Master’s Presentations
The Master of Science (MS) degree at the Jackson School of Geosciences is considered to be the professional degree for a career in the Geosciences. This degree is the foundation for students pursuing employment in the petroleum industry, environmental and hydrogeological fields, state and federal government agencies, and other related geoscience fields. Some students also use the MS degree as preparation for pursuing a Ph.D. The Energy & Earth Resources Interdisciplinary program provides the opportunity for students to prepare themselves in management, finance, economics, law and policy leading to analytical and leadership positions in resource-related fields. The private sector and government organizations face a growing need for professionals that can plan, evaluate, and manage complex resource projects, commonly international in scope, which often include partners with a variety of professional backgrounds. As requirements for these degrees, students must present a professional talk on Master’s Presentations.
Master’s Presentations Agenda April 14, 2023
Session 1: JGB 2.218
Watch Session
Time |
Student |
Advisor(s) |
2:00-2:15 |
Alabdullatif, Jana (EPS)
Compound Delta Clinoforms: A Detailed Analysis of its Morphology and Deposits from Modern and Ancient Examples |
Cornel Olariu |
2:15-2:30 |
Ascanio-Pellon, Patricia (EPS)
Insights into Caribbean tectonics from a detrital zircon U-Pb provenance study of siliciclastic strata in western and central Cuba |
Danny Stockli |
2:30-2:45 |
Corzo Pola, Hector (EPS)
Near-Optimal Sequential Correlation Sequences using Q-Learning and Shortest-Path |
Sergey Fomel |
2:45-3:00 |
Dallmann, Allysa (EPS)
Congo Basin Rainfall Variability with ENSO, Global SST, and CESM2 |
Kerry Cook |
3:00-3:15 |
Loving, Myriam (EPS)
Assessing the effects of aquatic pollution on Rhizophora mangle in Jamaica: A comparative study |
Ashley Matheney |
BREAK |
|
|
3:30-3:45 |
Savage, Addison (EPS)
Exploring the Role of Sediment Size and Compaction on the Microbial Factory |
Peter Flemings |
3:45-4:00 |
Williams, Ebony (EPS)
Multi-scale Thermal Detection of Submarine Groundwater Discharge in Critical Coastal Ecosystems of Volcanic Islands |
Bayani Cardenas |
4:00-4:15 |
King, Evan (EPS)
Tracing water through a forest root zone |
Rempe |
4:15-4:30 |
Bangun, Aya (EPS)
Hydrogeochemistry of Submarine Groundwater Discharge in A Volcanic Coastal Area: Mabini Peninsula, The Philippines |
Bayani Cardenas |
Session 2: JGB 2.202
Watch Session
Time |
Student |
Advisor(s) |
2:00-2:15 |
Agarwal, Khushboo (EER)
Modeling electric grid vulnerability induced by natural events using Machine Learning and Geospatial analysis |
Suzanne Pierce |
2:15-2:30 |
Kishek, Kameel (EER)
Impact of High Renewable Energy Penetration on ERCOT’s Frequency Response Reliability |
Carey King |
2:30-2:45 |
Klarin, Sam Jacob (EER)
A Techno-Economic Study of a CO2-Plume Geothermal System in Mature Gas Reservoirs of the Brazos Area |
Silviu Livescu, Richard Chuchla |
2:45-3:00 |
Liao, Siang-Huei (EER)
The Challenge of Addressing the Impact of China’s Crude Steel Production on Climate Change |
Melinda Taylor |
3:00-3:15 |
Mirsha, Addian (EER)
A Decision Analysis for Valuation of Natural Gas Resources with High CO2 in East Natuna Basin, Indonesia |
J. Eric Bickel |
BREAK |
|
|
3:30-3:45 |
Nava, Sabrina (EER)
Interruptible Load Program for the Argentinian electricity market: an economic instrument |
David Spence, Jay Zarnikau |
3:45-4:00 |
