simply click here.
Editor: Tim Chowns, State University of West Georgia
At this late stage of my career I would characterize the presidency of the GGS as long periods of stasis, punctuated by brief episodes of panic. For the most part I have had to content myself with keeping the bullhorn polished, but several interesting th ings have developed during the year that I'd like to let you know about.
The spring newsletter has been revived, and it was fun helping to put it together. I've heard a few small heaps of praise for it, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it. We intend to continue publishing it as a way of keeping us all better in touch with each other. You're welcome to submit material for consideration for inclusion to any officer of the society.
At the spring Georgia Academy of Sciences meeting in Albany, attendance by GGS members was rather low, and the hoped for unofficial GGS meeting didn't really materialize. However, we did indulge in some (non-binding) discussion of expanding the role of t he GGS in next year's GAS meeting at Carrollton. In particular, we need to discuss at this year's fall GGS meeting our willingness to help (or fully) sponsor a social for the Earth Sciences Section sometime at the GAS meeting.
During the course of the year I was approached about my willingness to offer a position statement for the society in (yet again) another creationist ploy to influence a public school science curriculum. The case was the one in Gainesville, which was appar ently actually given press attention in the "less rural" parts of the state. Fortunately the matter resolved itself quickly and I offered only moral support. But the question came up whether I had the authority to issue such a position stateme nt on behalf of the society, and I'd like to hear the opinions of the membership on this, should it ever arise again. (Particularly since it probably will.)
Finally, several of us have left off teaching at colleges and begun careers at universities. If you notice that we look vaguely more prestigious during the fall trip, this is why.
Burt Carter
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After an introductory lab on fossilization I am musing about the subtleties of molds and casts. Such simple fossils formed when shells dissolve. We learned about them early and then stored the information away for future use. But, have we really got the idea straight? Every time I run our movie on fossilization and hear the narrator describe the trilobite which is preserved on opposing slabs as both a mold and a cast, I realize we have a problem with fuzzy thinking! So what's the big deal? It come down to basic definitions. As with automobile engine casting sand the molds used to pour them, the pairing of cast and mold implies a positive and negative image. A limestone full of holes where bivalves and gastropods have been dissolved contains no positive images only negative impressions; the concavities are molds of convex external morphology, the convexities molds of the concave interior. The so-called trilobite "cast" is actually a negative, internal
mold. Only if I fill the space between the internal and external molds of the trilobite, clam or snail with latex or plaster of paris, can I restore the original morphology as a cast. Clearly the presence of casts is unlikely in a rock which falls apart around the pores left by dissolved fossils.
In the same lab where we deal with the molds of mollusks we also have sandstone filled fossils of Pennsylvanian roots (Stigmaria)and stems ( Calamites, Lepidodendron). But are they molds or casts? The answer is more complicated and depends on a judgmen t of whether the images are positive or negative. The sandstone-filled pith cavity of the horsetail Calamites is an internal mold, while the trunk of an oak which rotted away entirely to leave a cavity which was later filled with sand would form a cast. The former gives a negative image of the pith cavity the latter a positive image of
the bark. But what of the trunks of Lepidodendron or the roots called Stigmaria? Were they originally hollow or did they just rot away?
When it comes to trace fossils which are automatically negatives of the organisms which formed them there are added complications. What do you call the footprint of a dinosaur? How about the sediment which forms an impression of the footprint? Is anythi ng not simple in this world?
Tim Chowns
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The Cartersville Fault Problem Revisited
November 15-17, 1996
The first field trip organized by the Georgia Geological Society was held in 1966. Led by Bob Bentley, Bill Fairley, Herb Fields, Bob Power and Jim Smith it dealt with "The Cartersville Fault Problem". To celebrate this auspicious occasi on we are planning a gala field trip this fall. We will return to Cartersville, this time under the leadership of Randy Kath, Mike Higgins, Tom Crawford, John Costello, Tony Martin, Ken Nelson and Jim DeCinque to assess how our understanding of the probl em has, and has not, changed over the past thirty years. Apart from the usual lively discussion on the outcrop, we are planning a special Anniversary Welcoming Party on Friday evening with a keynote introduction to the history of the region and the geolo gic problems associated with the Cartersville Fault by John Costello. Don't miss this important event and the chance to catch up with your science and your colleagues.
