Faculty & Staff Programs & Degrees Courses Offered Senior Projects Facilities Engineering Dual-Degree Program Agerton Observatory GSW's Seismic Station Geology Club/ Field Trips Careers & Placement Last updated: 01/31/2006 Back to School of Art & Sciences

GSW :: School of Art & Sciences :: Department of Geology & Physics Senior Projects The Department of Geology & Physics at Georgia Southwestern State University requires all graduating geology majors to complete a Senior Project. These projects allow students to pursue original research that will contribute to the general body of knowledge in the geosciences. Besides pursuing research, students completing the Senior Project develop skills necessary for writing a formal report. Past projects have been presented at professional meetings and published in journals. Completion of the Senior Project involves selection of a project, acquisition of data, preparation of the final report, and oral presentation of the project results. List of Senior Projects Completed at GSW   SUMMARY OF SENIOR PROJECT GUIDELINES: 1. PROJECT SELECTION may begin early in your career at GSW. You should talk with several faculty in the Department of Geology & Physics regarding our research interests. You will select a research area in conjunction with one of us as your project advisor. Once you have selected a topic, you will prepare a Senior Project Proposal before the end of the first week of your senior year. The accepted proposal will include the following items: Proposed title Literature review Description of topic to be investigated Explanation of importance of selected topic Description of specific research plan Reference list 2. DATA ACQUISITION is completed during the first semester of your senior year. Here, you carry out the specific research plan described in your proposal. Depending on your topic, your research may be field- or lab-based. Some projects may incorporate both field and lab components. Completion of this phase is necessary for a passing grade in GEOL4941. 3. REPORT PREPARATION is completed during the second semester of your senior year. Expect to submit a detailed outline and several drafts (probably 2 or 3) before your report is polished and in acceptable form. The first complete draft of your report must be submitted by the end of midterm break. The final, polished manuscript must be complete by the last day of classes (before final exams). All Senior Project reports are bound and placed in our library (Roney 204). Completion of the final report is one requirement for a passing grade in GEOL 4942. 4. RESULTS PRESENTATION allows faculty and students to learn about your research. This helps us broaden our knowledge, and it allows underclass geology majors to generate ideas and expectations regarding their own future Senior Projects. Your presentation may be made at a regional or national meeting (such as Georgia Academy of Science, Southeastern Geological Society of America). Alternatively, your presentation may be made at a GSW event (such as a Math/Science Colloquium, a special meeting of an upper-level geology class, or a specially-arranged presentation of departmental Senior Projects). Depending on the format, your presentation will range from 10 to 30 minutes and incorporate illustrations from your project via slides, overheads, or digital images. This presentation will be arranged by your project advisor, and its completion is one requirement to receive a passing grade in GEOL 4942. Geology majors should see their advisor for a printout of the SENIOR PROJECT GUIDELINES & CHECKLIST.   Senior Projects completed by GSW graduates: Anthony, David, 1998, Use of X-Ray Diffraction to     Determine Spinel Percentages in Corundum-Spinel     Standards (advisor: D. Askren). Askew, Greg, 1997, Surface and Well Water     Characteristics in the Area Surrounding the Sumter     County Landfill (advisor: T. Weiland). Astle, David, 1997, Using GIS to Create an Interactive     Database of the Structural Geology of Oak Mountain     State Park, Alabama (advisor: T. Weiland). Aultman, Priscilla, 1999, Study of Cold Surface Currents     and Plumes in the Gulf of Mexico (advisor: P. Manker). Beck, Patricia, 1997, The Origin of Feldspar Alignment     in the Corbin Gneiss of the Bartow Quarry, Georgia     (advisor: D. Askren). Branch, William, 1984, The Paleoautecology of Ocala     Limestone Echinoids in Lee County, Georgia     (advisor: B. Carter). Burrows, Marty, 1995, Composition gradients in     tonalites of the Wawa Subprovince, Superior Province,     Canada (advisor: D. Askren). Carter, Doug, 1998, Foram Diversity and Distributional     Patterns in the Gulf Coast of Mexico     (advisor: B. Carter). Coleman, Gordon, 1997, Water Quality around     Taylor County Landfill, Charing, Georgia     (advisor: T. Weiland). Finley, J. Ben, 1998, Biodegradation of Marble     Headstones at Andersonville National Cemetery,     Georgia (advisor: D. Askren). Hammack, Connie, 1999, Temporal and Spatial     