My goal is to empower students to be confident, independent learners by

1) highlighting clear connections between their own lives and what they are learning,

2) enabling student-centered learning by focusing on questions and process,

3) providing equitable, inclusive, and safe field experiences, and

4) building confidence with quantitative tools.

Courses at UK

  • Photo of a dog playing in the shallow waves at a sandy beach with cliffs in the background on a cloudy day.

    EES 110 — Endangered Earth

    (Spring 2025) An introductory course to current environmental issues including water and soil resources, pollution causes, effects and solutions, and causes and prediction of environmental hazards including floods, landslides, subsidence, earthquakes and volcanoes.

  • Photo from mercury mine in Nevada.

    EES 587 -- Critical Minerals for a Changing Climate

    (Spring 2026) An introductory course in critical mineral resources for the low-carbon transition, covering ore-forming geologic processes, environmental impacts of mining, fluid flow and transport modeling, labs, field trips (including 4-day trip to SC, NC mines), and mineral policy.

  • EES 370 -- Python, ML, and Data Science for Earth Science

    An introductory course in quantitative and computational problem-solving for Earth Science using case studies, covering programming, numerical methods, data visualization, and time series/spatial analysis with Python, Pandas, Scikit, and Plotly.

  • EES 480/645 -- Volcanology: Magma to Monitoring

    (Spring 2027) A senior/graduate course on volcanic and hydrothermal processes at active volcanoes, covering magma transport, permeability and fluid flow, eruption hazards, geophysical monitoring of deformation and seismicity, weekly labs, and a week-long Kīlauea field trip.

Other

Thesis

Committees

at UK

CURRENT STUDENTS

• Katelyn Boege “Detrital Monazite Provenance Analysis of Modern Piedmont Fluvial Systems and Potential Connections to Tertiary and Modern Monazite-Bearing Heavy Mineral Deposits of the Coastal Plain” (MS expected 2026)

• Nathan Atterbery (MS expected 2026)

• Mackenzie Choffel “” (MS expected 2026)

• Hudson Koch “Optimizations to data-driven landslide susceptibility modeling” (PhD expected 2027)

PAST STUDENTS

• J. Mitchell Clay “Geochronologic Constraints on the Meso-Neoprotorozoic Tectonic Evolution of Eastern Laurentia: an Investigation of Sediment Recycling During and after the Grenvillian Orogeny” (PhD 2025)

• Dairian Boddy “Deep Crustal Boundaries as Fluid Conduits: A Geochemical Investigation of MVT Mineralization in Kentucky and Beyond” (MS 2026)

• Riley Grove “Provenance of REE-Bearing Monazite Placers in Upper Coastal Plain Sediments, South Carolina; Relevance for Critical Mineral Resource Development” (MS 2026)

• Christian Thompson “Utilizing Coal for Mesophase Pitch-Based Carbon Fiber Production: Precursors, Processes, and Progress” (PhD 2026)

Courses at other institutions

  • Aerial view of a river delta with multiple branching channels flowing into a large body of water, surrounded by green forest, mountains, and distant clouds.

    EPS 80 — Environmental Earth Science (UC Berkeley)

    I was the instructor for a course focused on the processes on and in the earth that shape the environment. Humanity's use of land and oceans is examined based on an understanding of these processes.

    Course website; Max enrollment ~50

  • A view of planet Earth from space showing North America, Central America, and parts of the Atlantic Ocean.

    EPS 50 — Planet Earth (UC Berkeley)

    I was the instructor for Planet Earth the introductory class for the major. I designed the first offering as an accelerated summer course. I was also lab instructor (GSI) when the course was taught by Prof. Michael Manga.

  • Sandstone canyon walls with layered patterns and sparse greenery at the bottom.

    EPS 115 - Stratigraphy and Earth History (UC Berkeley)

    I was the lab instructor (GSI) for Stratigraphy (EPS 115) taught by Prof. Nick Swanson-Hysell (website). In addition to normal course activities and helping with the spring break Death Valley field trip, I helped to convert assignments to interactive computer (Jupyter) notebooks.

  • Close-up of boudins in metamorphic rock in Maine.

    EPS 116 - Structural Geology (UC Berkeley)

    I was a lab instructor (GSI) for Structural Geology taught by Prof. Roland Bürgmann (website). In addition to normal course activities and helping with field trips, I taught individual lab sections and graded weekly assignments.

  • Photo of columns in the Bishop Tuff.

    Field Camp (UC Berkeley)

    I helped to adapt my dissertation chapter on the Bishop Tuff columns into large part of the field camp led by Prof. Michael Manga and Prof. Stephen Self. I facilitated this field component in 2019.

  • Geol 210 - Geomorphology (Carleton)

    I was the teaching assistant for Geomorphology taught by Prof. Isaac Larsen (website). In addition to normal course activities and helping with field trips I graded weekly assignments.

  • Industrial factory with multiple smokestacks emitting large amounts of smoke into the sky over a barren landscape in black and white.

    Geol 120 - Environmental Geology (Carleton)

    I was a teaching assistant for Environmental Geology taught by Prof. Isaac Larsen (website). In addition to normal course activities and helping with field trips I graded weekly assignments.