Student Research Projects

Examples of Student Projects

• Amanda Brisbin studied the mineralogy of bottom sediments in small lakes in the Lake Michigan coastal zone. She used analytical tools such as an x-ray diffractometer and a scanning electron microscope in this investigation;

Tyler Depke developed procedures to create 3-dimensional computer models of dinosaur bones and outcrops from digital stereophotographs
Kimberly Jongsma examined pollen from Goshorn Lake in order to test the hypothesis that grass and pine pollen would be more abundant in sediments deposited during periods of dune mobility; Trevor Daly used diatom assemblages to study changes in depth and water chemistry over the last 6,000 years in a small lake near the Hope College nature preserve;
	Austin Dreyer traveled to the Mohonk Preserve, New Paltz, New York, to examine the relationship between geologic setting and population genetics in the groundwater-dwelling insect Folsomia candida;
Jesse Reimink studied the metamorphism and mineralization of felsic clasts in the Allouez conglomerate from the Keweenaw Peninsula; Sarah Dean used the sedimentology of cores from Goshorn Lake to study the geological history of the dunes at Saugatuck State Park;
Michelle Ral studied Jurassic micromammals, ostracods, and forams, and created digital models of dinosaur bones;

• Allison Rogowski cleaned dinosaur bones and processed screenwashed sediment to help characterize the inhabitants of an ancient environment at a Wyoming dinosaur site.