Well, time does fly when you are trying to get a laboratory renovated, teach new courses, submit funding proposals, and advise. I am not sure where the last academic year went. I am finally settling into the "isolation ward," the somewhat dubious title for the part of the first floor that is not physically connected to the rest of the building. I am beginning to enjoy the occasional disruptions of the security guards passing through at night and checking my ID (security precautions, I am told): It makes me feel like I am back in college.
Scientifically, things are going well. In addition to the standard host of rejected proposals, I was awarded a Packard fellowship during the last year. This five-year fellowship will fund the structural geology group to study deformation of the lower crust and the uppermost mantle. As part of that work, Cheryl Waters, a new PhD student with a Masters degree from the University of North Carolina, will be working on the granulites of central Australia. (Note: This is not a way of getting out of a Wisconsin winter–it is too hot to go there during the Australia summer.)
Maitri Venkat-Ramani, a Masters student, is finishing up her work on the Loreto Basin, Baja California, Mexico. She is working on a larger project coordinated by ex-Badger Paul Umhoefer, who introduced us to the field area. (Note: This IS a way of getting out of a Wisconsin winter–although this winter is not looking very severe with 50 degree days in late February.) The work so far has found that folds form in oblique divergence, when material moves apart. This result is counter-intuitive, but seems to occur and is predicted by the strain theory. I am also continuing to work on the western Idaho shear zone, the boundary between the "suspect" terranes of the western United States and the North American craton. John Gillaspy, an undergraduate who helped with the fieldwork last summer, and myself are busy putting together a presentation in London this spring.
I am also beginning to work with several other faculty members in the department. Clark Johnson and myself have submitted a proposal to address the Baja-BC controversy. I am also beginning to work on the project in the Green River basin, Wyoming, coordinated by Alan Carroll.
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