​Got back last night from a fun visit to the Department of Earth Sciences at IUPUI (that's Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis) to give a colloquium talk. Enjoyed chatting with folks there about lake coring, glaciers, and hot springs. Really appreciate Bill Gilhooley inviting me up for the visit. Hopefully some of our scheming will result in some successful proposals in the near future!

Quick history lesson...Before leaving I had the chance to stop by the memorial for the USS Indianapolis. The heavy cruiser was sunk (by two torpedo hits from a Japanese submarine) on July 30th, 1945 after delivering the parts for the first atomic weapon to Tinian. Of the 1,196 men aboard, about 300 died with the initial attack and sinking. The ship sunk so rapidly that few lifeboats could be deployed. Of the approximately 900 men that entered the water, only 317 would survive. Some died from dehydration, salt poisoning, and exposure, while many others died from shark attacks that were continuous for the five days the men were in the water. The result was the largest loss of life at sea in the history of the United States Navy.

April has been whizzing by for MAD EGG LAB, and it seems we won't be tapping the brakes any time soon.

On the April 11th The Environmental Studies Capstone Course students presented the results of their semester projects in a poster session that was a great success (see image below). We are really excited for all of the great work that the students are accomplishing as we help to develop the Capstone Course into a new, project-focused experience that allows students to apply what they have learned and give back to the community with their independent projects. 

We are excited to be hosting Dr. Briony Horgan from Purdue University as our Dept. of Geology Colloquium speaker on April 15th (see flier at right). She has been doing some really cool mineralogical remote sensing work on Mars, and we can't wait to hear what she has to say! We are also excited to scheme on collaborating with field work this summer in the Pacific Northwest and sampling at North Sister in Oregon.