Student Research Projects

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

 

  • 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