Faculty

Charles Bickel Professor of Geology B.A. Geology - Harvard College Ph.D. Geology - Harvard University At SFSU since 1971 Phone: (415) 338-1963 Office: TH 521 E-mail: bickel@sfsu.edu

Chas Bickel opted for an early retirement, and so the Spring 2003 semester was his last as a full time faculty member in Geosciences. He will continue to teach his formidable petrology course, much to the relief of the rest of us, while Dave Mustart has agreed to assume responsibility for mineralogy. Petrology has always been an area where our majors have benefited enormously from his expertise, and an area in which, once our students have gone on to grad school or employment, they have consistently been able to demonstrate their competence.

John Caskey Associate Professor of Geology B.A. Geology - Humboldt State University M.S. and Ph.D. Geology - University of Nevada, Reno At SFSU since 1998 Phone: (415) 405-0353 Office: TH 616 E-mail: caskey@sfsu.edu Website

I continue to involve students in my summer research out in central Nevada focusing on a variety of recent and ongoing projects such as: patterns and rates of paleoseismicity in the central Nevada seismic belt; characteristics of active faults in relation to geothermal resources in the Basin and Range; paleoliquefaction in the Stillwater seismic gap; and pluvial lake histories and using pluvial lake shorelines as tiltmeters to measure isostatic and tectonic deformation. Much of the work we’ve accomplished over the past few years has recently come to fruition through manuscripts either accepted or submitted to the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America and the Journal of Geodynamics. I’ve organized and participated in a number of field trips the past few years; none more exciting and rewarding than the 2003 Annual Pacific Cell Friends of the Pleistocene field trip to Dixie Valley, Nevada. In keeping with tradition, the Friends trip was an epic experience, camping out under a star-filled desert sky and full moon with over 200 crazy students and professionals for three days and nights. The aspects of historical faulting, paleoseismology, and chronostratigraphy of the central Nevada seismic belt we presented seemed to go over pretty well too. It’s been a fun teaching majors’ courses in Structural Geology, Field Methods, Neotectonics, and a non-majors course on earthquakes, working with students on their thesis research, and spending most of the summer months in the field trying to keep my research progressing, often in new directions. In the last few years I’ve had the privilege of working with some talented and enthusiastic M.S. and B.S. students on interesting local projects such as: documenting the active nature and style of deformation along the (blind) Serra thrust fault in southwest San Francicso (Drew Kennedy); Tectonic geomorphology and paleoseismic behavior of the southern Rodgers Creek fault (Carrie Randolph-Loar); correlation and uplift rates of late Pleistocene marine terraces along the Seal Cove fault (Mitch Monroe); Geophysical mapping of serpentinite bodies in the San Francisco Presidio (Joe Pesche); and mapping and Ar/Ar dating of coast range volcanic rocks at Burdell Mountain with implications for long-term offset on the East Bay fault system (Rick Ford).

David Dempsey Professor of Meteorology B.S. Mathematics and Atmospheric Science, University of California, Davis Ph.D. Atmospheric Science, University of Washington, Seattle At SFSU since 1989 Phone: (415) 338-7716 Office: TH 610 Site Manager, Weather Graphics and Simulation Laboratory E-mail: ddempsey@sundog.sfsu.edu Website

The year was 1999. The dot-com bubble was stretched (almost) to bursting. A national movement toward science education reform was gathering momentum, fueled by grant money and stimulated by new ideas and research about teaching and learning. California had approved a new set of content standards for future high school science teachers. Soon came new standards for future K-8 teachers. At about that time, Karen Grove (then department Chair) and I had become both dissatisfied with traditional science teaching and convinced that improving teacher preparation in science was important. We decided to tap into the money flowing into science education reform. In 2000 we received a grant from NASA-NOVA, and in 2002 we landed another one, from NSF. These grants have led to the creation of two experimental, interdisciplinary geoscience courses designed for future teachers (and others). Our NASA-NOVA grant funded GEOL/METR 310, "Planetary Climate Change", which investigates the dynamics of climate change and is aimed at future high-school science teachers and geoscience majors. it. Our NSF grant funded GEOL/METR 309, "Investigating Land, Sea and Air Interactions", for future K-8 teachers, which Ray Pestrong and I have co-taught with a colleague from the College of Education. We also bought eighteen networked Mac G4 laptop computers and remodeled Room 604 of Thornton Hall to create a new, combination classroom/computer lab, which has stimulated teaching experiments in several classes besides G/M 309. (However, it has also meant more work--maybe too much!--for me as computer lab administrator.)

