Since 2019, Gaby has been involved with a local groundwater water quality project, the "All About Arsenic" project, looking at the spatial and teporal distribution of chemical components in private well water. Gaby designed a sampling event in Winter 2019 to look at the spatial distribution of well water components with respect to the local geology. During summer 2020, Gaby became an MDI Fellow to continue working on the project during a summer internship. In addition to making huge contributions to the AAA Story Map, Gaby helped organize a contact-free sampling technique to conduct monthly sampling during COVID! She has presented her work at multiple conferences.
Gabriela Moroz
B.A. Candidate ('21), College of the Atlantic
Sahra is excited to understand where streams begin within characteristic watersheds of coastal Maine. She has completed detailed mapping of one watershed on MDI, Kebo Brook, building on the prior work of collaborators at the University of Maine. In addition to mapping stream segments and identifying channel heads, Sahra produced a new geomorphic map of the watershed and presented her at two regional conferences! Shifting gears to her senior project, Sahra proposed a GeoPark for the Coastal Maine region. Since graduating, Sahra continued to work on the Geopark project as well as at the Land and Garden Preserve on MDI and is now pursuing a master's degree in subarctic watershed science.
Sahra Gibson
B.A. Candidate ('20), College of the Atlantic
As a work study student since 2018, Sara has the opportunity to work on many different projects! During fall 2018, Sara helped me design and distribute a survey to geoscientists in Maine to identify the geoscience education opportunities, resources, and needs throughout the state. The results of the survey were presented at the Geological Society of Maine Fall Meeting and are available on the GSM website. Throughout 2019 Sara has worked on MDI watershed data collection and analysis and has assisted with the private well water project. Sara completed a master's degree in Global Studies at the University of Gothenburg and is beginning a doctoral degree in Human Ecology.
Sara Löwgren
B.A. Candidate ('20), College of the Atlantic
M.A. Candidate, University of Gothenburg
Pato spent nearly all of 2017 and 2018 in the streams of MDI! First as a Friends of Acadia summer intern, Pato monitored multiple watersheds on the island. During his senior year he focused his attention on the “COA stream” for which he developed a multi-sphere history and assessment of the watershed. He has presented his work at the Human Ecology Forum (COA), Maine Sustainability and Water Conference, Acadia National Park Science Symposium, the Geological Society of Maine Student Meeting, and the Northeastern Geological Society of America meeting. View his “story map” here. Pato is now pursuing a master's degree in Environemental Science at the University of Gothenburg.
Patricio (Pato) Garcia Gallardo Freire
B.A. ('18), College of the Atlantic
M.Sc. Candidate, University of Gothenburg
Alba completed an independent study during 2015 on Assessing Volcanic Risk Perception in Arequipa Peru. In 2016-2017, Alba completed a fracture survey of Cadillac and other mountains of Acadia National Park. During her internship at McGill University, Alba began a study of the Eastern Quebec Seismic Zone which she presented at GSA and AGU in 2017! For her senior project work, Alba studied active faults of the Incapuquio Flower Structure of southern Peru which she presented at conferences in Maine as well as at AGU in 2018. Alba is now pursuing her doctoral degree in Earth Science at University of California, Davis.
Alba Mar Rodriguez Padilla
B.A. ('18), College of the Atlantic
Ph.D. Candidate, UC Davis
Gemma Venuti
B.A. ('18), College of the Atlantic
htiwIn addition to many ongoing GIS projects, during 2016-2017 Gemma also worked on many geoscience projects! She helped Alba with the MDI fracture analysis by conducting a survey of fracture orientations using remote datasets. Gemma created a student-driven COA Geology website where students have made webpages for various island sites of geological interest! Gemma contributed to field work in southern Peru (2017) and completed her senior thesis project on the Paleoecology of Great Duck Island, a sediment core analysis which she presented at multiple Maine-based conferences. After graduating Gemma worked in Eugene, OR at the Lane Council of Governments and working on the ship, Ronald H. Brown with NOAA Corps!
Past Students:
Current Students:
Miguel Provencio
B.A. ('17), College of the Atlantic
Miguel is interested in investigating what effect fire has on watersheds. For his senior project he measured the abundance of charcoal in both soil pits within a burned watershed and a sediment core from a dammed stream draining a burned watershed. He found evidence of fire, plausibly the great MDI Fire of 1947, in every sample! Miguel now works for the US Forest Service as a Wildfire Firefighter in CA.
