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January 1, 2026

The Chair’s Message: Geo-Bing Newsletter 2021

Geological Sciences re-emerges after a global pandemic

This image shows 11.8-million-year-old seawater trapped in primary fluid inclusions in chevron halite. Mebrahtu F. Weldeghebriel, a doctoral student in geological sciences and environmental studies, entered it in the 2019 Art of Science competition. This image shows 11.8-million-year-old seawater trapped in primary fluid inclusions in chevron halite. Mebrahtu F. Weldeghebriel, a doctoral student in geological sciences and environmental studies, entered it in the 2019 Art of Science competition.
This image shows 11.8-million-year-old seawater trapped in primary fluid inclusions in chevron halite. Mebrahtu F. Weldeghebriel, a doctoral student in geological sciences and environmental studies, entered it in the 2019 Art of Science competition. Image Credit: Mebrahtu F. Weldeghebriel.
By Tim Lowenstein, Distinguished Professor of Geological Sciences and Environmental Studies
July 12, 2021

After 16 months of the pandemic life, Science 1 is more or less back to normal during the summer of 2021. Labs have re-opened, most of us are back in school and classes will be entirely in person for the fall 2021 semester. We have dearly missed the personal interactions with students and colleagues, especially outdoors in the field.

Our department hasn’t changed in the past year, with senior professors David Jenkins, Joseph Graney, Dick Naslund, Peter Knuepfer and myself, plus junior professors Alex Nikulin, Jeffrey Pietras, Thomas Kulp, Molly Patterson and Timothy de Smet, Freshman Research Immersion Professor Jonathan Schmitkons, and Presidential Diversity Postdoctoral Fellows Adriane Lam and Kuwanna Dyer-Pietras. David Collins, David Tuttle and Jeff Carpenter are the technical staff.

Congratulations to Alex Nikulin, who received tenure and promotion to associate professor. Alex is the heart and soul of our geophysics program. David Jenkins won the Binghamton University Graduate Director Award in 2021. For those of you who were graduate students when Dave was grad director, you know how much he deserved that recognition! Graduate PhD students Kristian Olson (featured in the newsletter) and Mebrahtu Weldeghebriel both won the Binghamton University Graduate Student Research Awards this year.

Carol Slavetskas officially retired at the end of May 2021, after a very long career as geological sciences administrator. Carol did all the little things well, which added up to the big deal of completely running our program. We thank you Carol for your dedicated service. Finally, my 3-year term as geological sciences chair has come to an end, and I will hand the baton to Peter Knuepfer.

See this link for our donors from the past year. Their generosity funds activities that raise morale and bring faculty, students and staff together. We are very, very grateful. Congratulations also to our graduate students who have completed their degrees, listed here.

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