Oswaldo Garcia Professor of Meteorology B.S. Applied Geophysics, Columbia University M.S. and Ph.D, Atmospheric Science, State University of NY at Albany At SFSU since 1988 Phone: (415) 338-2061 Office: TH 509 Chair, Department of Geosciences E-mail: ogarcia@sfsu.edu

One of the most important developments in the Department of Geosciences over the last few years is our new Bachelor of Science program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. We are seeing significant interest in the new program and are hopeful that interest will translate into increasing student enrollments. Students in this new program that plan to go on to graduate school are required to do a senior research project on a topic that interests them. Last year I thoroughly enjoyed supervising the research projects of the first two students that graduated under the new program. Mike Richards performed a statistical analysis of aircraft turbulence reports over the United States and Serena Chew analyzed the relationship between El Niño and La Niña events on the flow of the Caroní River in Venezuela. Both Mike and Serena got admitted to prestigious graduate programs; we look forward to many more students following in their footsteps. In addition to my teaching duties, which involve majors classes dealing with the broad field of physical meteorology and air-sea interactions, I have spent a lot of time in recent years representing our department and the College of Science and Engineering at the Academic Senate of SFSU. I am currently serving as the chair of the Academic Program Review Committee of the Senate and I am also serving as co-chair of the All-University Committee for Students, Faculty and Staff with Disabilities. Probably the most rewarding activity that I am engaged in at this time is working in the SF-ROCKS project with other colleagues from the department, our dedicated student interns and the teachers from several San Francisco high schools. The meteorology component of SF-ROCKS involve the installation of weather stations at participating high school and the deployment of a net of rain gauge stations by dozens of high school students throughout the city. In addition, we meet on a weekly basis with four tenth graders from Burton High School on a project to compare the accuracy of different forecasting techniques. Their result will be presented at a poster session at the Fall AGU meeting in December.

Newell Garfield Professor of Oceanography B.A. Geology - Williams College M.A. Marine Sciences - University of Delaware Ph.D. Physical Oceanography - University of Rhode Island At SFSU since 1998 Phone: (415) 338-2617 Office: 516 Thornton Hall E-mail: garfield@sfsu.edu Website

The new undergraduate degree in meteorology and oceanography means that my teaching duties are being shuffled. For my first four years at SFSU I taught the GE class, Geol 102: Introduction to Oceanography and a series of graduate oceanography classes that attracted mostly students pursuing the MS in Marine Biology. In addition I developed a class to teach the MATLAB programming language. With the new degree I will start teaching more majors classes. The first was offered last spring, Metr 200 and 201, a combined course to introduce atmospheric and oceanic dynamics. The students especially appreciated a day cruise on the R/V Point Sur. Well, most of them appreciated the cruise....This academic year I have the opportunity of being the visiting faculty at the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. Bill Broenkow retired last year so I am teaching the Introductory Physical Oceanography Course while the search is on for his replacement. I’m enjoying working with new colleagues and seeing another facet of the CSU. My research is taking an unexpected turn. About every 30 years the oceanography community undergoes a national self examination. The present self evaluation (http://www.ocean.us/ and http://www.pewoceans.org) is coming out strongly in support of creating regional associations for operating coastal ocean observatories. One important component will be monitoring coastal surface circulation using a technology referred to as HF radar (high frequency). We set up an experimental array at RTC in 2000 using a new instrument called CODAR (Barrack et al., Oceans 2000). Since then I have been looking for funding opportunities to create a permanent CODAR installation in San Francisco Bay and the Gulf of the Farallones. Federal money has been available for two other regional observatories. One is CI-CORE (Center for Integrative Coastal Observation, Research and Education, http://mlml.calstate.edu/cicore) which is a California State University federal entitlement initiative to create a monitoring network at CSU campuses aimed at serving local regulatory agencies and providing educational tools. Kenneth Coale, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, is the head of the program and, as of last August, I am the coordinator. The second is NOAA funding to hire a person to help organize a central California “Regional Association” to be the liaison between federal funding sources and the observing work in California. I’m serving on the executive council of this group and am working to see that all three efforts pull together to make sure central California is a national leader in coastal observing. These are exciting times to be active in coastal oceanography and in a department that has created a new degree directly related to these challenges. Certainly no complaints about not enough to do.

