ERTH students (from left to right) Matt Wagoner, Henry Marine, Lanie Bratz and Miranda Flint at the GSA Cordilleran Meeting in Reno, May 2023. Henry Marine won 2nd Runner Up in the undergraduate student category!!
Matt Wagoner presented his poster on the geochemistry of igneous rocks near Paradise, CA.
Henry Marine gave a poster on his work on Pyroxene crystals in debris flows of the ancient Mt. Yana.
Mario Velazquez (Geology '20) gave a talk about his MS thesis. He is planning to finish his masters degree in the spring and go on for a PhD.
ERTH (still getting used to typing that) students Erica Thompson (shown here), Henry Marine, and Elisabeth Kennedy, presented posters at the 118th annual meeting(opens in new window) of the Joint Cordilleran/Rocky Mountain Section of the Geologic Society of America 15–17 March 2022, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
GEOS students Scott Stokes, Evan Davis, Nate Plascencia, Maggie Pierce, Amy Robson, Andre Bourret, Harpreet Bather, and Alexis Lopez all presented posters at the 115th annual meeting(opens in new window) of the Cordilleran Section of the Geologic Society of America 15-17 May 2019, in Portland, OR.
Scott Stokes - Oxygen Isotopic Composition of Sulphur Works, Lassen Volcanic Center: Correlating Thermal and Meteoric Water Inputs
Evan Davis - Olivine Trace Element Indicators of Thermal History and Mantle Source Compositions of Primitive Magmas at Poison Lake Chain, Lassen Region
Nate Plascencia - Trace Elements Analysis of Plagioclase of Primitive Basalt at Poison Lake Chain, Lassen Region
Maggie Pierce - Geochemical and Petrographic Analysis of the Lights Creek Stock in the Plumas County Copper Belt, CA
Amy Robson - Vertical Variation of Hydrothermal Alteration from the Core to Upper Flank of Ancient Mt. Tehama, Lassen Volcanic Center
Not Pictured (entirely our fault, sorry):
Alexis Lopez - Mineralization and Alteration of the Moonlight (IOCG) Deposit, Taylorsville District of the Plumas County Copper Belt, CA
Andre Bourret - Characterizing the paragenetic sequence of alteration at the Moonlight IOCG deposit, Plumas County, CA
Harpreet Batther - A Hydrocarbon Seep Model of Large Bedded Barite Deposits in the Devonian Slaven Chert of Central-North Nevada
The GEOS Department awarded our graduating seniors and graduate students with the following awards:
Amy Robson - Honors in Major
Maggie Pierce - Honors in Major
Jessica Shippen - Outstanding Achievement in Environmental Science
Evan Davis - Outstanding Achievement in Field Geology Award, Honors in Major
Eric Dearden - Outstanding Independent Research Award
Brandon Ertis - Excellence in Graduate Research in Environmental Science
Cab Esposito - Excellence in Graduate Research in Geosciences
Geology and Environmental Science students once again made and incredibly strong showing at the College of Natural Sciences Spring 2019 Poster Session. Congratulations to all the winners, especially the following GEOS students:
Undergraduate/Faculty Research - Judge's Award
Nutrient Removal of Sustainable Additives to Biofiltration Systems
Nora Pizzella and Sandrine Matiasek
Graduate/Faculty Research - People's Choice Award
Post-fire Plant Community Trajectory and Fuelbreak Restoration
Hannah Weinberger and Kristen Kaczynski
Graduate student Robert Gruenberg (MS Geosciences: Hydrology) and undergraduate students Eric Dearden (Env.Sci.), Jillian Olivar (Env.Sci.), Brice Vanness (Biochem.), and Gabrielle Wyatt (Biol.) presented their research titled “Urban storm runoff: Assessment of biofiltration systems” at the 14th annual This Way To Sustainability conference at Chico State on March 29th, 2019. Their research was funded by an EPA P3 grant awarded to Dr. Matiasek.