Spencer Gray III
B.A. ('17), College of the Atlantic
Spencer worked on two nearby islands, Mt. Desert Rock (MDR) and Great Duck Island (GDI), to create bedrock and surficial geologic maps for each island. Further, Spencer is using AgiSoft Photoscan technology to build the first DEM of Mt. Desert Rock. He used U-Pb dating to obtain ages for previously undated granites of GDI and MDR! Spencer also contributed to the private well survey of northern MDI (2016). Some presentations of this work, click here. After working for the Community Energy Center, Spencer now works for a construction company in Bar Harbor.
Connor O'Brien
B.A. ('17), College of the Atlantic
Connor established the very first geology-focused exhibit in the Dorr Natural History Museum! His exhibit features the bedrock geologic map of the island, rock samples to observe in hand-sample, and pictures of the rocks on the landscape, outcrop, and thin section scales. He also included some hand-drawn diagrams illustrating some of the major geological forces at work. The exhibit opened in the fall of 2015 and will remain on display for at least through 2019. Connor now works for food services at the College of the Atlantic.
David Niemann
B.A. Candidate, College of the Atlantic
During January-March 2015, David measured the snow pack at the Cox Protectorate property of MDI and sent the results to the Maine Geological Survey for melt and flood prediction map construction. David also began a higher resolution snow survey of the property to look at how landforms influence snow accumulation and snow melt. This study will be continued annually!
Will Minogue
B.A. ('16), College of the Atlantic
Following an internship with the USGS, Will completed the installation of 7 stream discharge monitoring stations on Mt. Desert Island. During spring 2016 Will organized an extensive collaboration between Acadia National Park, Friends of Acadia, College of the Atlantic, and University of Maine, Orono, which is on-going today despite the fact that Will graduated! Will was invited to present a "brown bag talk" to National Park personnel at the completion of his senior project. This project lives on as every year students still monitor the stream gage locations Will established!
Keith Hodson
M.Sc.('12), McGill University
Ph.D. ('18), University of Washington
Keith completed a Masters project in the Cordillera Blanca of the central Peruvian Andes. Keith contributed to a growing body of cosmogenic basin-averaged erosion rates and exhumation rates based on (U-Th)/He thermochronology along the strike of the range to gain an understanding of the spatial and temporal patterns of exhumation in this range. During his time as a masters student, Keith completed three field seasons in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru. Keith has recently completed his doctoral degree in Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. Keith is now a Senior Staff Geologist at Geosyntec Consultants.
Kasparas Spokas
B.Sc.('14), McGill University
Ph.D. ('19), Princeton University
As an undergraduate student, Kasparas initiated a thermobarometric study of the Cordillera Blanca Batholith as a part of the larger tectonic study of the region. He contributed to field work in the Cordillera Blanca during 2012 collecting many glacial moraine boulder samples! Kasparas has recently completed his doctoral degree in Environmental Geochemistry at Princeton University, Princeton, NJ and now works for The Brattle Group in Washington, D.C.
Tyler worked on developing a Quebec-based using geomorphic indices based on remote sensing data. He contributed to field work for a glacial moraine mapping project in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru during 2012. Tyler has recently completed his doctoral degree at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ, and is now a postdoctoral fellow in the Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences of Indiana University.
Tyler Doane
M.Sc. ('14), Vanderbilt University
Ph.D. ('18), Vanderbilt University
Miriam contributed to the landscape evolution story in the Cordillera Blanca through remote landscape analysis. She looked at how the drainage networks change along the strike of the range within the foothill region. Miriam has recently completed her doctoral degree at the Center for Environmental Policy at the Imperial College of London.
Miriam Aczel
B.Sc. ('13), McGill University
M.Sc. ('15), Imperial College of London
Ph.D. ('20), Imperial College of London
Marc-Antoine completed a year-long undergraduate research project, part of an ongoing international effort in the Andes, to constrain glacial chronologies. He focused on the Cordillera Blanca region of northern Peru where he mapped and dated Late Glacial and Holocene moraines. Marc-Antoine spent a month in the field collecting glacial moraine boulders from remote locations! He finished his Masters degree at McGill University and has recently completed his doctoral degree in Earth and Environmental Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY. Marc is now a research associate in the Astronomy Department at Cornell University.
Marc-Antoine Fortin
B.Sc. ('12), McGill University
M.Sc. ('14), McGill University
Ph.D. ('19), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Phil completed a one-year project focused on the forearc of southern Peru where he contributed to mapping and dating abandoned low-relief surfaces in order to evaluate recent tectonic and climatic processes in this region. Phil also completed a detailed remote sensing analysis of the region. In 2012 Phil assisted with field work in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru. He finished a Master’s Degree at the University of Toronto and is now pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Washington.