Karen Grove Professor of Geology and Oceanography B.S. Geology - University of Maryland Ph.D. Geology - Stanford University At SFSU since 1990 Phone: (415) 338-2617 Office: TH 509 Site Manager: Earth Systems Laboratory E-mail: KGrove@sfsu.edu Website

Matthew La Force Assistant Professor of Geology B.S. Geology - SUNY, Cortland M.S. Geology - University of Idaho Ph.D. Soil Science - University of Idaho At SFSU since 2000 Phone: (415) 338-6869 Office: TH 510 E-mail: laforce@sfsu.edu Website

I am a hydrogeochemist who investigates trace element mobility in soil, rock, lacustrine and wetland ecosystems. To understand nature one needs to work jointly on a multidisciplinary research team whose focus is on studying the natural environment. I feel that laboratory analysis should be performed on field collected samples and laboratory experiments should mimic real world conditions. In conjunction with my field work I commonly use wet geochemical digestions and state of the art spectroscopic techniques (i.e., x-ray absorption spectroscopy). On the teaching side of things I am a strong advocate of a learning by doing philosophy. Science is perpetuated by our own self-inquiry and active hands on discovery. Thus, I use cutting-edge teaching techniques that enable students to actively learn and digest material covered in my courses. For example, I use pyramid evaluations, inquiry based learning techniques, think-pair-share activities, project based field assignments, group work, and jigsaw activities in conjunction with multi-media lectures on a routine basis. These strategies help to create an active classroom environment, which stimulates and fosters student learning. I instruct a wide array of courses within the geoscience curriculum at SFSU. Typically, I instruct Hydrogeology, Contaminant Hydrogeology, Environmental Geology, and Quaternary Geology. I have three active graduate students and one senior thesis student. Our research entails working on constructing the paleolakebottom of Mountain Lake. The purpose of this study is to assess geologic cores taken from the eastern arm of the lake in order to determine the pre-1890 paleolakebottom depth. We hope to assist project managers in restoring the lake bottom back to its original depth prior to anthropogenic alterations. I also am investigating serpentine soil boundaries at the Presidio and investigating background trace element concentrations with the Franciscan Complex. We are assisting habitat restoration efforts of serpentine prairie at the Presidio and helping environmental consulting firms determine baseline levels of trace elements in the Bay Area.

Mary Leech Assistant Professor of Geology B.S. Geology - San Jose State University Ph.D. Geological and Environmental Sciences - Stanford University At SFSU since 2005 Phone: (415) 338-1144 Office: TH 515 E-mail: leech@sfsu.edu Website

Research and/or Teaching Area: Petrology, geochemistry, geochronology, the tectonics of mountain building, and natural hazards. My research involves field work that has taken me to mountain belts all over the globe - the Indian Himalaya, the Dabie-Sulu belt in eastern China, the Scandinavian Caledonides of Norway, the Urals Mountains in Russia and the Kokchetav massif in Kazakhstan. While each is unique, these mountain belts have one thing in common: ultrahigh-pressure eclogite-facies rocks. The eclogites form in subduction zone complexes in the suture zones of mountain belts (where two continents are essentially stitched together) and record a complete pressure-temperature-time history from comprising the edge of a continent, to subduction into the upper mantle and then the return path back to the surface. An ever-increasing number of these subduction zone complexes contain evidence that eclogites were subducted to depths in the upper mantle where pressures are great enough to form microscopic diamond (>100 km or >70 miles) thus making them ultrahigh-pressure rocks. Study of these subduction zone complexes involves investigation into not only the petrology and geochemistry of these rocks but also large-scale processes of continental collision and subduction, crust-mantle interactions and the tectonics of mountain building.

My research has required a variety of analytical techniques, in which undergraduate and graduate students have already been involved: radiometric dating (U-Pb dating of zircon on an ion microprobe [SHRIMP] using cathodoluminescence imaging, and apatite fission-track dating); establishing mineral chemistry using an electron microprobe; investigating the graphite-diamond transition using x-ray diffraction, raman and infrared spectroscopy, and scanning and transmission electron microscopy; and stable isotope analyses of carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen using infrared CO2 and in-situ UV laser ablation mass spectrometry and on an elemental analyzer.