Rudolph, Mary (EER)
The impact of renewable energy tax incentives on electricity pricing in Texas |
Paul Damien, Sheila Olmstead |
4:00-4:15 |
Thakral, Avish (EER)
Using Real Options to Value Optimal Threshold for Renewable Energy Technologies of a Tax Credit Based on Cost of Carbon Offset |
Ehud Ronn |
4:15-4:30 |
Wedel, Steven (EER)
Measuring Sustainability in an Austin-based Start-Up |
Richard Amato |
4:30-4:45 |
Wieser, Eric (EER)
The Economics of Small Modular Reactors at Coal Sites: A Program Level Analysis Within the State of Texas |
Michael Webber |
Session 3: JGB 3.222
Watch Session
Time |
Student |
Advisor(s) |
2:00-2:15 |
Brandt, Aristos (EER)
Anthropogenic Impacts on Urban Watersheds: Insights from Laser Ablation ICP-Q-MS Analyses of Bald Cypress Tree Cores |
Jay Banner |
2:15-2:30 |
Olivier, Gwen (EER)
Prehistoric techniques for enhancing soil fertility in aridisols at the Creekside Village Archaeological Site, New Mexico, and its implications for dryland soil and water management policy |
Timothy Beach, David Eaton |
2:30-2:45 |
Taleb, Shadya (EER)
Investigation of CO2 Migration in Saline Aquifers Using Real-Rock Microfluidic Experiments |
Seyyed A. Hosseini |
2:45-3:00 |
Luciano, Angela (EER)
EPA UIC Class I Wells as an Analog for Class VI Wells in the Gulf Coast |
Susan Hovorka, Alexander Bump |
3:00-3:15 |
Li, Yushan (EER)
Assessing an offshore carbon storage opportunity in Chandeleur Sound, Louisiana |
Susan Hovorka |
BREAK |
|
|
3:30-3:45 |
Kirimli, Hazal (EER)
Quantification of Environmental Impacts Associated with the Full Life Cycle of the Global Nickel Supply Chain |
Michael Young |
3:45-4:00 |
Garcia, Katherine (EER)
Characteristics of the Upper Wilcox to Claiborne Group transition in subsurface and outcrops, east-central Texas |
Richard Chuchla, Peter Flaig |
4:00-4:15 |
Calzado, Edna Rodriguez (EER)
Optimization of CO2 Storage Capacity, Injectivity, and Storage Costs for Large-Scale CCS Deployment & Carbon Dioxide Removal Goals |
Susan Hovorka, Alex Bump |
4:15-4:30 |
Graf, Daniel (EER)
Harmonizing Ecosystem Services into Life Cycle Impacts of Modern Electricity Generation Options |
Michael Young |
4:30-4:45 |
Ruiz, Jake Alan Peterson (EER)
Environmental Justice Implications of Variations of Water Quality in Austin, Texas |
Jay Banner |
Master’s Tuesday Agenda November 29, 2022
Master’s Saturday Agenda April 30, 2022
Presentation awards for 2022 Best Talk went to Gabrielle Varona (1st place) and Andrew Kleiman (2nd place) — please see below.
Session 1:
Session Chair: Ethan Conrad
9:00am to 9:15am |
Sarah Brooker, Stable Isotope Composition of the Archean Slave Subcontinental Lithospheric Mantle as a Tracer of Metasomatism (Jaime Barnes) |
9:15am to 9:30am |
Jacob Helper, Fluid-mobile element cycling (halogens, boron, lithium) and sourcing through the Costa Rican convergent margin (Jaime Barnes) |
9:30am to 9:45am |
Amber Taylor, Stable isotopes as a proxy for continental chemical weathering during the lead-up and aftermath of the Neoproterozoic Sturtian glaciation (John Lassiter) |
9:45am to 10:00am |
Daniel Campos, Exhumation of the High Tatra Mountains and Implications for the Western Carpathians (Slovakia) (Elizabeth Catlos) |
10:00am to 10:15am |
Emily Hinshaw, Tectono-metamorphic evolution of the Ossa and Pelion HP-LT blueschists: U-Pb zircon and apatite constraints on subduction underplating and regional paleogeographic correlations in eastern Thessaly, Greece (Daniel Stockli) |
10:15am to 10:45am |
