August 2021 Newsletter
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Our biggest challenge last year was navigating the complexities of working with masks and face shields, social distancing, and teaching both face-to-face and online. GGPE students and faculty adjusted wonderfully, and we are optimistic things will fall into place for the upcoming year.
Several of our faculty and staff received well-deserved accolades this past year. Dr. Katherine Grote was named S&T Woman of the Year in recognition of her work to improve the environment for women and minorities. Dr. Kelly Liu received the Society of Exploration Geophysicists’ Outstanding Educator Award and will be recognized at the SEG meeting in Denver later this year. Our wonderful administrative assistant, Ms. Patty Robertson, received a Staff Excellence Award. And Dr. Jonathan Obrist-Farner received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, joining Dr. Marek Locmelis, who received an NSF CAREER Award last year. Our department, and the geology and geophysics program, is one of only a handful in the nation that can boast having two faculty members with NSF CAREER awards. And as usual, our students have been very successful this year, with nearly all securing jobs and internships.
We completed the renovation phase of the 2,000-square-foot rock characterization lab in McNutt Hall. Thanks to generous donations, we purchased and installed a new XRF and a mercury intrusion porosimeter instrument.
Partnering with the Ozark Rivers Chapter of the National Audubon Society, GGPE established a local groundwater monitoring network. Students now access 11 monitoring wells for classroom assignments and research projects. You can see more ways we’re making an impact in the community and the state at ggpe.mst.edu/engagement-and-outreach.
I hope you enjoy learning a little bit more about our activities in this year's newsletter!
Sincerely,
David Borrok, Ph.D.
Chair, Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering
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Missouri S&T is proud to have hosted the first in a series of national, NSF-funded workshops on critical minerals. Experts from across the country shared their knowledge in the virtual conference in early August.
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Department chair David Borrok was named interim associate dean for research in the College of Engineering and Computing at S&T, effective Aug. 1. Jeffrey Cawlfield takes the reins in GGPE as interim chair.
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Jonathan Obrist-Farner, an assistant professor in GGPE, has won a $720,000 CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation to study the history of earthquakes along the North American-Caribbean tectonic plate boundary. He’s GGPE’s second CAREER winner in two years.
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Katherine Grote, an associate professor in GGPE, was honored as Missouri S&T’s 2021 Woman of the Year. Grote joined our faculty in 2015.
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Are you ready to explore beyond your science or engineering background into water-related education and research? Check out our new master’s degree in water science and engineering.
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Work on the RCL is complete! Our students and researchers now have expanded capabilities to characterize and test geomaterials and fluids.
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The Rock Characterization Lab is one way our students gain valuable real-world knowledge and experience that will prepare them to succeed in their chosen careers. Your annual support of GGPE makes a difference in their lives and in our work. So, when you get a phone call from a student eager to share what’s happening on campus and in our department, we hope you’ll take the time to connect and catch up. And we hope you’ll help us keep making a difference in our students’ lives by giving back
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Connect with Missouri S&T's
Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering
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129 McNutt Hall, 1400 N. Bishop Ave., Rolla, MO 65409
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