#environmentalgeoscience

EGGS department names scholarship winners

Bloomsburg University’s Department of Environmental, Geographical, and Geological Sciences named its scholarship winners for 2019-20.

Earning the Enman Service Award is Ashley Barebo, while Emily Bruce was awarded the Enman Scholarship for Environmental Field Camp. The Enman Scholarship for geography and planning internship goes to Meg Ronan and Blair Johnston.

The Braun geology field camp scholarship is awarded to Alison Evans and Nathan Gadinski, while Lea Zarr is the Professor Brian and Marty Johnson geography and planning scholarship winner.

EGGS department names senior award winners

Bloomsburg University’s Department of Environmental, Geographical, and Geological Sciences named its senior award winners for 2019-20.

Outstanding senior in environmental geoscience — Leigha Eby

Outstanding senior in professional geology — Sabrina Savidge

EGGS department names senior award and scholarship winners

Bloomsburg University’s Department of Environmental, Geographical, and Geological Sciences named its senior award and scholarship winners for 2019-20.

Named as the outstanding senior in environmental geoscience is Leigha Eby, while Sabrina Savidge is the outstanding senior in professional geology. Co-winners of the geography and planning outstanding senior award are Meg Ronan and Kyle Argenziano.

Earning the Enman Service Award is Ashley Barebo, while Emily Bruce was awarded the Enman Scholarship for Environmental Field Camp. The Enman Scholarship for geography and planning internship goes to Meg Ronan and Blair Johnston.

The Braun geology field camp scholarship is awarded to Alison Evans and Nathan Gadinski, while Lea Zarr is the Professor Brian and Marty Johnson geography and planning scholarship winner.

Wetlands class heads south for spring break

Cynthia Venn’s wetlands class began its spring break in Orlando, then to Everglades City for an airboat ride through the mangroves. After, continuing their trip down to the Everglades (a.k.a. Shark Valley) to Corkscrew Swamp Bird Sanctuary and ending at Sanibel Island beach to see the sunset.

“Seeing the wetlands in person helped me fully understand concepts we talked about in the classroom,” said Erin Boulger, an environmental geoscience major and one of 10 students on the trip. “This trip really helped me understand how water is cycled and moved through the Florida wetlands.”

Venn said the reason for the trip to Florida was to identify and see the wetlands birds and plants. This helped the students gain experience in the field and keep a journal for themselves. During the trip, students saw many wetlands species. The trip also helped students see the relationship between water quality and different wetland plants, according to Venn.

Other highlights of the trip, included:

driving to Blackwater NWR (brackish water marshes and freshwater marshes) in Maryland, then down to Virginia Beach

canoeing Merchants Millpond (southern deep-water swamp) in North Carolina

walking through the Great Dismal Swamp NWR (heavily ditched and logged in the 1800’s and 1900’s)

visiting First Landing State Park Bald Cypress Trail (cypress swamps in the low parts of an old dune field)

exploring Assateague Island salt marshes

“The goal was for them to see the different kinds of environments we talk about in class and also to get to some wetlands that aren’t frozen (although it got pretty cold at Assateague), Venn said. “Plants and soils are really important in wetland delineation, and it’s pretty hard to see either in Pennsylvania in spring until much later. Part of the class is also about human impacts on wetlands and wetlands management, both of which were very evident in a lot of our stops.”

Family ties, research lay foundation for possible teaching future

Heading to this spring’s American Association of Geographers annual meeting Owen Wickenheiser didn’t expect to see a familiar face among the 7,000-plus geographers and researchers on location in New Orleans. But he did … his mother, who was among those presenting.

“My parents have always been very supportive of my educational aspirations,” said Wickenheiser, a senior environmental geoscience major, who himself presented collaborative research at the meeting. “Having a professor as a parent was very helpful when I first started college.”

Wickenheiser presented “Developing A GIS Suitability Analysis to Route Natural Gas Pipelines Using Open-Cut Trenching,” which was co-authored by Matt Hess, of Temple University, and BU Department of Environmental, Geographical and Geological Sciences (EGGS) faculty Jeff Brunskill and Ben Franek.

“I attended this meeting, because I thought it would be a great way to connect with other undergraduate students and see more of the research being done in the field of geography,” Wickenheiser said. “In addition, I was excited to travel to New Orleans to present a poster I put a lot of effort into throughout the year.”

His mother, Laurie Parendes, professor of geosciences at Edinboro University, presented “Owens Valley Water Issues: Past. Present. Future?” 

 “I’ve experienced first-hand the significant amount of work professors put into their classes,” Wickenheiser said. “If I do go on to a Ph.D. program and land a job as a professor, I will strive to be the same positive influence that Dr. Brunskill, Dr. Franek, and my mom have been on me.”

But not so fast with the all the professor talk, according to Wickenheiser.

“At the moment I’m considering a few outdoor guiding jobs for the summer, such as whitewater rafting in Moab, Utah,” Wickenheiser said. “However, AAG helped confirm my ambition to go to graduate school and maybe beyond. I want to make sure I find the right advisor and focus.”