Eric Dearden (Env. Sci. - Hydrology) presented his Honors research at the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) 2019 Aquatic Sciences Meeting in Puerto Rico. His poster, titled "Evaluation of pollutant removal and runoff reduction of a stormwater biofiltration system", summarized results from an ongoing collaboration between his advisor Dr. Sandrine Matiasek, the Civil Engineering department, and Butte College BWELL student interns.
GEOS students Evan Davis, Nate Plascencia, Angelica Rodriguez, and Amy Robson all presented posters at the November 4-7, 2018 annual Geological Society of America (GSA) conference(opens in new window) in Indianapolis, IN.
Evan Davis (l) and Nate Plascencia (r)
Dan Hiney (BS Environmental Science-Applied Ecology 2018) worked with Drs. Kristen Kaczynski and Mandy Banet (Biology) to turn his senior project into a manuscript. His research Using citizen science to estimate the Coastal Rainbow Trout population of Grass Creek Valley Reservoir is now published in California Fish and Game Journal. For his research, Dan recruited six fellow anglers to assist in mark-recapture data collection over 13 days in the Fall of 2016. Dan trained these ‘citizen scientists’ in proper fish handling for measurement and fin clipping for marking. Dan’s manuscript discusses the potential for utilizing experienced anglers to assess fisheries populations.
Lexi Thornton presented her master’s research “Mapping Risk for Phytophthora ramorum with an Anthropogenic Focus” at the Society for Conservation GIS annual meeting in July, 2018.
Graduate students Sommer Cassady, John Kelly, Jay Smart and Sean Lucas, along with undergraduates Angelica Rodriguez (below left), Evan Pavonis and Amy Robson (below right) all presented posters at the May 2018 annual Geological Society of America (GSA) Cordilleran Region conference in Flagstaff, AZ.
 |  |
Allen LaGrange (MS Environmental Science) and Jessica Shippen (Envir Sci – Applied Ecology) presented their research at the California Society for Ecological Restoration 2018 annual conference in San Diego. Allen presented his master’s research, Response of Wet Meadow Vegetation Along a Hydrological Gradient after Passive Restoration. Jessica presented her and Dr. Kristen Kaczynski’s research, Monitoring Short- and Long-term Vegetation Changes Following Wet Meadow Restoration.
 |  |
Once again, the GEOS Department had an amazing showing at the annual College of Natural Sciences Research Poster session. Not only did our department contribute about 1/3 of the posters (out of eight departments) but the quality was across the board outstanding. Our department won four of the six awards this year—quite impressive for one department!!
Felisa Vallejo, "A survey of native and non-native plant populations on a managed California grassland at the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve”.
Bryn Copson, Sandrine Matiasek, "Fate of Heavy Metals in Urban Stormwater Biofiltration Systems”
April Bischel, Andre Bournet, Evan Davis, Danny Fields, Nicholas Holt, Evan Mason, Margaret Pierce, Natalio Plascencia, Amy Robson, Corey Ritchardson-Fernandez, Neil Trent, Emily Truscott, Hannah Aird, “Interpreting the Magmatic Evolution and Emplacement of the Bald Rock Pluton through Geochemical and Petrographic Analysis”.
Sean Lucas, Jay Smart, Ann Bykerk-Kauffman, "The Painted Gorge fault, a potentially active dextral fault in the northeastern Coyote Mountains, Salton Trough, California”
Bryn Copson (ES Honors research student) was awarded a Student Award for Research and Creativity from the Provost Office for her research titled “Fate of Heavy Metals in Urban Stormwater Biofiltration Systems” in Spring 2018.
Richard Vitamanti (MS Geosciences: Hydrology) was awarded a Student Award for Research and Creativity from the Provost Office for his summer research titled “Effects of Additives and Saturation Depth on Nutrient Retention in Urban Stormwater Biofiltration”.
