ALUMNI NEWS NOTES

Janet Cushing: After spending a couple of years at U of Chicago, I decided that for now I'm tired of being a student and I can do what I want to with my M.S. from Hawaii. I lived in Britain for most of last year, and traveled around central Europe. I'm currently in an internship position with the Navy, doing natural resources management down in Jacksonville, FL. I'm putting my geological, biological, and ecological knowledge to good use, especially where taxpayers' money is concerned. Aside from helping to keep the base in compliance with environmental laws, I'm also helping to develop an educational program between the schools in the community and the Navy (long-term plans). (submitted '96)

Adrian Ducharme: June 2003 and all's well. Living in Cheyenne and keeping busy raising two young geologists, Emily (10) and John (8). My wife Brenda just graduated from the Univ. of Wyoming with a BA in Elementary Education, she's hoping to find a teaching job this fall. I'm in the state's underground storage tank program, managing contractors who are remediating fuel releases. We're camping in Yellowstone next week, where we'll hike the canyon, fish, and tackle the junior ranger program. Cheers. (submitted 6/03)

Bruce Frederick: After graduating with an MS form the Univ. of Miami/RSMAS, I spent the summer of 1994 biking across Canada. Soon thereafter, I landed a job with ERM-Southwest, Inc. I continue to gain experience as an environmental scientist/geologist within the large oil refineries and chemical plants along the Gulf Coast. The company serves clients within Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. We currently have many projects opening up in Mexico and Argentina as well. Being single, I travel quite a bit and enjoy every minute! (submitted '96)

Steven Poapst: Since June 1995, my wife, Kelly, and I have been experiencing life as new parents with the arrival of our son, Braden Alexander. Other than that, I have been preparing for my third season with Portland of the American Hockey League, and with continued progress and success I may receive the opportunity at the NHL level with the Washington Capitals. Also, we are in the process of buying a house in Portland, Maine as we wish to make our residence here on a permanent basis. (submitted '96)

Daniel Riker: After spending four years at Environ Corporation in New Jersey, my wife and I moved back into western New York, purchased a house out in the country, and started a family. Our son just turned one in June 2003, and he's a wonderful baby. I have been at Malcolm Pirnie as a Hydrogeologist for more than six years. Most of my work has been on site and remedial investigations as well as brownfields.

By the way, I worked at Environ with fellow geology alumni Bob North as well as a fellow that many of you might remember; Andrew Perham. Andrew was friends with Chief's son John and went on the OC in 1990. Bob is still at Environ, and Andrew is working for a local water authority in Connecticut. (submitted 6/03)

Erick Scherer: Ron Schott alerted me about the impending news deadline, so here goes: After finishing my Ph.D. at UCSC in 1999, I went to M¸nster, Germany to do a 1-year post-doc to determine the ages of Alpine high pressure metamorphism using the Lu-Hf system in eclogitic garnets. However, much of my time has been spent (re-)determining the decay constant of 176Lu, and my one-year post doc eventually metamorphosed into a full scientific staff position. Work doesn't keep me busy enough ;-) so I've started a band --We hope to get enough songs together for Barbarafest (Barbara is the protector saint of Geologists and Miners. In her honor, parties are held in most Geology departments throughout Germany in early December.) To burn off the extra Hefeweizen-induced calories, I've also been training for the Volksbank M¸nster Marathon..However, at the end of my 22K training runs, another 20K seems unlikely.. When I still have a little energy left, I go climbing at one of the two climbing gyms in town (Muenster is pretty flat after all!) That's all the news that's fit to print right now.. I have to get up early for a field trip to the Eifel volcanic field..

tsch¸s,
Erik
(submitted 6/03)

Ron Schott: I've just completed my second year in a tenure-track Geology position at Lake Superior State University. I teach intro courses in geology and oceanography (using Paul's Oceanography text, of course), as well as upper level courses in Mineralogy & Petrology, Geochemical Systems, and Geoenvironmental Systems. And in an effort to further emulate the Old Indian, I've just ordered my first batch of HF and sodium cobaltinitrite to stain feldspars in the Canadian Shield. Don't try this at home kids...

Although I haven't had the chance to teach a field course here, I am taking time this summer to head west on my own. In July I'll be headed to Bozeman, MT for an NAGT conference on "Teaching Petrology" (at which I'm looking forward to seeing the esteemed Dr. Peck) and in August I'll be at the DLESE Annual Meeting in Boulder, CO. In between I'll be spending a couple weeks making a loop through the Pacific Northwest...it would be wrong not to.

It was good to be back at Colgate for my 10th reunion two years ago and it was great to have a chance to come back to the department and give a couple of talks last year. Greetings to all my fellow Boo's! Send an e-mail and let me know how you'll are doing. And if you're ever passing thru the Soo (and Lord knows why you would be), be sure to look me up.

Go Gate!
Ron
(submitted 6/03)

Mike Schulist: I'm still teaching middle school math and science in the Napa Valley wine country. The job is challenging but fun, and middle schoolers never fail to amaze me and stretch the bounds of my patience and sense of humor. This summer I took a 3- week wilderness leadership class in Alaska. The geology there was amazing, and I taught a class about rocks and had everybody asking me what kinds of rocks they were finding. It was fun making up answers and sounding like an old sage. (submitted '96)

John Tunks: I went to Duke from 91-93 for my MS in hydrogeology. After that, I got a job in Ft. Collins, CO. working as a hydrogeologist for a medium sized consulting firm (Shepherd Miller, Inc.). However, I wasn't too happy there (I was basically a grunt for four years), and didn't see my career going anywhere. So, I started working on my teaching certificate for Colorado at Colorado State University. My passion has always been in teaching. I have completed all of the coursework for the certificate, but have yet to do the student teaching portion. In September of this year, a consulting company named Parsons Engineering Science made me an offer I couldn't refuse, so my wife (I got married in June, 1997 to a great woman I met while at Duke) and I made the big move down to Denver, CO (actually a suburb called Aurora). Anyway, I have put the teaching thing on the back burner for now until we can pay off some debt! I'm enjoying the work at this new company, but I still think teaching is the profession for me. Here are my new addresses: e-mail: john.tunks@mitretek.org home: 19136 E. Oberlin Dr. Aurora, CO. 80013 phone: (303) 690-7059 - home (303) 764-8740 - work By the way, since graduation, I have attended weddings for both Dave Foss ("Love is the Best") '91, and Scott Powers '91. Hope everyone at the 'gate geology dept. is doing great. Bye for now. (submitted '96)

(update 2/05) Still consulting. Working for a non-profit company that is essentially an arm of the government. We do a lot of oversight/review/advising for the Department of Defense on environmental remediation/restoration projects. Basically, the government hires us to act as their technical experts overseeing environmental contractors. It gives me a unique perspective on the industry.

John Witz: For the past 3 years, I've been working as a Geologist/Project Manager at Environmental Products & Services, Inc. in Liverpool, NY. Presently I am installing four soil/groundwater remediation systems for the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (similar to the system located at ATO). Other than working, I've been staying in touch with close friends and spending my free time on DeRuyter Reservoir outside of Cazenovia, NY. (submitted '96)