Variability in Water Quality Around Taylor County     (Allied) Landfill, Georgia (advisor: T. Weiland). Hammack, Robert, 1987, Stratigraphic Distribution of     Jacksonian Echinoids in Georgia (advisor: B. Carter). Harty, Lance, 1995, Life Habits and Extinctions in the     Bivalvia (advisor: B. Carter). Henderson, Kelly, 2000, Weathering Processes of     Feldspar in the Granite of Shady Dale Quarry #2,     Jasper County, Georgia (advisor: D. Askren). Henson, Scott, 1992, Grain Shape, Size, Sorting and     Heavy Mineral Content of the Altamaha River System     (advisor: P. Manker). Herman, Steve, 1993, Paleoecology of Two     Clypeasteriod Echinoids from Southwestern     France (advisor: B. Carter). Hutton, Johnny, 1996, Short-term impact of Hurricane     Opal on Deposition of Sediments along Cape San Blas     (advisor: P. Manker). Jarrett, Matt, 2005, Diversity-Based Classification of     Taxa from Sepkoski's Modern Evolutionary Fauna     (advisor: B. Carter). Johnson, Katryn, 1995, Effects of the 1994 Flood on     Sediment Loads and Toxic Metal Influx in Apalachicola     Bay, FLorida (advisor: P. Manker). Johnson, Matt, 1999, Planetary x-ray diffractometry     design using a low-level radiation source     (advisors: W. Anderson & P. Manker). Jordan, Mike, 1995, Rhynchlampas gouldii (Bouve) in     the Oligocene of the Gulf Coast, and a comparison     with Pygorhynchus alabamensis Twitchell     (advisor: B. Carter). Jordan, Natalie, 1999, The Geographic Distribution of     Eocene and Oligocene Echinoids, Southern Pakistan     (advisor: B. Carter). Keene, Denise, 1998, Foram Diversity and Distributional     Patterns on the North American Atlantic Coast     (advisor: B. Carter). Kitchens, Angela, 1991, Substrate Preference of     Eocene Echinoids of Egypt (advisor: B. Carter). Miller, Justin, 2006, Morphology and Evolutionary Relationships     among Cassiduloid Echinoids from the Ocala Limestone     (advisor: B. Carter). Norton, Lori, 2002, A geophysical investigation     of a Karst Area near Leslie, Georgia     (advisor: S. Peavy). Godfrey, Dale, 2002, Soil and Water Quality of     the Buck Creek Watershed, Marion, Schley and     Macon Counties, Georgia     (advisors: M. Khalequzzaman and S. Peavy). Park, T. Mack, 1998, Surface Water Contamination in     Sumter County, Georgia (advisor: D. Askren). Payne, Brooke, 2005, The Gravity Signature of the South     Georgia Triassic Rift Basin.     (advisor: S. Peavy). Peavy, Tara, 2006, A water quality survey of Whitewater     Creek Watershed, Macon and Taylor Counties, Georgia     (advisor: T. Weiland). Powell, Matthew, 1999, The Nature of a Contact Between     Precambrian Basement and Paleozoic Metasediments     in Bartow and Cherokee Counties, Georgia     (advisor: D. Askren). Puckett, Norman, 1991, A Grain Size Analysis of the     Sand Dunes at Albany, Georgia (advisor: P. Manker). Raines, Daniel, 2003, Using Mineralogic Variations to     Recognize Stratigraphic and Fault Relationships in     and near the Cartersville Fault Zone, Georgia     (advisor: D. Askren). Richardson, Maureen, 1996, Sumter County Landfill     GIS Project (advisor: T. Weiland). Scheller, Monica, 2000, Petrographic Study of the     Coarse-Grained Ocoee Metasediments of the Cohutta,     North Georgia (advisor: T. Weiland). Slater, Samantha, 2005, Electrical Resistivity Measurements     and their Relationship to Rainfall and Temperature Variations     (advisor: S. Peavy). Smith, Mitchell, 2004, Using Geographic Information Systems     and Soil Data to Increase Small Farm Productivity: The     Across-the-Creek Farm Project, Sumter County, Georgia.     (advisor: T. Weiland). Summers, John, 1996, Effects of Winter Cold Front     Passage on Sea Surface Temperature in the Gulf of     Mexico (advisor: P. Manker). Summers, Tom, 1995, Quantitative Phase Analysis of     Production Refractory Materials (advisor: T. Weiland). Vaughn, Elizabeth, 2005, Determining Potential Provenance for the     Conglomeratic Units of the Ocoee Series in the Cohutta Wildlife     Management Area, Murray County, Georgia (advisor: T. Weiland). Veal, Brian, 2002, Petrology and Chemistry of Clasts     in Coarse-Grained Ocoee Metasediments of the     Cohutta Area, Georgia (advisor: T. Weiland). Walgamuth, Justin, 1997, A Geographic Information     System Database for Water Quality Projects of     Southwestern Georgia (advisor: T. Weiland). Willard, Ricky, 1994, X-ray Diffraction Analysis     and the Effects of Different Packing Techniques     for Mullite-Cristobalite Mixtures     (advisor: P. Manker). Willett, Alan, 1996, Construction of an Interactive     Geographic Database for Double Oak Mountain Area,     Alabama (advisor: T. Weiland). Wilson, Rob, 1996, Chemical Evidence for Shearing of     Tonalites from the Wawa Subprovince of the Superior     Province, Canada (advisor: D. Askren). Alumni Note: If your project is not listed, please contact Dan Askren and provide me with your name, project title, year of completion, and project advisor. Thanks!