plants.

Matthew Aleksey, 2021

Evolution of Continental Rift Systems Northern Atlantic and Afar Triple Junction.

Kutter Wright, 2021

Soils and Global Climate: Perspectives for the Future and Lessons from the Past.

Johanna Baraga, 2021

An Analysis of Subduction Initiation Processes and Tectonic Evolution on Venus.

Elijah Havens, 2021

The Effects of Sea Level Rise, Groundwater Depletion, and increased Precipitation on the Hydrogeology of California.

Calinda Baker, 2021

The Effects of Wildfires on Soils in the San Gabriel Mountains: Impacts on Productivity and Hazards.

Jacqueline Dall, 2021

Petro-isotopic variations of chromium related to mantle rocks and minerals.

Talia Bar Yaacov, 2020

Arsenic geochemistry and distribution in streambed sediments of Hot Creek Gorge in Mono County, California.

Lori Aznive Berberian, 2020

Holocene Tephra Archives and Tephrochronology in the Central Highlands of Iceland: Establishing a Soil Stratigraphic Inventory of Marker Tephra for the Kjölur Region

Ian Van Dusen, 2020

Pattern and signature of Holocene soil erosion in Central Iceland as recorded by lake sediments and relict soils.

Fiona Pedrick, 2020

Distribution and age of ductile strain between two detachment faults in the footwall of the Pioneer metamorphic core complex.

Eleanor Amann, 2019

With the help Dr. Oze, Eleanor explored the effects of magmatic elevated carbon on vegetation and soil in the tree kill zones of the Mammoth Mountain region. By using a LiCor gas analyser to record and analyses the amount of carbon being released from the ground, she was been able to record the effects of the carbon on the the local pine trees to better understand how vegetation could be affected by an overall increase in carbon.

Lauren Berger, 2019

Sand ripples tell us about modern physical properties on Mars. As part of her research at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Lauren mapped sand ripples at the Mars 2020 Rover's landing site, western Jezero Crater, to better understand wind movement in the region and how wind causes changes in sand ripples over time.

Aria Blumm, 2019

Aria Blumm worked on reconstructing past fault activity on the Teton fault from sediment cores in Grand Teton National Park, WY.

Eddy Dabsys, 2019

Eddy Dabsys did biogeochemical with Dr. Oze. His project consisted of analyzing synthetic Martian soil in an attempt to develop strategies to eventually terraform the red planet. His research particularly focused on perchlorate.

Annika Dechert, 2019

Through an accepted experimental method of modeling dikes by injecting fluids into translucent gelatin, Annika Dechert's thesis expanded upon previous studies concentrating on two-dimensions of these dikes by exploring three-dimensions. Dechert completed the physical modeling and began finding the analytical solutions (see Figure) during an REU program at the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa under the mentorship of Dr. Stephen Martel and continued the analytical solutions at Occidental College with the support of Dr. Margaret Rusmore.

Spencer Patrick, 2019

Using detrital apatite fission track thermochronometry, Spencer Patrick analyzed the cooling history of river sediments from the Far Western region of the Nepalese Himalaya to determine the propagation of a lateral young-ing trend (East to West) seen in the Central region.

Iris Smith, 2019

Iris Smith’s research focused on a fault block on the southeast side of the Garlock fault. Smith took samples across a transect of the block and used apatite fission track analysis to determine that there is in fact a fault block there.

Yiming Zhang, 2019

Yiming Zhang worked with Professor Scott Bogue on reconstructing a Pliocene-age R-N geomagnetic reversal recorded by a stack of lava from Anahola, Kauai.

Cole Valentino, 2017

Low-temperature exhumation along the Main Central Thrust in Central Nepal: Evidence from apatite fission track thermochronology

Contact Geology
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