As a research assistant, I have participated in the 2012 and 2013 field excavation seasons in the Uinta Basin in Utah. We begin by surface collecting before we excavate more than 5 tons a season. We screen wash our sample in the Green River to remove most clay and silt particles. We then bring the remaining sample back to Lamar University for further processing. Once we have removed all the residual clay and silt by soaking the sample in varsol and further screen washing, we begin picking the fossils using a binocular microscope. Over 300 hours of microscope work has yielded a 45% increase in sample size. From this we are doing a statistical analysis of the population to generate an holistic view of the ecology during middle Eocene Utah.

I teach Physical and Historical Geology labs.

During my participation in this project our goal was to generate an updated regional elevation map of Southeast Texas to help identify areas that have felt significant subsidence due to water extraction and natrual gas and oil extractions. We surveyed Southeast Texas (Chambers, Jefferson, Hardin, Liberty, Orange, Jasper, Newton Counties) using a Trimble R8 GPS system. Once the data was collected we projected the data onto a map using ARCGIS. We identified several locations in Chambers, Orange and Jefferson counties that may pose concerns in the future. An additional goal our team addressed is the outdated elevations that are listed by the NGS. Insurance companies used this data to determine benefits for flood and windstorm coverage. During Hurricane Ike and Rita, the inconsistencies in elevations due to outdated information led to considerable complications in the assessment of damage. By providing the NGS with updated elevation measurements, these corrections can be made and the process involving insurance claims will proceed in a much more accurate manner.