Headquarters for the trip will be at the Holiday Inn, Cartersville at the intersection of US 411 and I-75 (exit 126) north of town. Participants should make their own reservations by contacting the motel at:
PO Box 200306, Cartersville, GA 30120. Phone 770-386-0830
When registering please tell them you are with the Georgia Geological Society (Group Code GGS). Rooms are $ 49.00 + tax per night. For those wishing to camp, sites are available at Red Top Mountain State Park about 12 miles from the motel (770-975-0055) .
The Welcoming Party will begin at 7.00 PM in the Bush Banquet Hall of the Holiday Inn with John
Costello's talk at 8.00 PM.
For members who are interested, the Wymann Mineral Museum located next door to the Holiday Inn will remain open for members of the Society between 5.00-7.00 PM Friday.
Registration may be completed by filling out the form in the printed newsletter which was, hopefully, mailed to you.
Those of you who have access to the World Wide Web can register on line at
http://www.westga.edu/~geology/web_htm/ggsftinf.html or
simply click here.
The cost including bus transport Saturday and Sunday, guidebook, welcoming party and annual dues is $65.00 for members and $55.00 for students. Lunches (Barbecue-Saturday; Smoked Trout- Sunday)may be ordered separately. Please register as early as possib le, there will be a $5.00 late fee after November 4. Registration materials may be picked up at the Holiday Inn between 5.00-7.00 PM Friday or between 7.30-8.00 am Saturday and Sunday mornings. Buses will begin loading at 7.30 am for prompt departure at 8.00 am each morning.
A short Business Meeting is planned for Saturday evening in order to elect new officers and to discuss plans for future field trips as well as any other issues that may arise.
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We are now mailing two newsletters a year so if you want to increase your 'exposure' around the state send your news to the editor for Outcrops.
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The Department of Geology and Geography at Georgia Southern University has changed in a lot of ways over the past five years or so. The department has 13 faculty positions (our structural geologist is in the process of being sought for), and has recently doubled the area of Herty Building which it occupies. We now occupy the entire first floor, while Chemistry has the second floor. Our expanded floor space has, thankfully, been accompanied by substantial improvements in teaching and laboratory facilitie s, so we no longer feel like the poor cousins.
Among new facilities are a distance learning science lab, something which Gale Bishop and Nancy Marsh(Gale's colleague in sea turtle research) were able to secure funding for. The state's Model Technology Program has permitted us to remodel a room, equip ping it with new lab benches and a demonstration table, as well as monitors, video cameras, microphones, etc. We will teach conventional lab classes via remote techniques, just to see how well the two methods can be combined.
We also have a new computer lab, nicely equipped with Macs and Gateways, thanks to Gale Bishop and Dan Good. For the first time, our students have access to all the computers and programs that they could reasonably want, and they don't have to leave the building. Computer cartography has become an especially interesting part of our new course components in geography. A new fossil preparation lab is also in the making. The University Administration has contributed substantial amounts of money to refurb ish all our facilities, but the fossil prep lab is entirely internally funded.
Last year, Chemistry was able to get a new introductory lab put in, with considerable improvements in other aspects of their facilities, and these resulted in a completely remodeled ventilation system. Taking advantage of that new infrastructure, our new fossil prep lab will have two new fume hoods (one equipped for HF, my favorite reagent) and a very nice array of casework. Two years ago, Richard Hulbert, Dick Petkewich, Anne Pratt, and I moved our collection of fossils from the Georgia Southern Museum to Herty Building. The fossil prep lab is right next to the collections room, so preparation, curation, and storage can all be done conveniently in one neighborhood. All things considered, we are in much, much better shape than we have ever been.
