NIU Geology and Environmental Geosciences

10/29/2022

In case anyone is still following this page, rather than the Earth, Atmosphere and Environment page that we migrated to after merging our department with Geographic and Atmospheric Sciences, please take note of the important event in the accompanying link. We hope to see you all at this special event, which has been postponed for many months because of the pandemic.

As an inspiring professor, prolific author, ardent researcher, brilliant scholar and generous philanthropist, Carla Montgomery (Sept. 26, 1951 – Feb. 1, 2021) made a profound and lasting impact at Northern Illinois University and beyond. On Tuesday, Nov. 22, her friends, family, colleagues and stu...

02/17/2022

We are very sorry to learn of the death of alumna Jacqueline Nichele Fisher on October 1, 2021, at the age of 50. Jackie graduated MS in 1996 (as Jacqueline Nichele Morrison). Her thesis was on the hydrogeology of the Troy Valley. After first working in environmental consulting she had a 23-year career with the US EPA, Greater Chicago Area, working mainly in environmental health and protection. All of us who knew Jackie will remember her as a vibrant, upbeat, involved and talented student.

We are attaching the link to Jackie’s obituary, and we express our deepest sympathy to her family.
— Colin Booth, Professor Emeritus

Jacqueline Jackie Nichele Fisher Beloved mother of Emma Kathleen Austin Fisher Romine, Grace Marguerite Fisher, Sophia Marie Fisher and Apollo Fisher, Dear daughter of the late John Batista and Michele Eliane Nichele, Loving sister of Lisa Frank Nichele Fortuna, Adored aunt of Nicholas Fortuna and I...

02/03/2022

With the creation of the NIU Department of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, this site will soon lie dormant. Followers of this page, who wish to connect with faculty, staff and students formerly in Geology and Environmental Geosciences, should connect with them at the page listed below. If the link doesn't work search for NIU Earth, Atmosphere and Environment and you'll easily find us!

01/20/2022

Big, exciting changes are just beginning. We are so excited about the future of our new unit and all the work we'll do studying our planet and how we interact with and protect it.

The Board of Trustees approved the merger of the departments of Geographic and Atmospheric Sciences and Geology and Environmental Geosciences during their Dec. 7 meeting. The new unit, Department of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, brings together 19 faculty, 50 graduate students, nearly 115 under...

12/05/2021

The GeoCorps America program is now accepting applications for summer 2022 opportunities. www.geosociety.org/geocorps (Please note that GeoCorps participants must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.)

10/19/2021

If you get a chance, check out this STEM Café event where our amazing Drs. Melissa Lenczewski and Megan Brown will discuss their work on microplastics in groundwater.

Our world is in a plastic predicament. Plastics are durable, useful and ever-present. Yet, rather than decomposing, plastics break down into small bits called microplastics that are dangerous for our environment and possibly our health. In fact, plastics even present a scientific predicament; nearly...

09/08/2021

Congratulations to Associate Professor Justin Dodd for receiving NSF funding for his work in a collaborative project investigating the Sensitivity of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to 2°C of Temperature Change (SWAIS 2C). The project is led by researchers at SUNY Binghamton, with collaborators here at NIU, Columbia University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Colgate University, Rice University, and Central Washington University. It is a truly global collaboration as it also involves scientists from Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Korea, and Japan.

The overall project was funded for 4-years at $3.24M with $343k coming to Justin at NIU. The project will collect 200-meter long sediment cores from beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) to determine the conditions associated with past collapses of the ice sheet and to sharpen the predictive tools used to assess its future stability in a warming world.

Well done!

08/25/2021

As we start the fall 2021 semester, we are happy to announce that Dr. Mark Frank will be serving as Interim Department Chair through June of 2022.

Thanks to outgoing Chair Mark Fischer for his seven years of service and best of luck to Mark Frank. We are looking forward to his leadership in the coming months.

08/24/2021

Check out our own Dr. Megan Brown on this WTVO segment related to a sinkhole that is beginning to appear on the property of a resident in Poplar Grove, IL.

POPLAR GROVE, Ill. (WTVO) – One Poplar Grove woman said she is tiptoeing around her yard after a large hole opened up in the ground and has been growing in size for the past week. Kelli Cipolla sai…

08/20/2021

Check out this perspective on climate change from Dr. Reed Scherer. You may have heard it on WNIJ in the last couple of days.

Northern Illinois University professor Reed Scherer sends us an S.O.S. on climate change from his research ship in the Norwegian Sea.

08/10/2021

Very cool upcoming STEM Café featuring work by our amazing alumni! Put it on your calendar now!

When Christine Knudson and Marco Castillo began their degrees in geology at NIU, little did they know they would eventually be working on Mars. Both alumni now work at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, as part of teams who are exploring the planet through remote instruments. These two researchers wi...

08/01/2021

Geological mapping position at the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology. Check it out!

The University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) appreciates your interest in employment at our growing institution. We want your application process to go smoothly and quickly. We ask that you keep in mind the following when completing your application: Required attachments are listed below on the posting. You...