John Monteverdi Professor of Meteorology B.A. Geology - University of California, Berkeley M.A. Geography/Climatology - University of California, Berkeley Ph.D Geography/Climatology - University of California, Berkeley At SFSU since 1979 Phone: (415) 338-7728 Office: TH 613 Geosciences Web Site Manager E-mail: montever@sfsu.edu Website

David Mustart Professor of Geology B.S. Trace Element Geochemistry-University of British Columbia Ph.D. Geology - Stanford University At SFSU since 1971 Phone: (415) 338-7729 Office: TH 620 E-mail: mustart@sfsu.edu

How do you keep this man down? After everyone in the department gave him up for dead, and started the monumental task of cleaning out his office, David suddenly reappeared at the beginning of last semester, and immediately assumed the grueling schedule that has been his modus operendi (Matt will explain the etymology) In his customary whirlwind fashion David is characteristically everywhere at once. When he's not teaching Chas's mineralogy course, taking on Lisa's historical geology, or stimulating students in physical, he's chairing the departmental curriculum committee and contributing to space and HRTP issues. David is able to maintain his ambitious travel schedule, having visited, during this past semester alone, Singapore, Zimbabwe, Tasmania, Tierra del Fuego and Uzbekistan. Locally he's been to Redwood City and Pacifica, and confides in me his ambition to see Milpitas. He's still committed to studying granite pipes, apparently oblivious to the fact that the revised building codes now require that all plumbing be either copper or approved plastic. This does not dissuade geology majors and graduate students, however, who are eager to work under his inspired tutelage. He regularly tutels Charlene, and is overseeing Matt's dictionary of esoterica (a euphemism for geology terms you'll only find in Norway).

Raymond Pestrong Professor of Geology B.S. Geology - City College of the City University of New York M.S. Geology (Civil Engineering Minor) - University of Massachusetts Ph.D. Geology - Stanford University At SFSU since 1966 Phone: (415) 338-2080 Office: TH 623 E-mail: rayp@sfsu.edu Website

Leonard Sklar Assistant Professor of Geology B.S. Applied Science - New York University B.E. Civil Engineering - Cooper Union M.S. Civil Engineering - University of California, Berkeley Ph.D. Geology - University of California, Berkeley At SFSU since 2003 Phone: (415) 338-1204 Office: TH 622 E-mail: leonard@sfsu.edu

Lisa White Professor of Geology B.A. Geology - San Francisco State University Ph.D. Geology - University of California, Santa Cruz At SFSU since 1990 E-mail: lwhite@sfsu.edu Phone: (415) 338-1963 Office: TH521 Website

My broad research interests remain in the area of paleontology and, although it’s been challenging for me to balance the chairship with coordinating the SF-ROCKS program, supervising graduate students, and teaching classes, I am happily pursuing new research directions with my graduate students. I have graduate students working on Mesozoic molluscan cold seep communities in the Great Valley Group (Kristin Hepper), gastropod assemblages in a hot spring in Cuatro Ciengas, Mexico (Zita Maliga), mastodon and mammoth stratigraphy in late Cenozoic fluvial terraces (Bob Davies), and sediment transport in Raccoon Strait, central San Francisco Bay (Kasha Parker).

As principal investigator of the SF-ROCKS program (Reaching Out to Communities and Kids With Science in San Francisco, http://sf-rocks.sfsu.edu) I coordinate a geoscience education project with high schools in the southeastern part of San Francisco (see details in the SF-ROCKS section Focus). My work with the S.F Unified School District extends beyond the SF-ROCKS project to collaborations with scientists at the California Academy of Sciences, the U.C. Museum of Paleontology, and the SFUSD Project INQUIRES to develop a number of inquiry-driven standards-based activities for middle school science teachers on California Landscapes and the Dynamic Earth (http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/calandscape/index.html). This work with teachers and students has caused me to retrace some of my San Francisco roots. As a product of SFUSD and SFSU, I have enjoyed bringing my experience as an alumnus and now as a professor to educating the next generation of teachers and students.

Geology

Meteorology

Warren Blier Adjunct Professor of Meteorology B.S. in Atmospheric Sciences, 1982, University of California, Davis Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences, 1989, University of Washington Appointed Adjunct 2000 Phone: (831) 656-1710 x224 Science Operations Officer, NWS Forecast Office, SF Bay Area E-mail: Warren.Blier@noaa.gov

Jan Null Adjunct Professor of Meteorology B.S. Atmospheric Sciences - University of California, Davis M.A. Geography/Climatology - San Jose State University Email: jnull@ggweather.com Home Page

Geology

Jon Galehouse B.S. Geology-College of Wooster Ph.D. Geology- University of California, Berkeley Appointed 1967 Emeritus since 1996

Research and/or Teaching Areas:

York Mandra Professor of Geology B.A. Paleontology - University of California, Berkeley M.A. Geology - University of California, Berkeley Ph.D. Geology - Stanford University At SFSU since 1954 Phone: (415) 338-1144 Office: TH515 E-mail: ytmandra@sfsu.edu

It's always seemed as though York was operating on his own personal geologic time scale as he continued his career in geosciences here at San Francisco State. Not only did he help create our department and serve as its head during its critical formative years, but he also has the distinction of being the faculty member on our campus with the longest active teaching record. However, even York is a mere mortal, and is beginning to feel the effects of the aging process. This past semester he had to cut short his full teaching schedule, for health reasons, and has been urged by his doctor to take the Spring, 2004 semester off to rest and recuperate. We wish him well and eagerly await his decision about how he will continue his association with our department.