Faculty activities are, briefly, as follows:
Gale Bishop - Gale continues with his work on fossil decapods, though most of his energy lately has been directed toward sea turtles, St. Catherine's Island, and Distance Learning.
Dan Good - Dan is our senior geographer, and recipient of several local, and two national teaching awards. Dan's long-time interest in conventional classroom teaching has recently been updated by an almost messianic devotion to the Internet. If y ou take one of Dan's classes, you will learn how to surf the net!
Dick Petkewich - Dick continues to be the everyman, as he teaches introductory geology, field methods, geophysics, and structural geology. He remains involved with vertebrate paleo research, and has been central to the Plant Vogtle whale project.
Jim Darrell - Most people around here associate Jim with Principles of Environmental Geology. It is his first love, though Jim is also entangled in earth science education, the Georgia Academy of Science, Sigma Xi, and advising.
Kelly Vance - Kelly continues his interest in volcanogenic ore deposits and economic geology, but lately it seems he does nothing but teach optical mineralogy and petrology again, and again, and again. Kelly has also been a mainstay in our Eisenh ower Program-sponsored summer teaching grants.
Mark Welford - Mark is a physical geographer who has been on our staff a relatively short time. Mark's interests in birds and fluvial processes would seem to be disparate, but will probably materialize in a very interesting biogeography course! M ark has been quite busy for the past two years working with grants aimed at improving environmental sensitivity among Georgia's poultry producers.
Jim Henry - Many of you know Jim from his former association with Georgia State, the University of Georgia Marine Extension, and his current affiliation with the Coastal Zone Management effort. Jim resides in Savannah and operates the Applied Coast al Research Lab on Skidaway Island. He is in almost constant contact with Herb Windom, Clark Alexander, and other faculty of the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, and has collaborated in some very controversial and significant efforts to bring reason t o coastal zone planning. One only has to consider the effects of hurricanes Hugo, Andrew, and Fran to see the wisdom in what Jim has been saying for several years.
Denise Battles - Denise has been here long enough to do an excellent job of teaching, then find herself bumped up to Assistant Dean. Although she cannot spare the time, now, to teach as many undergraduate classes as she used to, she provides a grea t deal of advise from on high. Her interests in petrogenesis of granites are now accompanied by a fascination with how different institutions combine the disciplines of geology and geography. She and Mark Welford will have something to say about this in print very soon.
Richard Hulbert - After completing the removal of the Plant Vogtle whale from its matrix, Richard continued with its description and curation. While this was his most significant activity initially(a selfish perspective of mine) he has continued w ith an almost unbelievable array of publications and research efforts which focus on Tertiary mammals. Richard is the guardian of the collection room, and a tireless worker.
Jim Reichard - Jim is one of our newest faculty members. A recent graduate in hydrogeology from Purdue, Jim is interested in global climate change and its effect on the hydrologic cycle. Living as we do in an area where almost nothing is known ab out aquifers, yet where groundwater is our only mineable resource, Jim's expertise is destined to become mighty important to the region.
Victoria Berry - Vicky is a full-time temporary Assistant Professor of Geography. Her interest is in the identification and use of medicinal plants on Montserrat (an island in the Caribbean, for those whose geography is weak). As a phytobiogeogra pher, she brings interesting strengths to a department whose Chair is a palynologist!
Fred Rich - So, what does Fred do? I rewrite curricula to conform to the semester system, and answer the demands of several different levels of administration. When allowed to, I teach. I have also had the pleasure of leading field trips to th e coast, the Okefenokee Swamp, and along Trail Ridge. Following the money, so to speak, my colleagues and I have recently completed a survey of nitrate contamination in shallow domestic water wells, and are now seeking faults and joints in Tertiary strat a of the Coastal Plain. My most sincere interest is in the paleoecology of the southeastern states as deduced from palynological studies. My close association with an old friend, Fred Pirkle (E.I. DuPontde Nemours and Co.), continues to provide exciting sources of information.
