People

Julie Bowles, Associate Professor
bowlesj@uwm.edu

 

 

Vera Soltes (MS)
Vera will be joining the lab in Fall 2023 and will be using geomagnetic paleointensity to study volcanic processes on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

 

 

Terra Johnson, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Terra is currently conducting magnetic measurements on samples from lava tubes in Hawaii to better understand oxidative processes in these environments, a potential analog for Venus surface geology. This work is being done in collaboration with Dr. Lindsay McHenry.  Previously, Terra has used magnetic measurements to look at environmental changes and depositional processes in sediments.

 

Melissa SikesMelissa Sikes (MS)
Melissa is using geomagnetic paleointensity to try to improve correlation of lava flows on the Snake River Plain in Idaho.  Her work has implications for volcanic hazard planning.

 

 

———–  Alumni———–

 

Miles Harbury (MS)
Graduated Summer 2023
Co-advisor: Dr. John Isbell
Miles is working on diamictites in the the Gowganda Formation in Ontario.  He is using magnetic (and other) techniques to determine the origin of the deposits which were emplaced during the Huronian glaciation ~2.2 billion years ago.

 

Theodore Holmes, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Theo is using magnetic measurements to look at environmental changes associated with the end of the last glacial period.  He is working on a sediment core from central Indiana as part of a collaboration with Dr. Henry Loope at the Indiana Geological and Water Survey.

 

Sebastian Fearn, Graduate Student (MS)
Graduated Fall 2020
Sebastian’s work focuses on better understanding the reliability of volcanic glass as a paleomagnetic recorder.

 

 

Ji-In Jung, Graduate Student (MS)
Graduated Spring 2020
Ji-In is working to assess the feasibility of using stromatolites as records of geomagnetic field variation.

 

 

Rebecca Brown, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Graduated 2019
Rebecca is conducting paleointensity experiments on volcanic glass from the Alarcon Rise in the Gulf of California.  Rebecca’s work will help to constrain the timing of the volcanic eruptions.

 

 

Kyle Vernon, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Graduated 2019
Kyle is conducting paleointensity experiments on obsidian from Glass Buttes, Oregon.

 

 

Joshua Kite, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Graduated Spring 2018
Josh is working on samples collected on IODP Expedition 360 to Atlantis Bank. He also collect samples from a glacial diamict and is using anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility to determine ice flow direction.

 

Eli Sutula, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Graduated Fall 2018
Eli worked with Eocene stromatolites from the Green River Formation in Wyoming as part of project to determine the feasibility of using stromatolites as paleomagnetic recorders.

 

Elizabeth Borucki, Graduate Student (MS)
Graduated Spring 2018
Liz is working on the ~1.1 billion-year-old sandstones of the Copper Harbor conglomerate in Michigan’s upper peninsula.  She is trying to determine if the magnetic properties of these fluvial red beds can be used as tracers of environmental or climatic changes.

 

Josh Marquardt, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Graduated Spring 2018
Josh worked on samples collected on IODP Expedition 360 to Atlantis Bank. He also worked with ancient stromatolite samples from Mongolia as part of a project to determine the feasibility of using stromatolites as paleomagnetic recorders.

 

Charles Peppers, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Graduated Spring 2018
Charlie is conducting paleointensity experiments on obsidian from Glass Buttes, Oregon.

 

 

FatimahFatimah Abdulghafur, Graduate Student (PhD)
Fatimah is currently examining how the magnetic properties and magnetization of volcanic glass vary as the glass ages, and is looking at the paleointensity of Earth’s magnetic field recorded by the Tiva Canyon Tuff.

 

Justin Bush, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Graduated Fall 2017
Justing is working on volcanic glass samples to evaluate how magnetic properties change as the glass ages.  This will inform Fatimah’s work (above) on the suitability of volcanic glass for recovering geomagnetic field intensity.

James Amato, Graduate Student (MS)
Graduated Summer 2017
co-advisor John Isbell
James is using anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility as a tool to distinguish between sub-glacial and other types of deposits.

Angela Butula, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Graduated Summer 2017
Angela is working on samples collected on IODP Expedition 360 to Atlantis Bank.  She is carrying out rock magnetic and anisotropy experiments on rocks from the lower oceanic crust.

 

Austin Borgardt, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Graduated Fall 2017
Austin is using paleomagnetism to estimate emplacement temperature of a pyroclastic flow from Montserrat, West Indes.

 

Devin

Devin Gerzich, Graduate Student (MS)
Graduated Summer 2016
Devin’s thesis used samples collected from Mt. St. Helens to calibrate a new method for estimating pyroclastic flow emplacement temperatures; and to better understand magnetization acquisition in titanomagnetite bearing rocks

 

S-C_Lappe_1

Sophie-Charlotte Lappe, Postdoctoral Researcher
now at University of Aachen
lappe@ifk.rwth-aachen.de
Sophie is working on cation ordering in natural titanomagnetites. She has expertise in mineral sciences, experimental mineralogy and mineral magnetism.

 

Darian Dixon, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Graduated Spring, 2015
Darian is using paleomagnetism to estimate emplacement temperature of a pyroclastic flow from Montserrat, West Indes.

 

Miles Harbury, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Graduated Spring, 2015
Miles’ project involved determining the grain-size source of anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility in the Mulajokull glacial till from Iceland. This was  done in collaboration with Tom Hooyer and Libby Ives.

 

Amber Patt, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Graduated Spring, 2014
Amber worked on understanding the effects of aging on magnetic propoerties of submarine basaltic glass. She has also sampled a basaltic dike near Wausau, Wisconsin to see if it can be correlated with other basaltic dikes in the state.

 

Megan Stettnisch, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Graduated Winter 2014
Megan’s work related to cation reordering in natural titanomagnetites. She is working with samples from Mt. St. Helens and is measuring how unblocking temperatures change with depth in a natural flow.

 

Kiel Finn,Undergraduate Research Assistant
Graduated Spring, 2014
Kiel sampled some of the 1.1 billion year old Chengwatana lava flows in western Wisconsin. He is studying the magnetic mineralogy of the basalts to aid in our understanding of Earth’s magnetic field variation during the Proterozoic.