Philip Greene
B.Sc. ('11), McGill University
M.Sc. ('14), University of Toronto
Ph.D. Candidate, University of Washington
Mathieu completed a one-semester undergraduate independent study during 2010. Using remote data, Matt mapped linear features in the vicinity of the Quebrada Sicera of southern Peru. Based on the presence of and offset of terraces he identified potentially active faults at the foot of the Western Cordillera. Currently Matt is working at ArcelorMittal Mines Canada.
Mathieu Doucette
B.Sc. ('11), McGill University
Dante completed a one-semester undergraduate independent study during 2010. She looked at stream profiles to calculate the steepness index and map knickpoints within a growing anticline in southern Peru. Dante worked as a Environmental Scientist at Matrix Solutions, Inc., Calgary, Canada, and is now pursuing her doctoral degree at the Colorado School of Mines.
Dante Huff
B.Sc. ('11), McGill University
Ph.D. Candidate, CO School of Mines
Mike completed a 1-year senior thesis project on the landslide deposits of the Rio Tambo near Omate, Peru. Mike mapped and dated the deposits as well as estimated the total volume of material that was involved in the slide. He presented his work at the AGU Fall meeting 2007. He received a Dean’s Award for an excellent Honors Thesis. Mike went on to earn a Masters degree in Science Education from UCSC and taught Chemistry and Earth Science at Half Moon Bay High School in CA. Mike is now a research scientist at the USGS in CA.
Mike Davis
B.Sc. ('08), UC, Santa Cruz
M.Ed. ('12), UC, Santa Cruz
M.Sc. ('20) San Francisco State University
Isidora Muñoz Segovia
B.A. Candidate ('22), College of the Atlantic
Isi joined the “All About Arsenic” team as a summer MDIBL Fellow (2020) to work on developing an advocacy toolkit as well as initiating a project on soil chemistry related to pesticide residuals. Since then, she has continued to work on the project as an academic year work study student. She developed an Advocacy Toolkit which teachers can use to help bring "Data to Action". The toolkit was part of a published manuscript in 2021! Isi has also presented her work at multiple conferences during 2020-2022.
Ben Capuano
B.A. Candidate ('23), College of the Atlantic
Ben joins the “All About Arsenic” team to pick up Gaby's work on the project Story Map! Ben will build new maps and "stories" as well as add content as the project expands. Check out the AAA Story Map! Ben also has been exploring how elemental concentrations change through rain events. Check out his poster here.
See student conference presentation photos and info here
Ludwin Moran Sosa
B.A. Candidate ('24), College of the Atlantic
Ludwin got excited about water quality when he enrolled in Topics in Research: Geoscience and Geochemistry (Hall/Hudson). He analyzed the groundwater quality dataset focusing on the different types of filtration on household well water systems. Check out his poster here.
Adam Feher
B.A. Candidate ('23), College of the Atlantic
Lenka Slamova
B.A. Candidate ('23), College of the Atlantic
MHD Mustafa Khorzom
B.A. Candidate ('25), College of the Atlantic
Adam got involved in the All About Arsenic famliy of projects as a summer fellow at MDI Biological Laboratory (2021). While Adam helped with many aspects of the monthly well water sampling project, he focused his research on arsenic uptake by plants and resulting abundance in produce. Check out his poster here.
As a summer fellow at the MDI Biological Laboratory (2021), Lenka joined the All About Arsenic team, contributing to data anlysis and curriculum building. Lenka developed a soil sampling method to investigate arsenic abundances in local orchard and farm sites. Check out her poster here.
Through the Topics in Research: Geoscience and Geochemistry course (Hudson/Hall), Mustafa got involved in a paleoecology study at Little Long Pond. Continuing Sahra Gibson's work on a sediment core, Mustafa analyzed new data and began to weave together a story of the local history! Check out his poster to the right, click for a larger view.
Joshua Harkness
B.A. Candidate ('25), College of the Atlantic
A beaver dam rupture in Acadia National Park's Breakneck Brook watershed resulted in a debris flow that carved a deep channel into the forest and distributed large sediments onto a lower wetland. Joshua's interest in botany lead him to get involved in the mapping of the debris flow impacted area by setting up plant transects across the newly deposted course-fine sediment. He hopes to continue monitoring the site a vegetation repopulates the area.