This about sums it up. If you have an opportunity to visit us in Statesboro, bring a hard hat and a paint brush; we could use the help. Otherwise, look us up on the Web (sea turtles will do it) or just give a call. Have a great year!
Fred Rich Chair
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DeKalb College is a two-year multicampus institution in the eastern metropolitan area of Atlanta, with the third largest student enrollment in the University System of Georgia. Geology is taught in three locations at DeKalb College: Central Campus in Cla rkston, North Campus in Dunwoody, and Gwinnett Campus in Lawrenceville. As we enter Fall Quarter 1996, we have three full-time faculty members: Pamela Gore and Lynn Zeigler at Central Campus and John Anderson at North Campus. Richard D. Davis, who has b een with DeKalb College since 1978, retired from North Campus at the end of the Spring Quarter. We are very sorry to see him go, and wish him a happy retirement.
Looking toward the future, the Science Division is planning to add a course in Environmental Science when we convert to the semester system. Pamela Gore has been active with her work on the World Wide Web, and studying earthquake intensity of the smal l tremors that have been occurring south of Dacula, GA. During Summer 1996, she helped Tim Long (Georgia Institute of Technology) teach a"Seismology and Earthquake Monitoring Workshop for High School Teachers". She recently received a grant fr om the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia in their Connecting Teachers and Technology Program, to fund her work on "Georgia Geoscience On-line" which includes Web-based instruction and distance learning. Visit the Georgia Geosc ience On-line Web Site at http://www.dc.peachnet.edu/~pgore/gore.htm. She is interested in including links to all Georgia Geology web sites. If you have any links to add, please e-mail her at pgore@dekalb.dc.peachnet.edu. This fall, she will be teaching a course simultaneously on both Central and Gwinnett Campus in the GSAMS (Georgia Statewide Academic and Medical System) Distance Learning room. She is currently Chair of the Academic Advisory Committee for the Board of Regents. Pamela and Tony Martin ( Emory University) are planning to teach a workshop on "Creating Web Pages" at the Geological Society of America Meeting in Denver this fall.
Lynn Zeigler joined the faculty of DeKalb College full time in the fall of 1991, after teaching part-time for several years. She is active with the Science Club, and has led field trips to the Georgia coast, northwestern Georgia, and Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL this year.
John R. Anderson, Jr. joined the faculty of DeKalb College in the fall of 1992, and has been active in paleontology. This summer he attended the Sixth North American Paleontological Convention in Washington, DC, and participated in field trips to the fossil beds along the Chesapeake Bay and to the Lower Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in the Valley and Ridge of Maryland. He has been working on a paper with Richard Hoare (at Bowling Green State University in Ohio) on the Pennsylvanian gastropods of th e Appalachian Basin.
Pam Gore
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The Geology Department at GSU has reached new highs in practically every category. Some of the highlights for us: We have more faculty now (9) than ever before, as well as more undergraduate majors (95), more Masters students (11 receiving graduate support during FY96 and FY97), the largest field camp class in Montana(25 during this past summer); and our highest level of external funding (16 grants received by faculty, for over $775K, during the past six years). For a detailed look at the depar tment, checkout our web site at http://arachnid.Gsu.EDU/~geocxr/. Statistics aside, here are some personal news items.
Jim Henry retired from GSU a few years back, and was named Professor Emeritus shortly thereafter. Not one to relax very much, Jim is now with the other GSU (in Statesboro), and keeps an active research program going at Skidaway. Our other Emerit us Professor, Bob Power, is living the good life in Colorado. Professor Ram Arora is on leave this year, devoting all of his energy to Hydrovision, Inc.
