Several researchers from Hope College participated in the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA), which took place on Sunday-Wednesday, Oct. 31-Nov. 3, in Denver, Colo.
Four faculty and eight undergraduates, as well as one high school student who participated in summer research through the college's REACH (Research Experiences Across Cultures at Hope) program gave a total of 10 presentations on a wide range of research projects. The topics included mapping ancient metamorphic rocks in Sweden; four separate studies of how antibiotics move in groundwater; methods for making 3D computer models of sand dunes; a study of soils on athletic fields on the Hope campus; and the educational and scientific results of Hope's REACH II program in which high school students and teachers collaborated with Hope faculty and undergraduates to study records of past climate preserved in West Michigan peat bogs.
The Hope students who made presentations were: senior Joshua Cooper of Holland; senior Katherine Garcia of Battle Creek; junior Dean Hazle of East Grand Rapids; sophomore Leah LaBarge of Hudsonville; junior Rachel Medina of Kalamazoo; senior Caleb Nyboer of Nunica; junior Nicholas Powers of Niles; and junior Emily Van Wieren of Grand Ledge.
The high school student who made a presentation was Leah Peterson, a student at Zeeland West High School.
The faculty who made presentations were: Dr. Brian Bodenbender, associate professor of geology and environmental science, and chairperson of the department; Dr. Edward Hansen, professor of geology and environmental science; Dr. Jonathan Peterson, professor of geology and environmental science; and Suzanne DeVries-Zimmerman, part-time lecturer in the geological and environmental sciences.
The GSA annual meeting draws more than 6,000 geologists, undergraduates, and graduate students from around the world.