Geology & Geophysics Lecture Series
Special lectures are hosted by the department to help expand student's access to a wide range of topics and distinguished academics. Financial support for the lecture series is provided by the LJ Wilbert Endowment, Grover E. Murray Educational Fund, and the Marathon Oil Distinguished Speaker Series Fund.
Network with us! All lectures will generally take place on Fridays at 3:30 p.m. in E130 Howe-Russell-Kniffen unless otherwise noted. Refreshments are served before lectures around 3:00 p.m. in the Clarence Cazalot Marathon Oil Atrium.
Fall 2023 Schedule
Stay tuned for updates! #GeauxGeology
| Date | Lecture Topic | Speaker(s) | Faculty Host |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 25 |
"Utilizing Structured Decision-Making to Integrate Data, Modeling, and Science into Policy Formulation and Implementation" |
Dr. Alyssa Dausman Chief Scientist, The Water Institute |
Dr. Samuel Bentley |
| September 8 | LSU AAPG Energy Library Opening Ceremony! |
Louisana State University AAPG Student Chapter Presenting |
N/A |
| September 15 | "On Being a Professional Geoscientist in Louisiana" |
William Schramm President, Louisiana Board of Professional Geoscientists |
Dr. Carol Wilson |
| September 22 |
"Reading the Skin of the Earth: Toward Quantifying Tectonic, Lithologic, and Hydroclimatic Controls on Topography Through Space and Time" |
Dr. Adam Forte Department of Geology and Geophysics at Louisana State University |
Dr. Peter Doran |
| September 29 | "Influence of Hydrogeochemical History on Thermodynamically Constrained, Habitable Water-Rock Dominated Systems" |
Dr. Devan Nisson Princeton University and NASA-JPL |
Dr. Suniti Karunatillake and Dr. Achim Herrmann |
| October 20 | "Exploring for Critical Minerals in Southern Africa" |
Dr. Bianca Kennedy Independent Geologist |
Dr. Barbara Dutrow |
| October 27 | "The Rio Grande: Why Is the Other Great Riverine-to-Submarine Transport System in The Gulf of Mexico Basin So Different Than the Mississippi?" |
Dr. David Mohrig Associate Dean for Research, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin |
Dr. Carol Wilson |
| November 3 | "Radiogenic Hydrothermal-Meltwater Processes and Associated Habitability Across Bulk-Silicate Bodies" |
Dr. Lujendra Ojha Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University |
Drs. Suniti Karunatillake and Juan Lorenzo |
| November 10 | "Water-Rock Interaction Models Link Martian Meteorites to Local, Regional, and Global Aqueous Alteration on Early Mars" |
Dr. Mohit Melwani Daswani NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratories, California Institute of Technology |
Drs. Matthew Loocke and Suniti Karunatillake |
| November 17 | "Smart Sediment Management Factors in the Lower Mississippi River" |
Dr. Mitchell Andrus Executive Vice President, Royal Engineers & Consultants |
Dr. Samuel Bentley |
Spring 2023 Schedule
| Date | Lecture Topic | Speaker(s) | Faculty Host |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 20 | "Lessons Learned from Global CO2 Storage Projects" |
Dr. Kathryn Denommee Dr. Ganesh Dasari |
Dr. Juan Lorenzo |
| January 27 | "Part I: Energy Exploration: Applied Sedimentology; Part II: The Louisiana Geological Survey: Past, Present, and the Vision for the Future" | Dr. Clare Falcon | Dr. Karen Luttrell |
|
February 3 *Begins at 4:30 pm* |
"Forum on Energy and the Energy Transition" Panelists include: Clarence Cazalot, Retired CEO of Marathon Oil |
LSUGG Alumni Panel | Dr. Darrell Henry |
| February 10 | "Probing Earth’s Seafloor to Understand Space: Impact Craters, Plumes, and True Polar Wander" | Dr. Sonia Tikoo | Dr. Suniti Karunatillake |
| February 17 | "Linking Sedimentary Processes to The Formation Of Wind-Blown Microbial Landscapes for Biosignature Exploration on Other Worlds" | Dr. Ryan Ewing | Dr. Suniti Karunatillake |
| February 24 | "The Climate Crisis: Where are We, What Can We Do" | * Dr. Maureen Raymo | Dr. Peter Clift |
| March 10 |
Computer simulations of magmatic melts for structural and dynamical insights |