Hassan Babaie has recently initiated field work in the San Andreas fault zone in southern California and in the Neyriz area of the Iranian ophiolite belt. He is also studying the structural controls on karstification in northwestern Georgia. H e recently traveled to Iran to present a workshop on the impact of rock fracture on karst, and to do some more field work. Hassan is our graduate director and handles instruction in structural geology and rock fracture and fluid flow.
Crawford Elliott is one of the new faces at GSU. He joined us last Fall, coming from Case Western Reserve. Crawford's background is in clay mineralogy and sedimentary geochemistry; he has published on the kinetics of the smectite-illite transi tion in the Appalachian Basin, trace element and K/Ar characteristics of bentonites (including the K/T boundary in Denmark), and clay mineralogy and stable isotopic geochemistry of Piedmont Province saprolite. Crawford has developed courses in enviro nmental geology and in soils.
Bill Fritz is our sedimentologist/stratigrapher, as well as field camp director. In recent years his field research has taken him to Ireland, Wales, Jordan, and (naturally) Montana and the Yellowstone country. Students have been intimately inv olved in these studies, which have included many opportunities for travel(yes, this is an advertisement!). Bill's most recent publications deal with tectonics along the Yellowstone hotspot track and subaqueous welding of Ordovician tuffs. On an admini strative note, Bill was volunteered, um, I mean, graciously volunteered, to serve as Georgia State University's Semester Conversion Tsar: he carries a faint afterglow due to his personal meetings with the Chancellor and other big-wigs.
Mo Ghazi is director of our new laser-ablation ICP-MS lab and an adjunct faculty member. His research is in developing new applications of the LA-ICP-MS (such as fluid inclusion microanalysis),as well as the geochemistry and geochronology of sever al Iranian ophiolites (collaborating with Ali Hassanipak, formerly at Georgia Tech and presently a professor in Iran). Mo is interested in creating a nationally renowned regional users' facility centered on the LA-ICP-MS lab, and he solicits your coll aboration. Anyone who wants to include ICP-MS analysis in their research is encouraged to give Mo a call.
Tim LaTour recently spearheaded our involvement in two research projects dealing with the geology of the Savannah River Site: one on Triassic basin sediments (in collaboration with Bill Fritz at GSU and Tim Chowns at West Georgia), and the other on the crystalline basement (with Dave Vanko at GSU and Mike Roden and Jim Whitney at UGa). Both topics, which involve a number of students, have resulted in several GSA abstracts, with Masters theses and publications soon to follow (Are you listenin g, SRS? Your funds were well utilized. Let's not become strangers.). Other topics close to Tim's heart are the XRF lab, which is available for outside users who need analytical facilities, and his teaching arena of optical mineralogy and petrology.
Ann McCartney is the most recent addition to our faculty. A recent product of the GSU chemistry department, and with a background in soil science and prior duty as a secondary science teacher, Ann is the GSU director of the NSF-funded Elementary Science Education Partners program. Through this program, science students at Emory, Georgia State, Tech, and Atlanta U receive credit as they present hands-on science activities in Atlanta's public elementary schools. In addition to ESEP, Ann has t eaching responsibilities in introductory courses and in courses aimed at teacher preparation students.
Seth Rose keeps his feet wet in Piedmont Province groundwater: He and his students have published recently on environmental tritium, major ion fluxes in a Piedmont watershed, and anion adsorption/desorption in a Piedmont ultisol. His teaching i s in geochemistry and hydrogeology, and, for the first time this past summer, extended to geology field camp in Montana (where the cacti are still recovering, growing new spines after leaving so many in Seth's anatomy).
Ken Terrell teaches paleontology as well as introductory geology and a course that he created for teacher preparation students. This is on top of his duties as director of the introductory laboratories and as Official Departmental Liaison to th e Physical Plant (which, as you can probably appreciate, can only be filled by a rare individual who is patient, firm, persistent, and good-humored!).Ken has recently taken part in paleontological research with the University of Nebraska State Museum at Ash fall Fossil Beds, and with a student did the faunal analysis for a GSU anthropologist's excavation at the Medical College of Georgia Site in Augusta.