Coffee Break |
10:45am to 11:00am |
Carolyn Bland, The Elastic and Transport Properties of Hikurangi Margin Rocks as a Function of Stress, Saturation, and the Presence of Fractures (Nicola Tisato) |
11:00am to 11:15am |
Claudia Banks, Dispersal and source-to-sink dynamics in active river systems of the Ecuadorian Andes and foreland basin (Brian Horton) |
11:15am to 11:30am |
Juan Gutiérrez, Cenozoic sedimentary response to changing subduction dynamics in the northern Andes of Colombia (Brian Horton) |
11:30am to 11:45am |
Joshua Malone, Provenance analysis of Paleozoic basin fill in the Falkland-Malvinas Islands: Implications for basin evolution and Gondwanan reconstructions (Brian Horton) |
11:45 to 12:00pm |
Russell Miller, Volcanic Facies and 15m Scale Roughness Throughout Athabasca Valles Outflow System on Mars: A Dynamic Flow Development (Sean Gulick and Cyril Grima) |
Session 2:
Session Chair: Mariel Nelson and Emily Bamber
9:00am to 9:15am |
Janna Muhammad, Elucidating the evolution of the parrot vocal organ and links to bioacoustic traits (Julia Clarke) |
9:15am to 9:30am |
Logan Schmidt, Quantifying dynamic storage with borehole NMR (Daniella Rempe) |
9:30am to 9:45am |
Harisankar Manoj, The Sensitivity of the Congo Basin Rainforest to Climate Change (Kerry Cook) |
9:45am to 10:00am |
Jack McLaughlin, Evaluating Abnormalities in Daily Transpiration Patterns Across Tree Species in a Semi-Arid Climate (Ashley Matheney) |
10:00am to 10:15am |
Lily Beaman, Evaluating the Effects of Environmental Conditions on Biomass Water Content and Transpiration in Three Semi-Arid Tree Species (Ashley Matheney and Richard Chuchla) |
10:15am to 10:45am |
Coffee Break |
10:45am to 11:00am |
Solveig Schilling, A Modern Distribution of Foraminifera to Reconstruct Environmental Change Offshore Galveston Bay, Texas (Christopher Lowery) |
11:00am to 11:15am |
Nicole Gonzalez, Evidence for multiple styles of sediment gravity flows constructing a prodelta-to-shelf depositional environment: Coaledo Formation, southwest Oregon (David Mohrig) |
11:15am to 11:30am |
Sarah Meyer, Basin-Floor Channel Stacking and Evolution of the Brushy Canyon Formation in the Northeastern Delaware Basin (Jacob Covault) |
11:30am to 11:45am |
Gabrielle Varona, Paleogeographic Evolution of the Orange and Green Sands in WR 313, Deep-water Gulf of Mexico (Peter Flemings) —Presentation awarded 1st place
|
11:45am to 12:00pm |
Katherine Jones, Modeling Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in West Texas for Renewable Energy Siting Assessments (Michael Young) |
Session 3:
Session Chair: George Segee-Wright
9:00am to 9:15am |
Danny Sears-Greer, Impact of High Renewable Penetration on Electricity Prices and Grid Reliability (Carey King, Darrel Tremaine) |
9:15am to 9:30am |
Sean Corcoran, Perceptions of Risk in Increasingly Capital-Intensive Electricity Grids: Measuring the Impacts of Accurate Cost of Capital Representation on Investment Planning for Future Energy Systems (Benjamin Leibowicz) |
9:30am to 9:45am |
Tomás Fuentes-Afflick, A Comparative Analysis of Conventional Internal Combustion Vehicle and Electric Buses in Austin, Texas (Michael Webber) |
9:45am to 10:00am |
Andrew Kleiman, The Cobalt Supply Chain and Life Cycle Assessment of Lithium-ion Battery Energy Storage Systems (Michael Young) —Presentation awarded 2nd place
|
10:00am to 10:15am |
Bryan La Bissoniere, Evaluating strategies, opportunities, and tensions for implementing green stormwater infrastructure at the site scale (Kasey Faust) |
