Honors Student Projects

The Jackson School of Geosciences offers a departmental honors program to undergraduate majors. The honors program is closely tied to the pursuit of advanced research projects.

Students meet and greet a diverse group of professors, graduate students and researchers to discuss current research and project opportunities. These meetings open doors for students to discover and become involved in their areas of interest.

The following photo journals are a collection of some of the research projects and field trips the students have taken which are related to their projects.

Projects by Discipline

Climate Dynamics

Paleoclimate Reconstruction of Western Cameroon, Africa, 2013
The Influence of Sea Surface Temperature and Variability of the North Atlantic Subtropical High on Multidecadal Drought in Texas, 2011

Geochemistry/Thermo- and Geochronology

Geochemical Characterization of Serpentinites in the Franciscan Complex, western California, 2013
Do Chlorine Isotopes Fractionate During Volcanic Degassing?, 2013

Geophysics/Seismology

Characterizing Mid-Latitude Ice on Mars, 2013
Efficient Algorithms for Two-point Seismic Ray Tracing in Layered Media, 2013
Fine-scale Accumulation Patterns in the Northern Ice Cap of Mars, 2012
Characterization of Large-Scale Erosional Events and Depostional Sequences within the North Polar Layered Deposits, Mars, 2012
Comparison of Fluid Prediction Success Between AVO and Bright Spot Techniques of the Marco Polo Field, Gulf of Mexico, 2011
Seismic Inversions for Acoustic Impedance Models, 2009

Hydrology/Glaciology

Linking Geothermal Heat Flux and Melt Rates in Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica, 2013
Relationships Between Internal Stratigraphy and Ice Flow of the Greenland Ice Sheet, 2013
Integrated remote sensing and hydrochemical analysis of a playa lake-groundwater system in northern Chile, 2012
Effects of Urbanization on Groundwater Quality in a Rapidly Urbanizing Watershed, 2012
Soil Moisture Dynamics throughout a Semiarid Valley Ecotone Using Quasi-3D Time-Lapse Electrical Resistivity Imaging, 2011
Southwest U.S. paleoclimate over the past 30 ky: Insights from speleothem δ18O and growth rate time series, 2011
Evaluation of Methods for Phosphate Determination in High-Arsenate Solution, El Tatio, Chile, 2011
Measuring Diffusion Coefficients Using LA-ICP-MS, 2010
Electrical resistivity along the Lower Colorado River at Hornsby Bend, Texas, 2010
δ13C Stable Isotope Analysis of Seasonal CO2 Variation in Central Texas Caves, 2010
Hydrothermal Features at El Tatio – Chile, 2009
Cave Research, Texas, 2008

Paleontology/Geobiology

Vestibular Apparatus in Bats – Vertebrate Paleontology, 2009

Petrology/Mineral Physics

Diffusivity of Lithium in Garnet, 2012
Vesicle Textures and their Implications for Processes Occurring within a Volcanic Conduit, 2011
Hydration and Textural Patterns in Balmorhea Blue Agate, 2011
Epitaxial Nucleation of Garnet in Coronal Metagabbros from the Adirondack Mountains, New York, 2011
Testing the accuracy and precision of Raman spectrometry, 2010
Rare Earth Element (REE), 2009
Hydrothermal Calcite Veins, Mexico, 2009
Copper Isotopes-Grasberg Mine-Indonesia, 2009
Blue Topaz, 2008

Sedimentary Geology/Stratigraphy

Computer Modeling of Delta Growth Morphology to Understand Autogenic Behavior, 2012
The Effects of Channel Migration on Point Bar Development in the Lower Trinity River, Texas, 2011
Tectonic Control on Sedimentation – Southwestern Wyoming, 2010
Research on sediment transport in deep river systems in coastal Louisiana, 2010
Rudist Bivalve Reef Complex, Texas, 2009
Cow Creek Cretaceous Beach Complex, Texas, 2009
Timing of Deposition of Foreland Basin Sediments – Bolivia, 2009
Nankai Accretionary Prism, Japan, 2008