Dave Vanko took over the administrative duties after Jim Henry left, and has now chaired the department for four years. Like Bill Clinton, he would like to take credit for all the good developments over the past decade! His research and public ations are focused on the petrology of altered oceanic crust, and have expanded to include fluid rock interaction in the Savannah River Site basement. He has sailed on three Ocean Drilling Program legs (140, 148, and 168), the most recent being for two months this past summer along the Juan de Fuca ridge.
Dave Vanko
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Professor Emeritus Charles E. Weaver has been designated as a Centennial Fellow by the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, Pennsylvania State University. The award was presented at a celebration in honor of the College's one-hundredth anniversa ry on September 20 and 21. Chuck is a Penn State graduate who was invited to Georgia Tech in the early 1960s to build our geoscience program.
Earlier this year, Patricia Dove was awarded the Geochemical Society's 1996 F. W. Clarke Medal, which recognizes independent, original, and outstanding contributions by young geochemists. She also won the 1995 CETL/Amoco Junior Faculty Teaching Ex cellence Award at Georgia Tech.
Philippe Van Cappellen won a Sigma Xi Junior Faculty Award for an internationally acclaimed paper on the long-term controls of the oxygen balance of the atmosphere by the oceanic phosphorus cycle. The paper appeared in Science in January. Lars Sti xrude had won the same award from the Georgia Tech Chapter of Sigma Xi last year for his work on the probable composition of the Earth's inner core.
Dr. Hope Jahren joined the faculty in September. Hope is an isotope geochemist and soil scientist who has completed her doctoral study at Berkeley. She is building a stable-isotope geochemistry lab here to continue her studies of terrestrial pale oclimatology.
Bill Waggener joined our staff at the first of September. Bill, who has been a laboratory instructor here since early 1995, will be the coordinator for all of our instructional laboratories. Stagg King, who joined the staff last year as a Research Scientist, has been busy setting up an ICP-MS laboratory in support of Philip Froelich's research program.
Bob Lowell and Charles Pollard are serving as Academic Coordinators for the School. Bob is the graduate coordinator and Charles is the undergraduate coordinator. Charles has primary responsibility for supervision of our Bachelor's Degree pr ogram in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, which in its third year of operation has an enrollment of more than 40 students.
Kevin Beck has supervised the building and outfitting of a new instructional laboratory in support of the undergraduate program.
Tim Long has a new grant from DOE to study seismic surface wave tomography and the application of seismic surface-wave interpretation techniques to the near-surface soil and rock interface. The techniques may be used, for example, to characterize and locate waste-disposal sites.
Bob Lowell has two new NSF grants to support his research on seafloor hydrothermal systems.
Carolyn Ruppel's research on lithospheric dynamics includes a recent study of the North American passive margin that has interesting implications in regard to gas-hydrate stability.
Lars Stixrude is continuing to use quantum mechanical calculations to predict the behavior of iron in the Earth's inner core.
Mike Perdue continues to lead an active research group studying the chemical character of organic matter in natural waters.
Flip Froelich marked the beginning of his research at Georgia Tech by taking his research group on an expedition to the Antarctic last winter in support of his program in ocean paleoclimatology.
Marion Wampler is working with several colleagues on problems that involve K-Ar dating, and is also in charge of a new column on errors in geoscience textbooks that appears in Journal of Geoscience Education.
Marion Wampler
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A number of exciting things are happening here, not the least of which is our new name. We're not Columbus College any more; now, we're Columbus State University. To us in Geology, the most important news is that we now have a graduate program. The new de gree offering, in Environmental Studies, was developed by the faculties of the Biology, Chemistry, and Geology programs, and will be the first graduate program we've had in the School of Sciences.
