An Exciting China Project Update!

Hello fellow geoscientists!

It’s Sophie and Paige, working on the China Project. Sophie is a 4th year, Geology and Latin American Studies double major. Sophie just came back from studying abroad in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Paige is a 2nd year, double majoring in Geology and Environmental Studies. She spent the past summer working in the lab and preparing for her first conference!

We have been busy this semester in the lab; running samples, drafting our results, and attending conferences have kept us busy. With the addition of new gamma-spectrometers, allowing us to run four samples a day now, we have run almost 150 of our samples in the past few months. Consequently, we have started analyzing China samples and drafting our results. Paige spent long hours in the lab over the summer learning data analysis processes, so she was able to tie up some loose ends of the leached coarse-grained fractions. Sophie will be applying her GIS skills to analyze the watersheds of collection sites, which will be used in writing the radioisotope paper.

Unleached fine-grained sediment fractions (top drawer) and leached coarse-grained fractions (bottom drawer) that were recently ran in the detectors.

Interesting salt growth on dried, neutralized leachates.

In September, Paige presented our work at the Geological Society of America Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. As this was her first time attending a conference, she said “it was very exciting to see the research process unfold and discuss my work with peers in a more professional setting.” She was able to network with other geoscientists from all over the country and see the first hand collaboration with other sciences in the geomorphology field. The most exciting part of her experience was talking with graduate programs and future employment opportunities, like the National Park Service, to understand the next steps she would need to take after Oberlin. She also got the chance to meet multiple Oberlin geo-alumni and our collaborators at the University of Vermont! Overall, her experience was overwhelmingly positive, and she looks forward to presenting updated research on the China samples next year in Montreal. 

Paige presenting the China poster at the GSA conference in Phoenix.