Graduate student Richard Vitamanti (MS Geosciences: Hydrology) and undergraduate students Bryn Copson (ES), Eric Dearden(ES), and Quoc Nguyen (Chemistry) presented their research titled “A “swale” future for stormwater: bioswales to the rescue” at the 13th annual This Way To Sustainability conference at Chico State on March 16th 2018. Their research was funded by an EPA P3 grant awarded to Dr. Matiasek.
Allen LaGrange (ES, master’s student) was awarded a Student Award for Research & Creativity through the Honors Program at Chico State for his research titled “Hydrological and Ecological Indicators for Wet Meadow Restoration: Papoose Meadows, CA”. (here’s the link: you can make it fancy with a hyperlink: https://www.csuchico.edu/ued/student-awards/previous-recipients.shtml
In April, a team of interdisciplinary California State University, Chico students, led by Dr. Sandrine Matiasek, were awarded a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to research and develop sustainable biofiltration technology for small urban areas like Chico. The CSU, Chico team was one of eight teams awarded the grant in the nation, as part of the EPA's People, Prosperity, and the Environment (P3) Student Design Competition Phase 2. Their two-year project, titled "Evaluating Biofiltration in Small Urban Areas: Chico, California Case Study" will be testing the effectiveness of biofiltration using sand, compost, lava rock, zeolite, and native, drought resistant plants in an effort to mitigate urban storm water runoff. The full press release of the Phase 1 project that led to their selection for the Phase 2 award(opens in new window).
Jimmy Monge (ES, Applied Ecology Senior) won First Place in the Group 1: Interdisciplinary Undergraduate session at the 31st Annual CSUC Student Research Competition on March 7, 2017. Jimmy presented his research at the CSU-wide conference in San Luis Obispo on April 29, 2017.
Graduate student Richard Vitamanti and undergraduate students Bryn Copson, Eric Dearden, and Rachel Libby presented their research poster on stormwater biofiltration at the State of the Estuary conference in Oakland, CA on Oct. 10-11, 2017. They presented their work to over 800 conference attendees from local, state, and federal agencies focusing on the management and ecological health of the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary. The State of the Estuary Conference showcased the latest information about the estuary’s changing watersheds, impacts from major stressors, recovery programs for species and habitats, and emerging challenges.
 |  |
Environmental Science graduate student Cab Esposito presented his research at the 2017 Groundwater Conference and 26th Annual Meeting of the Groundwater Resources Association of California. Cab was awarded the "Dr. David Huntley Student Competition Award, In recognition of their Outstanding Poster Presentation at the 2017 Groundwater....". Below is the citation.
Esposito, C.M., Mehl, S., and Houk, E., 2017. Coupling land use change and regional hydrologic models to assess impacts on groundwater dependent ecosystems. Presented at the 26th Groundwater Resources Association Annual Meeting, 2017: Time for Collaboration and Innovation, October 3, Sacramento, CA.
Graduate student Sommer Cassady and undergraduates Angelica Rodriguez, Chad Dodge and Andrew Guglielmo all presented posters at the October 2017 annual Geological Society of America (GSA) conference in Seattle Washington.
Sommer Cassady, Exploration of a High-Sulfidation Epithermal Deposit within the Antelope Valley Volcanic Center, Sierra County California, GSA, October 24, Seattle, WA |
Angela Rodriquez, Monitoring hydrothermal water temperature and composition at the Lassen Volcanic Center, Southern Cascades, GSA, October 24, Seattle, WA |
Chad Dodge, Groundmass Crystallinities of Proximal and Distal Lavas of the Poison Lake Chain in the Lassen Region of the Southern Cascades, GSA, October 24, Seattle, WA |
Andrew Guglielmo, Identifying the Host Rock of a High Sulfidation Epithermal System in Antelope Valley, CA., GSA, October 24, Seattle, WA |
GEOS Graduate student Fletcher Alexander (PSM) coauthored an article that was recently published in Sustainability: Journal of Record titled Public-Public Partnerships for a New Paradigm in the Civic Role of the University. The article highlights the South Campus Neighborhood project, a collaboration between CSU Chico and the City of Chico.