In the Geology program, we have developed two "degree tracks" in addition to our traditional geology undergraduate degree. One of these "tracks" is in Environmental Geology, in which the students are required to take a number of course s in Environmental Chemistry and Biology as well as most of the usual Geology courses. The other "track" is Engineering Geology, in which majors take several Engineering courses (taught in our department's Pre-Engineering program) and Engineerin g Geology along with the traditional geology curriculum.
One other item: all three of us have just gotten BRAND NEW PENTIUM COMPUTERS, complete with CD-ROM readers. We've been struggling with old machines and these new ones make the world seem fresh and new again!
This past summer, Tom Hanley helped Tim Long (Ga. Tech) teach a workshop on seismology for pre-college teachers. Teachers built simple seismographs (designed by George Averill of Rothchild Middle School). Tom is finishing up his second year as President of the Southeastern Section of the National Association of Geology Teachers and is involved in planning an NAGT theme session (on new approaches to teaching Earth Science from Elementary School to College) for next year's SEGSA Meeting at Aub urn University. Also as part of the Auburn SEGSA meeting, Tom is preparing a field trip on local faults.
As usual, David Schwimmer is very busy. His recent activities include attending the Second Dinofest International Conference at Arizona State University at Tempe, at which he presented a paper on Late Cretaceous dinosaurs of the Eastern U.S. This p aper will be published in a symposium volume from the meeting. In October, David attended the National meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontologists and gave a paper on chelonivory in the eusuchian crocodile, Deinosuchus. He recently submitted to t he Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology an article, coauthored with G.D. Williams, on the large Cretaceous fish, Xiphactinus. David also saw the publication, in Palaios, of an article he co-authored with J.D. Stuart and G.D. Williams, and entitled "Sca vanging by the shark genus Squalicorax in the Upper Cretaceous of North America." He published an article in Geology on a Campanian coelacanth from the Blufftown Formation. David just received a large grant from the National Geographic Society for a two-year study of Late Cretaceous giant crocodiles. David is organizing a symposium on recent advances in Southeastern Vertebrate Paleontology to be held at the. Auburn. SEGSA
Bill Frazier gave a talk last Spring at the SEGSA in Jackson on estuarine deposits in lowstand and transgressive strata of the up-dip Blufftown Formation at Fort Benning, Georgia. He attended the "Tidalites, '95" symposium and core worksh op in Savannah last May, and offered a field trip on tidal sediments of Eutaw, Blufftown, and Cusseta Formations. The trip, however, was under subscribed and did not run. He finished writing a small field guide to the geology of Muscogee County. He will b e co-chairing a theme session at the Auburn SEGAS on recent advances in Cretaceous Coastal Plain geology.
Bill Frazier
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Eddie Robertson reports that beginning this Fall Rhinehart is offering courses in physical and historical geology. Eddie is working with the Florida State Museum examining fossil spores from the matrix of Eocene megafossils.
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Each year the Southeastern section of the National Association of Geology Teachers chooses an Outstanding Earth Science Teacher from Georgia This candidate is then eligible for a further Southeastern regional award, given by the national organization. As NAGT State Coordinator for Georgia, I am soliciting nominees for these honor.
After we choose a Georgia Outstanding Earth Science Teacher I will forward their dossier to the section President for consideration at the regional level. We may also choose two runners-up at the state level for recognition. State awardees will be annou nced in the Spring of 1997.
Closing date at the regional level is mid-March, 1997. To give us time to review nomination packages at the state level, the closing date for nominations is February 1, l997.
If you would like to nominate a teacher for this award forms may also be obtained from:
Ms Patty Crews
Fernbank Science Center
156 Heaton Park Drive Atlanta, GA 30307-1398
High school and pre-high school teachers are eligible for this honor. Those who teach Earth Science units as parts of more general courses are also eligible. Potential candidates should not be bashful about placing their own names in nomination and help ing a "nominator" shape their folio. Call or write if you have any questions.
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