Student Research Projects
Recent Independent Research Projects in the Geosciences
Geosciences Conference Presentations
Recent Projects:
2020-2021
- Amanda Chen '22 (research assistant Fall 2020 and Geos 250 Spring 2021): Morphology and particle size across the three basins of Walden Pond - A reconstruction of landscape changes and mass wasting events of the past 700 years.
- Jannitta Yao '21, Isabella Brunet '24 (summer research 2021): Building Stable Continents: Constraining the Peak P-T Conditions of Neo-Acadian Metamorphism in the Nashoba Terrane
- Daeun Joyce Chung '24, Angela Douglass '24, Michelle Nishimoto '23 (summer research 2021): Uncovering a 1000 Year Old Record of Earthquakes in New England Lake Sediments Using a Multi-proxy Approach
- Claire Hayhow '21 (summer research 2021): Participatory approaches to GeoHealth research: Developing methods for actionable science with community partners
2019-2020
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Amanda Chen '22, Kayla Woodie '22 (summer research 2020): Creating a GIS database containing spatial data and sediment cores of Lake Baikal, Russia.
2017-2018
- Amanda Hernandez ’18 (GEOS 350), Alexis Corcoran, ‘18 BISC major, Sarah Koenig, ‘17 ES major Herbicides and women's health: Analysis of 3 tampon brands for glyphosate contamination.
- Charli Klein ‘19 (GEOS 350) Chemistry major, Seasonal Geochemical profiles in Paramecium Pond.
- Shivani Daya ’18 (GEOS 350) Neurosciences Major, Tanvee Varma ’18 Economics (GEOS 350): Low cost Zn delivery systems to ameliorate diarrhea severity in India.
- Margaret Zarlengo ‘17 (one semester independent research project; GEOS 350): Does the trace element composition of igneous zircon grains reflect the tectonic environment of the magma from which they crystallized?
- Melanie Passaretti ‘18, Mairany Anaya ‘18, and Sarah Wong ‘20 (independent research GEOS 250/350): A story in sediment – uncovering the history of Walden Pond.
- Shannon Dehenney ‘19 (summer research 2018): Analysis of sediment cores from a coastal lake in Aceh, Indonesia
- Leafia Sheraden Cox ‘20 (summer research 2018): A geophysical survey of Lake Waban
- Kimberly Chia Yan Min,’19 (Paulson research student) ES major, Lucy Wanzer ’19 (Paulson research student) GEOS major, Sarah Smith-Tripp ’19 (Paulson research student) GEOS major, Jenn Harris ’19 (Paulson research student) BISC major Science, systems, stakeholders: Using geosciences for landscape sustainability, enhanced by ecology of place.
- Emma Jackman '19 (research assistant) Changes in City of Boston municipal compost: Identifying best management through geochemistry and participatory action research.
- Brianna Love ’19 (ENG 250), ARCH major, Disrupting the Pb water filtration system with low cost alternatives.
- Zubyn D'Costa ‘21 (SERP student), Sociology major, Researching global lead poisoning case studies linked with lead acid battery recycling.
2016-2017
- Disha Okhai ’17 (year-long honors thesis; GEOS 360/370): Characterization of the Source Rocks Exposed in the Permian Florida Mountains of Equatorial Pangea.
- Isabelle Herde ‘17 (year-long independent research project; GEOS 350): Does the trace element composition of igneous zircon grains reflect the tectonic environment of magma production?
- JoNan Bilodeau (Davis Scholar) ‘17 (year-long independent research project; GEOS 350): Constraining the provenance of 1.1 billion year old detrital zircon grains in the Late Paleozoic Delaware Basin of west Texas.
- Tempestt Morgan ‘17 (summer 2016 and independent research GEOS 350) Coastal Dynamics and the Influence of Earthquakes and Tsunamis - A geological study in Aceh, Indonesia.
- Brianna Love ‘19 (SERP researcher) and Nhia Solari ’19 (SERP researcher) City of Boston municipal compost lead inventory analysis.
- Hannah Oettgen ’17 (GEOS 350) Biogeochemistry of urban fruit: A sustainable resource to increase food security.
2015-2016
- Isabelle Herde ‘17 (one semester independent research project; GEOS 350): Strategies for portraying trace element geochemical variation in detrital zircon populations.
- JoNan Bilodeau ‘17 (one semester GEOS 250), Testing the caldera origin of the Blue Hills: U-Pb geochronology of the Wampatuck Volcanics.
- Nisreen Abo-Sido ’18 (SERP researcher), Evaluating the potential of alkaline battery oxide powders to reduce lead mobility in urban agricultural settings.
- Rosalie Sharp ‘17 (ES honors thesis),Confronting Environmental and Social Drivers of Lead Exposure in Urban Gardens Through Community Centered Remediation.
2014-2015
- Iglika Atanassova ’15 (summer 2014 research project): Investigating the Earthquake History of New England in Fluvial and Lacustrine Environments.
- Iglika Atanassova ’15 (year-long independent research project; GEOS 350): High Resolution Provenance Study of the Permian Brushy Canyon Formation: Implications for Provenance Studies Based on Detrital Zircon Grains.