Erwin Seibel, Professor of Oceanography B.S. Geology - City College of the City University of New York M.S. Oceanography - The University of Michigan Ph.D. Oceanography - The University of Michigan At SFSU since 1979 Phone: (415) 338-2206 Office: TH621 E-mail: Eseibel@sfsu.edu

What I have enjoyed most since returning to the department after being Dean of Undergraduate Studies and serving as Associate Director of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges is being around students and Science College and department colleagues. It is nice to be back in the classroom and back dabbling in some research especially thinking again about the processes that might contribute to the formation of beach cusps. I have been interested in the formation and denudation of beach cusps my entire professional career. I now think that perhaps the same mechanism that works to form nearshore ice volcanoes might be the contributing mechanism for beach cusp formation namely the unequal distribution of wave height along storm generated waves or the effect of internal waves on moderating wave heights at regular and predictable intervals. I plan to test both of these ideas out this spring. As many of you who know me staying away from policy and policy issues is difficult so it should come as no surprise that over the last five years I have remained involved in policy development and implementation of said policy. I worked behind the scenes in the formulation of some of the ideas in the newly revised master plan for higher education here in California and while at WASC as well as when I returned to SFSU I played a major role in the reformulation of how universities are evaluated during the accreditation process. The new design focuses both on the ability to deliver what it says it delivers as well as how effective is the education that a university says it delivers. Both of these undertaking were great opportunities to work with colleagues across disciplines, from across the country and worldwide. I had a great time and the products were worth the efforts. At State and at the prompting of David Mustart I reinvolved myself in General Education and have chaired that council for the last two and a half years. The result has been the completion of a restatement of General Education Policy on campus as well as the initiation of a review of all of GE. A monumental task indeed but the good news is that the process is well underway and the light at the end of the tunnel is very bright. The future looks even brighter as I have renewed my commitment to a number of research directions working with colleagues like Toby Garfield and others here on campus as well as with some longtime colleagues in DC.

Raymond Sullivan Professor of Geology Emeritus Since 2003 B.Sc. Geology- University of Sheffield Ph.D. Geology- University of Glasgow Appointed 1962 Emeritus since 2003 Website

Retirement has opened up new challenges and opportunities. I am enjoying the freedom to explore new research areas and to travel to interesting places. I still maintain an office in the department and attend many of the lectures and seminars. I teach the occasional geology class mainly at CSU Chico where I fill in for my son, Morgan, from time to time when he is away attending a meeting or doing field work. I have remained active in my studies of Tertiary rocks of northern California. Morgan and I continue to lead field trips to the Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve. We are expanding our work of the Eocene rocks on the north side of Mount Diablo into the subsurface of the Sacramento basin. We have focused our research on the application of sequence stratigraphy to the depositional setting and reservoir characterization of the lower Tertiary succession in the southern part of the basin. We presented our research at the National meeting of AAPG in Salt Lake City and the Pacific Section meeting at Long Beach in 2003.
My interest in the coal-rich deposits in the Domengine Formation of California has encouraged me to travel back to Europe and my roots in Wales in order to visit other coal mining regions. Over the past year, I have many several visit to the South Wales and Somerset coalfields. While in Somerset, I took the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of William Smith using the book “The Map that changed the World” as my guide. I also spent some time in the excellent coal mining exhibits in museums in Munich and Prague. I even visited my PhD thesis area in Pembrokeshire this winter after an absence of over 40 years. I worked in the Carboniferous Limestone of this beautiful part of the coast of southwest Wales from 1957-60 while a graduate student at the University of Glasgow. The study area is now part of the Pembrokeshire National Park. I was able to look again with more experienced eyes at the rocks and structures exposed in the coastal cliffs. I stood at the section in Tenby that was the site of my first published paper in the Geological Magazine in 1964. I looked critically at the section and hoped that I got it right the first time. My over all feeling was that I had come along way since those far off days and remembered the old saying “rocks don’t lie”.

Meteorology

Catherine Felton Emeritus Professor of Meteorology B.A. Meteorology - Saint Louis University Ph.D. Geography/Climatology - University of California, Berkeley