10:15am to 10:45am |
Coffee Break |
10:45am to 11:00am |
Sara Lagerholm, Evaluating the Potential for Residential Solar PV and Battery Systems during Extended Grid Outages in Austin, Texas (Carey King, Darrel Tremaine) |
11:00am to 11:15am |
Nathan Pastorek, An Analysis of Geothermal Viability in Pecos County, Permian Basin, West Texas (Kenneth Wisian, Michael Young) |
11:15am to 11:30am |
Alysa Suydam, Cost of desalinated groundwater using stochastic estimates of groundwater storage volumes and salinity (Bridget Scanlon) |
11:30am to 11:45am |
William Swales, The Future of Texas Offshore Wind: An LCOE Comparison (David Eaton) |
11:45am to 12:00pm |
Sarah Dodamead, Exploring the Trade-offs Between Battery Storage and Transmission for the Electrical Grid (Michael Webber) |
Session 4:
Session Chair: Rawan Alasad
9:00am to 9:15am |
Marco Guirola, Estimating Across-Fault Leakage Rates and their Financial Implications for CCS with Application to Offshore Gulf of Mexico (Alex Bump) |
9:15am to 9:30am |
Zakariah Harner, Environmental Impacts of Onshoring Lithium and Lithium-ion Battery Production (Tristan Childress, Richard Chuchla) |
9:30am to 9:45am |
Nina Hebel, Characterization of Naturally Fractured Sandstone Reservoirs for Geothermal Heat (Stephen Laubach) |
9:45am to 10:00am |
Clare Kane, Disparate Exposure to Fine Particulate Air Pollution in Formerly Redlined Cities: Chicago, Dallas, and Fort Worth (Sheila Olmstead) |
10:00am to 10:15am |
Maddie Laidlaw, Evaluating, Risking, and Ranking Carbon Sequestration Prospects with Application to Gulf of Mexico (Alex Bump, Susan Hovorka) |
10:15am to 10:45am |
Coffee Break |
10:45am to 11:00am |
Jonathan Pantano, Teleconnections and the Gulf Coast: Examining response of Texas bay/estuary freshwater inflows to climate variability (Bridget Scanlon) |
11:00am to 11:15am |
Cameron deFabry, Autoencoders for Seismic Model Upscaling and Facies Identification (Mrinal Sen) |
11:15am to 11:30am |
Caroline McKeighan, Understanding Anthropogenic Fault Rupture in the Eagle Ford Region, south-central Texas (Peter Hennings) |
11:30am to 11:45am |
Ila Boley, Geologic and Financial Analysis of Microbial Carbonates in the Sapinhoa Oil Field for Hydrocarbon Production and Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (Charles Kerans, Hilary Olsen) |
Master’s Thursday Agenda December 9, 2021
Watch Master’s Thursday
Master’s Saturday Agenda May 1, 2021
Watch Master’s Saturday
Session Chair: Rebecca Gao and George Segee-Wright
8:30am to 8:45am |
James Hooker Gearon DEPOSITIONAL PATTERNS AND STRIKE VARIABILITY OF FLUVIOLACUSTRINE SYSTEMS: EVIDENCE FROM EOCENE LAKE UINTA AND MODERN ANALOGS (Cornel Olariu) |
8:45am to 9:00am |
John Franey HIGH ORDER STRATIGRAPHIC FRAMEWORK OF INTRASLOPE GROWTH FAULTED SUBBASINS NEAR OFFSHORE MATAGORDA BAY, TX (Tip Meckel) |
9:00am to 9:15am |
Fernando M. Rey ANATOMY OF DELTAIC COMPOUND CLINOFORMS; COLORADO DELTA IN BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO, PLIOCENE COLORADO DELTA IN FISH CREEK-VALLECITO BASIN, CALIFORNIA, USA (Cornel Olariu) |
9:15am to 9:30am |
Jaime Ann Megumi Hirtz GEOCHRONOLOGY AND SEDIMENT PROVENANCE OF THE MESOPROTEROZOIC BELT-PURCELL SUPERGROUP OF MONTANA, USA AND ALBERTA, CANADA (Brian K. Horton) |
9:30am to 9:45am |
Joseph Syzdek MECHANICAL STRATIGRAPHIC CONTROL ON DEFORMATION IN A FAULTPROPAGATION FOLD, GOBBLER ANTICLINE, SACRAMENTO MOUNTAINS, NM (Christopher Zahm and Charles Kerans) |
