Department of Geology and Geophysics

The Department finished the millennium in good shape and is ready to take on the next one. The past year was like many that preceded it. We weathered another round of budget cuts, the teaching and research programs continued to advance, and once again we benefitted from the generosity of our alumni and friends. Our enrollment has remained strong with approximately 60 geology and geophysics undergraduates and 40 graduate students. There also has been a noticeable increase in the number of students taking the introductory courses. It is good to see that geology is still popular.

The geosciences are continuing to evolve, and like many things in the world about us, our field is caught up in the high-tech revolution. Computers are a visible part of classroom activities, and now pad computers, digital cameras, and other gadgets are showing up in the field. The development of web pages for individual courses is expanding. Images of all sorts, links to real-time data and animations, and interactive quizzes are being integrated into courses.

You can browse through syllabi of your old courses and see what has changed, or if you are looking for adventure, you can try your hand at the exercises posted on the web. You can check on current research activities and announcements of special events which are posted on the site. We also have an Alumni page, where you can download an electronic version of the newsletter, submit news, or look at pictures from the past (no images have been digitally altered, you really did look like that).

As always, getting together with alumni and friends, at meetings or on the street, is one of the real positives about our jobs. We had a good alumni gathering at the GCAGS meeting in Lafayette in September. Our thanks goes out to John Cramer and Diamond Geophysical for sponsoring the event. We are looking forward to the AAPG convention in New Orleans in April and the first alumni party of the millennium at O'Flaherty's. Finally, a special thank you to all the contributors to our drive to purchase departmental vans. The order for two new vans is going in as the newsletter hits the press. Best regards and good luck for the coming year.

Bill Busch