Geological Sciences Department
The Geological Society of America has named Indiana University Bloomington geologist Maria Mastalerz the winner of the 2008 Gilbert H. Cady Award. Mastalerz, 51, is the youngest person ever to receive the award, and only the second woman to be so honored. Mastalerz is a senior scientist at the Indiana Geological Survey, a research institute of Indiana University, and is a graduate faculty member in IU's Department of Geological Sciences, where she advises graduate students.
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Geologist Chen Zhu has received a Fulbright Scholarship to study underground carbon dioxide storage with Norwegian colleagues at the University of Oslo. Zhu's scholarship will last the duration of the 2008-2009 academic year. The Fulbright Scholar Program sends approximately 800 academic scholars and professionals abroad every year so that America's finest scholars may exchange knowledge with their counterparts in other countries. The program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
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The asteroid presumed to have wiped out the dinosaurs struck the Earth with such force that carbon deep in the Earth's crust liquefied, rocketed skyward, and formed tiny airborne beads that blanketed the planet, say scientists from the U.S., U.K., Italy, and New Zealand in this month's Geology. If confirmed, the discovery suggests environmental circumstances accompanying the 65-million-year-old extinction event were slightly less dramatic than previously thought.
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The Indiana University Department of Geological Sciences has quickly mobilized, sending two field teams to deploy instruments in the region of Friday morning's earthquakes. The seismographs and Global Positioning System (GPS) units being deployed will record aftershocks, half a dozen of which have already occurred.
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Geologists have long thought muds will only settle when waters are quiet, but new research by Indiana University Bloomington and Massachusetts Institute of Technology geologists shows muds will accumulate even when currents move swiftly. This may seem a trifling matter at first, but understanding the deposition of mud could significantly impact a number of public and private endeavors, from harbor and canal engineering to oil reservoir management and fossil fuel prospecting.
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The Geological Society of America gave its highest service award to Indiana University Bloomington Geological Sciences Department Chair Abhijit Basu at the professional society's annual meeting last week. The award specifically acknowledges Basu's expansion of the society's publications program. The number of books published by the GSA has doubled during Basu's 10-year editorial term. Basu has also been on GSA's publications committee for 10 years.
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