People

Nick Meszaros is currently working on a Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin. His research is focused on understanding how magma storage conditions changed leading up to the 1.24 Ma supervolcanic eruption at Valles Caldera in northern New Mexico. Nick graduated with a B.A. in geology from DePauw University in 2018, where he researched the role of country rock assimilation in the petrogenesis of granites in the Llano Uplift for his senior thesis.

Sheila Gerardo is a second-year M.S. student under Dr. Wen Song’s Research Group in the Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on how rare earth elements can be recovered from coal combustion byproducts. Sheila received a B.S. in petroleum engineering at the University of Oklahoma in 2018, where she integrated interdisciplinary consulting teams focused on developing geologic and economic assessments for local companies.

Hector Garza is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin. His research focuses on the timing of colonization of earth by oxygen-breathing organisms in terrestrial settings, as well as the driving mechanisms for marine to terresestrial environment transisitons during the Silurian and Devonian periods. Hector received a B.S. in Geology from the University of Texas at Austin in 2016 and spent 3 years working in the oil and gas industry researching the geochemistry of clays in unconventional reservoirs.

William Horton is a chemistry graduate from the University of Texas at Austin currently working in the Stable Isotope Lab in the Jackson School of Geosciences.