Dr. Bijaya Karki | Dr. Jianwei Wang |
| March 24 | "Icy Secrets and Retreating Glaciers: Past, Present, and Future" | * Dr. Ellen Mosley-Thompson | Dr. Peter Doran |
| March 31 | "The Exploration of Mars: From Mariner to Mars 2020 and Sample Return" | * Dr. Scott McLennan | Dr. Suniti Karunatillake |
| April 14 | "Out of (Chemical) Equilibrium and into Metamorphic Depths: Mineral Inclusions in Garnets and Elastic Thermobarometers Reveal True Crystallization Depths" | Dr. Jay Thomas | Dr. Darrell Henry |
| April 21 |
Environmental Impact of Nuclear Fuel Cycle: 'Entanglement' of Science, Engineering, and the Social Sciences" |
* Dr. Rodney Ewing | Dr. Barb Dutrow |
Fall 2022 Schedule
| Date | Lecture Topic | Speaker(s) | Faculty Host |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 26 | "LSU Campus Mounds: The Oldest Extant Man-made Structures in North America"Live Recording Available - Watch Now! |
Dr. Brooks Ellwood Geology and Geophysics, LSU |
Dr. Sam Bentley |
| September 2 |
Themed Seminar: “Planetary sojourns on Earth,” the two perspectives of ongoing and upcoming research are entitled: Wheel-based seismic acquisition system for a planetary rover Exploring a serendipitous Mars analog serpentine zone in Sri Lanka |
Drs. Juan Lorenzo & Suniti Karunatillake Geology and Geophysics, LSU |
Dr. Darrell Henry |
| September 9 |
"Stories and Highlights of Summer Research" The two narratives, a first in highlighting the experiential aspects of research are entitled: “Mineralogical riches from Lyon, France to Elba Island, Italy” by Dr. Barb Dutrow "Travails with a seismic payload in a Mars-analog Alaskan permafrost tunnel" by Dr. Lorenzo |
Drs. Barb Dutrow, Juan Lorenzo Geology and Geophysics, LSU |
Dr. Suniti Karunatillake |
| September 16 |
"Moderate, Localized Water Scarcity Possible in the Willamette Basin, Oregon, Over Next 80 years: Results from a Coupled Climate – Physical – Biological – Socioeconomic Model" |
Dr. Roy Haggerty Executive Vice President and Provost, LSU |
Dr. Darrell Henry |
| September 23 |
Voyage to Another Planet: The Ocean Floor of the Western Pacific |
Dr. Jon Snow Geology and Geophysics, LSU |
Dr. Karen Luttrell |
| September 30 | "Insight into the recent fluvial and tectonic development of the Telavi Region of the Western Kura Fold-Thrust Belt: Active deformation in the “Napa Valley” of Georgia" |
Dr. Lasha Sukhishvili Ilia State University in T'blisi, Georgia |
Dr. Adam Forte |
| October 7 | "Connecting Patterns to Processes in Martian Boulder Fields" |
Dr. Don Hood Department of Geosciences, Baylor University |
Dr. Suniti Karunatillake |
| October 21 | "Sediment dispersal, accumulation, and transformation into stratigraphy: Interpreting environmental changes across time and space for fluvial-deltaic landscapes" |
Dr. Jeff Nittrouer Department of Geosciences, Texas Tech University |
Dr. Carol Wilson |
| October 28 |
"Petrochronology: Tools that can Elucidate Tectonic Histories" |
Dr. Harold Stowell Department of Geological Sciences, University of Alabama |
Dr. Darrell Henry |
| November 4 |
"Interrogating the El Nino-Southern Oscillation's Impacts on U.S. Hydroclimate over the Last Millennium" |
Dr. Sylvia Dee Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Rice University |
Dr. Suniti Karunatillake |
| November 11 | "Earth-Shattering: Gravitational Evidence of Impact-Induced Porosity" |
Dr. Peter James Department of Geoscience, Baylor University |
Dr. Suniti Karunatillake |
| November 18 | "Earth’s Unique Continents" |
Dr. Roberta Rudnick Earth Science, University of California at Santa Barbara |
Dr. Jon Snow |
| December 2 |
"Aqua Incognita', The Nature of Waters Underlying the Baton Rouge Aquifers to a Crustal Depth of 40,000 Feet" |
Dr. Jeff Hanor Geology and Geophysics, LSU |
Dr. Darrell Henry |
|
December 9 |
Terrestrial adventures of an originally celestial isotope signature" |
Dr. Huiming Bao International Center for Isotopics Effects Research, Nanjing University, China |
Dr. Suniti Karunatillake |