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Bochner (Bethlehem, Pa.) performed EXCEL research with Kira Lawrence, assistant professor of geology and environmental geosciences, taking an in-depth look at climate change over time. Bochner analyzed temperature changes in the Atlantic Ocean from the Pliocene epoch, about 5.3 and 1.8 million years ago, to the present. This project is supported by a grant Lawrence received from the National Science Foundation.
Larsen (Swarthmore, Pa.) presented her honors project, which looked at whether the morphology (variation and change in size and shape) of drainage basins can be used as an indicator of tectonic activity (ie. earthquakes or volcanoes). Her work focused on the Toiyabe Range of the Great Basin region in Central Nevada, and was performed under the guidance of Dru Germanoski, VanArtsdalen Professor and head of geology and environmental geosciences, and John Wilson, geology lab coordinator. This research is a continuation of EXCEL work Larsen previously did with Germanoski where she spent a month in Nevada studying the basins.
Parker (Mystic, Conn.) performed honors research on ancient plant and insect interactions by examining 55-million-year-old plant fossils from Alaska. She and her adviser David Sunderlin, assistant professor of geology and environmental geosciences, spent a month on an Alaskan research trip. Parker is also a member of the College’s NCAA Division I women’s tennis team.
White (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.) performed EXCEL research with Lawrence, which is related to Bochner’s project. White specifically explored the evolution of North Atlantic Ocean temperature during the transition from the Pliocene to the Pleistocene (1.8 million to 10,000 years ago) epochs. White, a Division I swimmer, also presented this research at the American Geophysical Union’s 2008 fall meeting in San Francisco.