William Peck  

      Hello from Hamilton! I joined the department in the Fall of 2000, a month after completing my Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin. Upon my arrival I inherited the Chief's office, the petrology course, and I even rented his house for the year! Now I live just outside of the village with my wife, Myongsun Kong, who is the new GIS specialist working with the Environmental Studies program.

      I'm now in my third year at Colgate, and I've taught Environmental Geology, Megageology, Petrology, Environmental Economic Geology, the Senior Seminar (440), and parts of the off-campus. I've also developed a first-year seminar on energy and mineral resources as well as a senior-level seminar course on isotope geochemistry.

      I am nominally a metamorphic petrologist, and my major interests lie in the once-deep crust of Precambrian terranes. Currently I'm working on a geothermometry project in the Irving Pond Quartzite of the southern Adirondacks, and two senior Geology majors are also working with me on the Franklin Marble of the New Jersey Highlands. I also am continuing some aspects of my Ph.D. research on the Morin Anorthosite Massif in Quebec with another Geology senior. On the funding front I just received approval for a grant proposal to the National Science Foundation to acquire a stable isotope ratio mass spectrometer for Colgate. This instrument will be used both for student research projects and for laboratory exercises in courses. I'm really thrilled to be part of a department where both teaching and undergraduate research are taken so seriously.