Below is a partial list of undergraduate research/internship projects that my students have been involved in.

• Tessa Jones, Richard Hudson and Ashley Marske - 2004 - Fractal Dimensions of Evolved Lava Flow Margins
  • Richard, Tessa and Ashley obtained high-resolution GPS outlines of andesitic, dacitic and rhyolitic lava flow margins in the western US in order to compare the fractal dimension of flow margins measured in the field with those from remotely-sensed imagery to determine the potential for using fractals to identify lava composition.
• Kathleen Lockhart - 2003 - Geology Misconceptions in Children
  • Kathleen conducted a study of misconceptions that elementary students have about the Earth sciences. This work stems from a NSF-funded project on geology misconceptions.
• Shawn McColley - 2002 - Roughness Measurements at Sabancaya, Peru
  • Shawn traveled to Peru for 2 weeks of field work in 2002. Shawn was funded by the Nelson Scholarship Committee, and is now pursuing a PhD in planetary sciences at Brown University.
• Shawn McColley and Richard Hudson - 2002-2003 - The Development of Internal Pathways in Lava Flows
  • Shawn and Richard analyzed nearly 20 experimental runs of simulated lava flows to determine the development of internal pathways in lava flows. Richard's work on this project was funded by an award from the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium.
• Shawn McColley - 2000 - Modeling Tumuli Growth
  • Shawn quantified the pressure needed to produce local inflation mounds (tumuli) on basaltic lava flows to investigate the processes that cause lava flows to thicken and lengthen. He also traveled to Hawaii in the fall of 2000 to conduct some field work necessary for comparison with his modeling.
• Tokina Rossow - 2000 - E. coli in the Spearfish Creek Watershed
  • Tokina is trying to identify sources of E. coli contamination in the Spearfish Creek watershed in the northern Black Hills of South Dakota. Tokina is also funded by the Nelson Scholarship Committee.
• Brandi Wood - 1997 - Analysis of Pahoehoe Lava Flow Surface Morphology
  • Brandi traveled to Hawaii to assess the distribution of pahoehoe lava flow surface morphology at Kilauea volcano, and used the results as the basis for comparison to similar flows on the Martian surface. Brandi coauthored a paper presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference and 2 others that were recently published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters. Brandi was funded by the Nelson Scholarship Committee.
• Al Johnson - 1997 - Fire-Frequency in the northern Black Hills
  • Al obtained charcoal from layers in a stream bank for age-dating and determination of fire-frequency rates and presented the research at the "Island in the Plains" archeological conference in February of 1997.
• Dave Finnegan - 1996 - GPS Studies of a Large Landslide in Idaho
  • Dave accompanied Dr. Mark Bulmer of the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum to Idaho to study the morphology of a large landslide deposit. Dave used GPS to survey the surface of the slide, and these data will be used in planetary analog studies of mass movement deposits.
• Denise Neugebauer - 1995 - GIS Applications in US Forest Service Timber Sales
  • Denise used GIS to aid in the study of timber sales by the US Forest Service.
• Lynn Pappillon - 1995 - Environmental Audits at the VA Hospital in Sturgis
  • Lynn conducted environmental audits of the hospital in Sturgis, SD for the Veterans Administration
• Kelly Schoenfield, Denise Neugebauer, Dave Finnegan and Jennifer Mercer - 1994, 1995 - Roughness Measurements on Recent Lava Flows
  • These students traveled to California to participate in NASA-sponsored research on a number of recently active silicic lava domes.
• Denise Neugebauer - 1994 - NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program
  • Denise conducted 10 weeks of NSF-sponsored environmental research in the Spearfish area as part of a $45,000 grant. She presented the results at the Midwest Groundwater Conference in ND.
• Peggy Klancnik - 1993 - Columnar Joint Measurements in Hawaii, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon
  • Peggy traveled to Hawaii, Washington, Idaho, and Oregon to study columnar joint formation. The research was sponsored by the Faculty Research Committee, and Peggy presented the results at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research and coauthored a paper for the American Geophysical Union Meeting.