Trekking Across Pennsylvania

William Hudacek ’10 writes about his on-the-road research this summer

Over the summer, geology major William Hudacek ’10 (Long Valley, N.J.) worked with Lawrence Maliconico, associate professor of geology and environmental geosciences, toward creating a map of the geophysical nature of Pennsylvania. The following is a firsthand account of Hudacek’s experiences.

Gravity, the force that attracts a body toward the center of the earth, lured me into an interesting EXCEL project this past summer. As a rising sophomore, I certainly did not expect to be part of any research project. Prior to coming to Lafayette, I thought of research as being the exclusive domain of professors and graduate students. When Dr. Malinconico asked me if I was interested in working with him over the summer, I jumped at the chance.

It gave me an opportunity to discover the nature of a geologist’s field research. It also gave me the opportunity to work closely with another geology major, senior Matt Harhen. Working with Matt was an experience that truly made the summer memorable and quite entertaining.

Due to the nature of the project, we logged over 5,000 miles driving around the northeastern part Pennsylvania collecting data points. It is my firm belief that a considerable number of the data points we collected would otherwise have not ever been established because few people would ever think of driving a compact sedan through some of the dirt “roads” we explored in the state parks. Some of the most memorable driving moments include getting stuck in a ditch and hitting a rock that cracked the car’s oil pan. We managed to dig part of the road out in order to get out of the ditch, but there was no recovering from the oil pan fiasco. A pick-up from Enterprise eventually got us out of that jam.

Besides all the interesting roads that Matt and I ventured down, we stayed in some nice little towns and met a lot of interesting people. The towns of Wellsboro and Towanda stick out as being my two favorites to work in all summer. As we drove into Wellsboro, I was struck by the familiar feel of the town with its main street full of pedestrians which reminded me of the area where I grew up. In addition to this hometown feel, Wellsboro is the location of the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon, which was an amazing sight to look down on as we were driving up a steep state park road. Towanda was memorable because we stayed in an amazing bed and breakfast that ended up costing less than a hotel room despite the fact that it was the best service we received all summer.

All in all I feel as though I made the most of my summer. As most of my friends from home sat on their backsides and twiddled their thumbs for three months, I was out conducting research and meeting new people. As an added benefit, I gained a great deal of practical experience that will undoubtedly be helpful to me in the future.