The 2024-2025 year has been an eventful one here in the Department of Earth Sciences, and there are more changes planned for the coming year. I started my term as the second Chair of the Department of Earth Sciences this past June when Daniel Holm stepped down after 16 years of tremendous service. The department is grateful to Daniel for the leadership that he provided and his always positive attitude. I am thankful that Daniel has rejoined the faculty and stayed on to continue with his teaching and research contributions to the department.
Research in the Department is in full swing with field sites around the globe and over $1M in externally funded projects. ESCI is now second only to Physics in terms of externally supported, per capita research funding. We welcomed a new faculty member to ESCI this year when Dr. Courtney Wagner joined us from the Smithsonian Institution. Courtney is a paleomagnetist who specializes in the identification of magnetofossils, magnetic grains that are generated by bacteria to aid them in magnetotaxis. This work can provide insights into paleoenvironments and aid researchers in understanding potential biological imprints on the paleomagnetic record. Courtney is a leading international expert in this area and has published two papers in Nature publishing group journals in recent months! Dr. Allie Tessin has been active in the International Ocean Drilling program, helping to chart the future of the program as it transitions into a post-JOIDES Resolution phase. She has several active NSF funded projects and a lab full of bright students. Dr. Tim Gallagher has brought his experience in experimental soil science to new levels with research projects in South Africa looking at soil carbon fluxes and their climate interaction. Drs. Tessin and Gallagher will be up for promotion and tenure next year, which is very exciting for the department. We have several faculty members who are up promotion and tenure this year and I will be sure to update our alumni once we have heard word on that (although I expect good news).
Our course enrollments are up by ~7% this year over last and the ESCI department undergraduate student body continues to grow, with 29 new majors post-COVID for a total enrollment of 72. We are also seeing growth in minors with 31 students declaring minors in ESCI with the most of those opting for our new Paleontology minor, which is our fastest growing program. The department also has two new 3+3 accelerated BA to JD degree programs. Student in our BA Earth Science or BA Geology program can take the LSAT and now apply to one of four partner law school (CWRU, CSU, U. Akron, and U. Dayton). If they are admitted to one of them, their first year of law school counts as their last year of the BA, enabling them to finish both degrees in six years. That can cut a full year off their law school degree saving them thousands of dollars and getting them into the workforce faster.
Next year will bring big changes to 91Ï㽶ÊÓƵ. As part of a process called Transformation 28, the university is rethinking its administrative structures to meet budget challenges due to reductions in state funding. The Departments of Earth Sciences and Geography are scheduled to combine administrative services starting next year. We already have a shared administrative staff. Next year we will have a shared Chair for both departments.
Dr. Rodney Feldmann passed away this past Fall after being active in the Department as a tenure track faculty and an emeritus faculty member since 1968. His contributions to the department were immense. He will be remembered through a student travel scholarship fund that has been opened in his name. If you are interested in contributing to this or one of the other funds in the department, please see the scholarship fund pages on our website or contact me for more information.