Structural Geology/Lithospheric Dynamics

Geochronology and Geochemistry of the Beypazari Granitoid Pluton, North Central Turkey: Tectonic Implications, 2013
Serpetinization and Fluid Interaction of the Cuesta Ridge Ophiolite, California, 2012
Deciphering the Dynamics of the Simav Fault in Western Turkey, 2012
Tectonic relationships between high pressure subduction complex assemblages and co-existing granitoids, Sivrihisar Massif, Turkey, 2011
Mapping Mylonites in Arizona – Structural Geology, 2010
Hueco Tanks, Texas, 2008

Projects by Year

2013

• Paleoclimate Reconstruction of Western Cameroon, Africa
• Geochemical Characterization of Serpentinites in the Franciscan Complex, western California
• Do Chlorine Isotopes Fractionate During Volcanic Degassing?
• Characterizing Mid-Latitude Ice on Mars
• Efficient Algorithms for Two-point Seismic Ray Tracing in Layered Media
• Linking Geothermal Heat Flux and Melt Rates in Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica
• Relationships Between Internal Stratigraphy and Ice Flow of the Greenland Ice Sheet
• Geochronology and Geochemistry of the Beypazari Granitoid Pluton, North Central Turkey: Tectonic Implications

2012

• Computer Modeling of Delta Growth Morphology to Understand Autogenic Behavior
• Diffusivity of Lithium in Garnet
• Fine-scale Accumulation Patterns in the Northern Ice Cap of Mars
• Serpetinization and Fluid Interaction of the Cuesta Ridge Ophiolite, California
• Deciphering the Dynamics of the Simav Fault in Western Turkey
• Integrated remote sensing and hydrochemical analysis of a playa lake-groundwater system in northern Chile
• Effects of Urbanization on Groundwater Quality in a Rapidly Urbanizing Watershed
• Characterization of Large-Scale Erosional Events and Depostional Sequences within the North Polar Layered Deposits, Mars

2011

• Vesicle Textures and their Implications for Processes Occurring within a Volcanic Conduit
• Hydration and Textural Patterns in Balmorhea Blue Agate
• Soil Moisture Dynamics throughout a Semiarid Valley Ecotone Using Quasi-3D Time-Lapse Electrical Resistivity Imaging
• The Influence of Sea Surface Temperature and Variability of the North Atlantic Subtropical High on Multidecadal Drought in Texas
• Epitaxial Nucleation of Garnet in Coronal Metagabbros from the Adirondack Mountains, New York
• Southwest U.S. paleoclimate over the past 30 ky: Insights from speleothem δ18O and growth rate time series
• The Effects of Channel Migration on Point Bar Development in the Lower Trinity River, Texas
• Tectonic relationships between high pressure subduction complex assemblages and co-existing granitoids, Sivrihisar Massif, Turkey
• Comparison of Fluid Prediction Success Between AVO and Bright Spot Techniques of the Marco Polo Field, Gulf of Mexico
• Evaluation of Methods for Phosphate Determination in High-Arsenate Solution, El Tatio, Chile

2010

• Mapping Mylonites in Arizona – Structural Geology
• Tectonic Control on Sedimentation – Southwestern Wyoming
• Testing the accuracy and precision of Raman spectrometry
• Electrical resistivity along the Lower Colorado River at Hornsby Bend, Texas
• Measuring Diffusion Coefficients Using LA-ICP-MS
• Research on sediment transport in deep river systems in coastal Louisiana
• δ13C Stable Isotope Analysis of Seasonal CO2 Variation in Central Texas Caves

2009

• Seismic Inversions for Acoustic Impedance Models
• Rare Earth Element (REE)
• Rudist Bivalve Reef Complex, Texas
• Hydrothermal Calcite Veins, Mexico
• Cow Creek Cretaceous Beach Complex, Texas
• Hydrothermal Features at El Tatio – Chile
• Copper Isotopes-Grasberg Mine-Indonesia
• Vestibular Apparatus in Bats – Vertebrate Paleontology
• Timing of Deposition of Foreland Basin Sediments – Bolivia

2008

• Cave Research, Texas, 2008
• Blue Topaz, 2008
• Hueco Tanks, Texas, 2008
• Nankai Accretionary Prism, Japan, 2008