- Iglika Atanassova ’15 and Greta Janigian ’15 (course-related NEIGC field trip Fall 2014; GEOS 316): The Seismic, Historic and Geologic Record of Earthquakes in New England.
- Michaela Fendrock ’15 (year-long independent research project; GEOS 350): Field mapping and U-Pb zircon geochronology of Cape Ann pluton contact zone, Salem Neck, MA
- Greta Janigian ‘15 (one semester independent research project; GEOS 350): Examining Lead and Chromium Leaching from Weathering of Artificial Turf: A Seven-Year Study at Wellesley College
- Diana Lee ‘15 (one semester independent research project; GEOS 350): Characteristics of Shanghai’s Urban Residential PM: Monitoring Personal Exposure through Air Filtration Devices.
2013-2014
- Charlotte Benishek ’16 (summer 2013 research project): Implications of Ice-rafted debris in marine sediments for oscillations and growth of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet
- Sarah George ’14 (year-long honors thesis; GEOS 360/370): Distinguishing proximal and distal sources of sandstone by combining U-Pb age, and geochemical signatures of detrital zircons populations: An example from the Permian Brushy Canyon Formation, West Texas.
- Rosalie Sharp ‘16 (year-long research assistant): The Lead Content in Urban Compost and Implications for Urban Gardens.
- Kennedy Stomps ‘15 (summer 2013 research project): Grain size analysis as a powerful tool to determine sediment dynamics.
- Caroline K. Templeton ’14 (summer 2013 and year-long honors thesis; GEOS 360/370): Controlling Factors of Coastal Morphology in Aceh, Indonesia, since the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami
2012-2013
- Marjorie Cantine ‘13 (year-long independent research project; GEOS 350): The Provenance of the Brushy Canyon Formation and its Implications for Regional Sediment Transport During the Permian of Pangea.
- Caroline Duncan ‘13 (year-long independent research project; GEOS 350): Was the Pikes Peak Batholith a Point Source of Sediment during the Late Paleozoic?
- Maia Fitzstevens ’13 (ES) (summer 2012 and one semester independent research project; GEOS 350): How Do Regulations Affect Municipal Compost Geochemical Fingerprints and Metal Loading? A Comparison Study Between Northern Germany and Boston, MA, USA
- Sarah George ’14 (one semester independent research project; GEOS 350): Potential Sources for Detrital Zircons in the Permian Brushy Canyon Formation, West Texas
- Sarah George ’14 and Marjorie Cantine ‘13 (course-related research project; GEOS 315): Geochemical leaching of alkaline batteries: Implications for landfill disposal and remediation of lead contaminated compost.
- Lauren Goldfarb ’13 (one semester independent research project; GEOS 350): Investigating the Earthquake History of New England in Lacustrine Environments.
- Alex Hoisington ‘13 (year-long independent research project; GEOS 350): Characterization of Zircons in Clasts and Sediment Eroded from the Ancestral Rocky Mountains during the late Pennsylvanian to early Permian.
- Florence Wangui Kamonji ‘13 (ES) (one semester independent research project; GEOS 350):
- Poisoning from Used Lead Acid Battery Recycling: A Case Study from Owino Uhuru, Mombasa, Kenya.
- Caroline K. Templeton ’14 (one semester independent research project; GEOS 350): Development of a Bathymetric Surveying Set-up for Lacustrine Environments.
2011-2012
- Noranda Brown ‘12 (one semester independent research project; GEOS 350): Influence of Subducted Slab Serpentinite on arc lavas, Central American Arc Volcanoes
- Julia DiCicco ’12 (year-long independent research project; GEOS 350): The Colonial New England Kitchen Garden: Historical Urban Agriculture
- Maia Fitzstevens ’13 (ES) (one semester independent research project; GEOS 350): How Do Regulations Affect Municipal Compost Geochemical Fingerprints and Metal Loading? A Comparison Study Between Northern Germany and Boston, MA, USA
- Isabella Gambill ’12 (ES) (summer 2011 and one semester independent research project; ES 350): Inventory analysis and transport of legacy metals in river and millpond sediments: An example from the Neponset River Watershed, Massachusetts
- Phoebe Handler ’12 (ES) (summer 2011 and year-long honors thesis; ES 360/370): Diet as a Prevention Tool for Chronic, Low-Level Lead Exposure: A Population-Specific Intervention Model for Massachusetts.
- Alex Hatem ’12 (year-long research assistant): Inventory analysis and transport of legacy metals in river and millpond sediments: An example from the Neponset River Watershed, Massachusetts
- Florence Wangui Kamonji ‘13 (ES) (one semester independent research project; ES 350):
- Poisoning from Used Lead Acid Battery Recycling: A Case Study from Owino Uhuru, Mombasa, Kenya.
- Josie Leung ’12 (one semester independent research project; GEOS 350): Exploring New England’s Earthquake History – Sediment deformation features related to the 1755AD Cape Ann Earthquake.
- Taylor Sanchez ‘12 (year-long independent research project; GEOS 350): Sequence Stratigraphy and Provenance of the Permian Brushy Canyon Formation, Delaware Basin, West Texas.
- Meghani, Nooreen ‘12, (one semester GEOS 350): Detrital zircon geochronology of Roxbury Conglomerate in the Webster Conservation Area, Newton, MA