9:45am to 10:00am |
Leland Spangler TIMING AND CONTROLS ON LATE PALEOZOIC TECTONISM AND SYNOROGENIC SEDIMENTATION, BURSUM FORMATION, SACRAMENTO MOUNTAINS, NEW MEXICO, USA (Christopher Zahm and Charles Kerans) |
Session Chair: Eric Hiatt and William Nguyen
Session Chair: Cameron deFabry and Shawn Fullmer
Master’s Tuesday Agenda December 1, 2020
Watch Master’s Tuesday
BEST TALK: Brooklyn Gose Kinematic Restoration of the Costa Rican Convergent Margin: Exploring the Effects of a Rough Subducting Seafloor (Nathan Bangs)
Session 1: Master’s Tuesday
Session Chair: Eric Hiatt
Master’s Saturday Agenda May 2, 2020
Watch Master’s Saturday
Session 1: Advances in Sedimentary Rock Systems: From Texas to Beyond
Session Chair: Benjamin E Rendall
8:30am to 8:45am |
Nelson William Waltrip EVALUATION OF REGIONAL TRENDS IN PRODUCTION FOR OLMOS AND LOWER WILCOX LOBO TRENDS, ONSHORE SOUTH TEXAS, USA (John W. Snedden, Richard Chuchla) |
8:45am to 9:00am |
Andrew Kearny Roberts THE PENNSYLVANIAN LOWER STRAWN GROUP, JACK AND WISE COUNTIES, FORT WORTH BASIN: FACIES DISTRIBUTION AND STRATIGRAPHIC ARCHITECTURE (Ronald Steel and William Ambrose) |
9:00am to 9:15am |
Esben Pedersen CARBONATE FACTORY RECOVERY FOLLOWING OCEANIC ANOXIC EVENTS: A CLOSER LOOK AT THE COW CREEK MEMBER OF THE PEARSALL FORMATION IN CENTRAL TEXAS (Charles Kerans and Toti Larson) |
9:15am to 9:30am |
Juan Pablo Acevedo ANALYSIS OF WASTEWATER INJECTION AND PROSPECT REGIONS FOR INDUCED SEISMICITY IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE, USA (Michael H. Young) |
9:30am to 9:45am |
Samuel Grant Robbins CONSTRAINING THE TECTONO-THERMAL EVOLUTION OF THE EGYPTIAN RED SEA MARGIN: LINKING OBSERVATIONS FROM THE PROXIMAL TO HYPEREXTENDED RIFT DOMAIN (Daniel F. Stockli) |
9:45am to 10:00am |
Leo Zeng QUANTITATIVE GEOMORPHOLOGY OF A MIXED CARBONATE SILICICLASTIC SHELF-TO-BASIN SUBMARINE DRAINAGE SYSTEM, MIOCENE, BROWSE BASIN, NORTHWEST SHELF OF AUSTRALIA (Xavier Janson) |
10:00am to 10:15am |
Sinong Lin PROVENANCE, GEOCHRONOLOGY AND SEDIMENTARY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CAMPANIAN M1 SANDSTONE, ORIENTE BASIN, ECUADOR (Ronald J. Steel and Cornel Olariu) |
Session 2: Energy, Climate, and Water (starts at 1.51 in the ZOOM video)
Session Chair: Natchanan Doungkaew
Session 3: Patterns and Technology in Earth Sciences (starts at 3.37 in the ZOOM video)
Session Chair: Wade L Aubin
Master’s Saturday Agenda May 4, 2019
BEST TALK: Jacob Makis GEOCHEMISTRY AND ZIRCON U/PB GEOCHRONOLOGY OF THE ERTSBERG PLUTON, ERTSBERG-GRASBERG MINING DISTRICT, PAPUA, INDONESIA: MAGMA CHAMBER RECHARGE AND MIXING (Mark Cloos)
Sponsored by Hess Corporation
8:00am to 8:30am |
Breakfast Tacos, Holland Family Student Center and Patio |
8:30am to 10:00am |
Session 1: Focus on Energy, JGB 2.216
Session 2: Indonesia and Beyond, JGB 3.222 |
10:00am to 10:30am |
Break/Discussion Coffee provided in the Holland Family Student Center and Patio |
10:30am to 12:15pm |
Session 3: Fluids and its Records, JGB 2.216
Session 4: Exploring the Underground, JGB 3.222 |
12:15pm to 1:00pm |
Lunch, Holland Family Student Center and Patio |
1:00 pm |
EPS Award Ceremony: Best Talk announced JGB 2.216 |
Session 1: Focus on Energy, JGB 2.216
Session Chairs: Dallas Dunlap
Session 2: Indonesia and Beyond, JGB 3.222
Session Chairs: Lily Jackson
Session 3: Fluids and its Records, JGB 2.216
Session Chairs: Sophie A Goliber and Clara Brennan
Session 4: Exploring the Underground, JGB 3.222
Session Chairs: Lily Jackson and Kiara Gomez