Distinguished Speaker Series 2010-11

Fall 2010

August 31st
Welcome to the new academic year party

September 7th
Observation and simulation of 1970-2005 SFBA and LA Basin summer max-temperature trends: a coastal-cooling reverse-reaction to global warming
Bob Bornstein, San Jose State University, Department of Meteorology and Climate Science
Breket Lebassi, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Santa Clara University

September 14th
Pacific influence on the climate of western North America: Lessons from the Holocene paleoclimate record
John Barron
U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park

September 21st
Geology, human needs, and the challenge of science outreach
Karen Grove
Department of Geosciences, SFSU
Global Climate Change and Human Energy Consumption
Stefan Vogel
Department of Geosciences, SFSU

September 28th
California Climate Projections and Uncertainties at Regional and Local Scales
Norman Miller
Berkeley National Laboratory, Earth Science Division
***Semi-annual Dawdy Lecture in the Hydrologic Sciences***

October 5th
Constraining large-scale mantle processes from small-scale observations: Electron backscatter diffraction applied to peridotites
Jessica Warren
Stanford University, Geological & Environmental Sciences

October 12th
Redeveloping Environmentally-Challenged Lands
Stephanie Shakofsky
Center for Creative Land Recycling

October 19th
Kinematic evolution of the Patagonian fold-thrust belt: From deformation to denudation of the Southern Andes
Julie Fosdick
Stanford University, Geological & Environmental Sciences

October 26th
Cloud and aerosol impacts on light regimes and carbon uptake by terrestrial ecosystems
Andrew Oliphant
San Francisco State University, Department of Geography

November 2nd
Unsaturated zone flow: challenges and progress
Kimberlie Perkins
U.S. Geological Survey Menlo Park

November 9th – student presentations

Development of a sediment deposition model for predicting marsh habitat restoration using NASA satellite missions
Amber Kuss and Michelle Newcomer
Geology in a War Zone: Mineral Resource Assessment in Afghanistan
Forrest Horton

November 16th
Distribution and polarity of mesoscale and submesoscale eddies in the upper ocean
Milena Veneziani
UC Santa Cruz, Department of Ocean Sciences

November 23rd
No Speaker Series – Fall Recess

November 30th
No Speaker Series This Week

December 2nd – MS Thesis Defenses
Determination of radiocarbon in porewater dissolved organic matter carbon using thermal sulfate reduction
Leah Johnson
Geochemical signature of North Himalalyan gneiss domes
Wilie Hassett

December 7th – BS Thesis Defenses
Geochemical and petrographic analyses of balck point nd red cones basals, Mono-Inyo volcanic chain, eastern California
Mae Marcaida
Paleomagnetic study of the Eocene Caetano intra-caldera tuff, Lander County, Nevada
Kevin Denton

Spring 2011

February 1st
Extraordinary Inner and Outer Landscapes - Lessons From the Earth
Ray Pestrong
Department of Geosciences, SF State

February 8th
Geology of the San Francisco Bay Region
John Karachewski
Department of Toxic Substances Control, Berkeley Ca

February 15th
Mapping and modeling to understand how physical processes shape the San Francisco Bay Coastal System
Patrick Bernard
U.S. Geological Survey Menlo Park

February 22nd
Earthquakes Triggered by Seismic Waves
Emily Brodsky
UC Santa Cruz, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
***Margins Distinguished Lecturer***

March 1st
The High Rock Caldera Complex: new evidence for extensive mid-Miocene silicic volcanism in NW Nevada that is contemporaneous with Columbia River flood basalts
Matthew Coble
Dept. of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University

March 8th
Modified Parker Model for Bedload Transport.
Wen Wang
Multech Engineering Consultants, Inc.
*** Semi-annual Dawdy Lecture in the Hydrologic Sciences***

March 15th
Linking Pacific Ocean Nutrient Dynamics to Climate with Geochemical Proxies from Corals
Michelle LaVigne
Bodega Bay Marine Laboratory, UC Davis

March 22nd
Bedrock Erosion and Soil Production on Forested Hillslopes
Manny Gabet
Department of Geology, San Jose State University

March 29th
No speaker series: Spring Break

April 5th
Micrometeorology of Wildfires

Craig Clements
Department of Meteorology, San Jose State University

April 12th
Integrating physical and biological oceanography to identify conservation hotspots in marine ecosystems
Dana Wingfield

Department of Geosciences, San Francisco State University

April 19th
Sediment Dynamics in SF Bay Wetlands:  Sea-Level Rise and Carbon Sequestration
John Callaway
Department of Environmental Science, University of San Francisco

April 21 Student presentations
Nonlinear Energetics of Shoaling Gravity Waves
Sang Pak – MS Defense

April 26 Student presentations

Damping characteristics of wave propagation across the muddy Louisiana shelf
Anita Engelstad – MS Defense

Wave-driven Setup and Surfzone Circulation at Ocean Beach, San Francisco
Isaac Jones – MS Defense

April 27 Student presentations
Effects of Climate Variability on Recharge in Regional Aquifers of the United States
Amber Kuss – MS Defense

Micro structural analysis of eclogitization in Marun-Kue complex, Polar Urals/Russia : An SEM, EBSD study.
Pariskeh Hosaine – MS Defense

April 28 - Student presentations
Topographic and Lithologic Controls on Cobble and Boulder Distributions in Stream-Channel Networks
Eric Donaldson – MS Defense

Quantitative linkages between watershed conditions and mainstem channel characteristics in Lagunitas Creek, Northern California
James Chayka – MS Defense

May 3 Student presentations
Geochronology and zircon geochemistry of Greater Himalayan leucogranites, NW India
Forrest Horton  – MS Defense
Preferential Flow Within the Vadose Zone of the High Plains Aquifer
Brent Everett – MS Defense

May 5 Student presentations
Textural analysis of rocks from the Karakoram shear zone, Ladakh, India
Carla Rosa – BS Defense

Structural and Hydrologic Implications of Joint Orientations in the Warner Creek and Stony Clove Drainage Basins, Catskill Mountains, Eastern New York
Michelle Haskins – BS Defense

Communicating geoscience education: using the Mississippi River Delta as a learning tool for San Francisco Bay Area high school students
Claire Bailey – BS Defense

May 10 - Student presentations
Bedrock erodibility and fluvial abrasion: a mechanistic grain-scale approach to downstream fining in rivers

Jon Beyeler – MS thesis proposal

Post-Middle Pliocene Tectonic Development of the Noble Hills, Southern Death Valley

John Niles – MS thesis proposal

Structural Geology of the late Miocene China Ranch Basin Southern Death Valley RegionBeth Haddon – MS thesis proposal

May 12 Student presentations
Shear and Buoyancy Parameters for California Tornadoes 1951--2011
Chris Stumpf – MS thesis proposal

Quantifying groundwater recharge from fog drip with stable isotopes, San Francisco, CA
Ryan Corbett – MS thesis proposal

Effects of Land Use and Pore-Scale Dual-Domain Flow on Recharge Rates and Nitrate Transport
Zach Lauffenburger – MS thesis proposal

May 17 - Student presentations
Reconstructing thermocline depth in the south Atlantic subtropical gyre during the Pliocene-Pleistocene
Kathryn Kynett – MS thesis proposal

Colette Meremonte – MS thesis proposal