Teaching at WWU
I’m just getting started teaching at WWU, but I’m excited to be a part of the community! Courses I’m scheduled to teach in 2021 include:
Geol 101 Introduction to Geology
Geol 302 Geological Oceanography
Geol 497/597T (special topics ) Marine Geohazards
MACS 301 (new, Fall 2021) Marine Geology
Geology 101 Q & A (place for me to save Questions from Students… work in progress)Other Learning Resources:
I’m trying to take a shot at compiling a Q&A about navigating graduate school and undergraduate programs from conversations I’ve had with students and mentees throughout the years. It’s starting out short but feel free to check it out and suggest more Q&A entries – here.
Teaching at UW:
Before I was at WWU – I was an Assistant Professor in the School of Oceanography at UW. Here are courses I taught as a part of that program:
UW OCEAN 452/502 Marine Geospatial Information Science
This is the classroom and lab-based sister class to OCEAN 497, focused on spatial literacy, strategies for spatial analysis and related GIS skills that we used to synthesize and understand spatial information. It was primarily co-taught with Dr. Miles Logsdon.
UW OCEAN 412 Seismic Exploration
This course focuses on the theory and practice of seismic exploration. This includes application of seismic reflection and refraction techniques, including acquisition and processing, to problems that span shallow mineral exploration to characterization of fault zones and sediment basins. We’ll also discuss the interpretation of subsurface structure. This is a very hands on course, with one or two lectures a week and a long lab period where we use state-of-the-art seismic processing and interpretation software.
UW OCEAN 220 Field Methods for Oceanographers
This course focuses on developing skills all oceanographers need to acquire oceanographic data, conduct basic data analysis, review the literature and communicate scientific in oral presentations and written documents. Students practice techniques used by physical, chemical, biological and geological oceanographers. This course also involves a trip up to Friday Harbor Labs where we introduce many of the field and analysis concepts, tour the geology of San Juan Island.
UW OCEAN 540 – Marine Geological and Geophysical Processes
This is one of the core graduate courses for all incoming Oceanography PhD students at UW. It covers broadly a synthesis of processes that form ocean basins and fill them with sediment, including: plate tectonics and the creation, evolution, and subduction of ocean crust; accumulation of terrestrial, biogenic, and authigenic sediments; and the history of paleoceanographic events recorded in the seafloor. It also includes a great field trip to explore the geology of San Juan Island.
UW OCEAN 497 – Advanced Special Topics – Seafloor Mapping
This course, which I co-taught with Miles Logsdon focused on methods for characterizing seafloor bathymetry and geologic/ecologic processes. Students participate in time out at sea, practicing strategies for hydrographic surveying and using state-of-the-art multibeam bathymetry tools including the Kongsberg EM 302 on board UW’s research vessel, the R/V Thompson, and the EM 2040 onboard the R/V Barnes and new vessel the R/V Rachel Carson.
Check out this cool piece produced by Stacy Jenkins for KCTS Channel 9 – Stacy joined us on our 2015 Puget Sound mapping cruise on the Thompson. Mapping the Sound
Tutorial Storage:
Here are a few tutorials – looking for a home. Disclaimer: always under construction.
Should be updated periodically.