Dr. Abigail Domagall

Abigail Domagall spent her childhood picking up rocks and fossils on the beaches of north-eastern England.She received an undergraduate degree in Geological Sciences from the University of Leeds, in the UK and a couple of years later moved to Buffalo, NY to pursue a graduate degree in Volcanology.During her PhD she got the opportunity to teach for a year at Black Hills State University and loved the smaller university and the closer relationships between the faculty and students.On completing her PhD, Abigail got the tenure-track position in Geology at BHSU and has run the Environmental Physical Science program since 2008, teaching most of BH’s geology courses.

Volcanology is Abigail’s passion and her research interests lie in the physical eruption and emplacement of volcanic events.She has studied volcanoes in Mexico, the Canary Islands, and Idaho.Abigail uses detailed mapping of volcanic features in the field and collects numerous samples for geochemistry and mineralogy to better understand the eruption, and uses physical models to better explain aspects of the eruptions.She attempts to involve undergraduate students in her research and has taken students to Idaho for field experience and research.Students have presented research at local and national conferences in relation to these research projects.

Abigail teaches introductory Physical Geology and Lab every semester, and then teaches a range of upper-level geology courses including GPS/GIS, Hydrogeology, Volcanology, and Mineralogy/Petrology.Where possible, she uses the local geology to illustrate what students are learning in class and frequently takes students into the field.Her students have gone on to be very successful with careers in environmental consultancy, petroleum geology, uranium mining, and GIS (geographical information systems).