Geosciences Rock Hounds Chip Off 50 Years in Fall Anniversary Fete
Olga Bonfiglio
College of Arts and Sciences staff writer
Fifty years is a milestone for any program, and it did not go unnoticed at the Department of Geosciences this fall semester at Western Michigan University.
The department held a three-day fall event for alumni, students, faculty and staff that included field trips to a gypsum mine, the Lake Michigan shoreline and the Michigan Geological Repository for Research and Education. Participants were also treated to a documentary video on the department, a Bronco football game, pub crawl and golf outing. The department’s founders, previous chairs and elders were on hand to share their stories about the past while faculty noted the department’s responses to national and global needs and crises.
Two new faculty were introduced. Dr. Essam Heggy is a planetary geophysicist whose research covers Mars, the moon, icy satellites and near-earth objects. He comes from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology.
Dr. Stephen Kaczmarek is a carbonate petrologist who researches crystal growth in carbonate minerals using X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. He previously worked as a senior research scientist for ExxonMobil and Bridgewater State University.
The department published an online anniversary magazine that pays tribute to its past and present achievements as it continues to build its legacy.
Enrollment has been growing from 72 undergraduate students in fall 2007 to 121 undergraduate students in fall 2015, and from 37 graduate students to 64 graduate students for the same period reported Dr. Mohamed Sultan, geosciences chair. Revenues from the department’s endowment base have sent students to professional conferences and provided scholarships, outreach activities and staff support. This includes long-term funding for the CoreKids, a K-12 Earth Science Outreach Program designed to increase awareness and understanding of the Earth, its processes and its natural resources among Michigan’s students, teachers and the public. The program served over 16,000 middle and high school students in southwest Michigan last year.
Sultan added that over the past eight years, the department has averaged $800,000 per year with incoming research dollars. It has also established the Alumni and Friends Outreach Endowment Fund to support its outreach activities.
New educational programs include an integrated science program for undergraduates, an accelerated BS/MA program in Michigan and an expanded summer hydrology field course, said Sultan. The labs in Rood Hall are being updated and renovated and the new rock garden south of the building serves as a recruitment tool for undecided and prospective students.
“I feel fortunate to have a strong foundation to build on and to be challenged by the achievements of my predecessors,” said Sultan. “I feel honored to be lumped with this group of dedicated, resourceful and distinguished chairs and faculty.”