Geoscience Research
Ignite Your
Career
Experiences beyond the classroom serve as your professional foundation.
Hone your skills on campus, throughout the region or all the way to China. Through opportunities like research projects and internships, you can explore career opportunities and experience professional development. Research projects can be done by either collaborating with professors on their projects or completing faculty-mentored independent work.
Student Research
- A calcite investigation on the Great Bank of Guizhou in the Nanpanjiang Basin, South China
- A regional groundwater Isoscape for δ2H and δ18O in the Silurian Aquifer of northeastern Wisconsin
- Igneous rocks from Antarctica and northern Wisconsin
- Sediment and turbidity correlation in Wisconsin streams
- Seasonal continentality of Wisconsin
- Water content of snowfall based on air temperature
- Northeast Wisconsin’s perceptions of weather broadcasts
- Styles of dolomitization observed in the Great Bank of Guizhou, Nanpanjiang Basin, South China
- Analysis of carbonate diagenesis on the Great Bank of Guizhou (south China) using geochemical, geothermometric and geochronological techniques.
- Bedrock geologic mapping of the Mountain and Shay Lake 7.5’ quadrangles (Wisconsin)
- Evaluation of the potential for arsenic release in two cones of depression in northeastern Wisconsin
- Field scale determination of depth to bedrock using geophysics
- Zircon petrochronology, geochemistry and petrology of Archean‐Paleoproterozoic rock exposed in the Wisconsin River valley and adjacent areas
Faculty Research
- Professor Luczaj – NSF funded project for students to travel to China and research the formation of dolomite on Triassic carbonate platforms. Various projects related to groundwater chemistry and stable isotope systems.
- Professor Malone – Various projects that explore regional tectonics, including igneous and metamorphic petrology, zircon age dating and geochemistry.
- Professor Berns-Herrboldt – Evaluating the transport of phosphorus in streambank sediments, determining controls on PFAS leaching in soils, and studying conditions that impact arsenic release in aquifers.
Internships for Credit
Generally, internships involve about 50 hours of work for each credit, so about 150 hours for a three-credit internship; this is about 10 hours per week during a regular semester. Internships are to follow these expectations:
Supervised Internship
The off-campus internship supervisor is expected to oversee your work and ensure the position offers educational value and a good experience.
Faculty Mentor
A faculty mentor on campus oversees the internship, meets periodically with the student during the semester, reviews written work and submits a grade.
Reflect on Your Experience
You'll complete a project evaluating your experience during the internship, connecting internship experience with material learned in traditional classes.
Internship Grading
Internships are graded based on the quality of performance and the quality of the final product.
Ask an expert
One of Professor Shawn Malone's research interests include Zircon petrochronology of the Penokean orogeny; in other words, he studies the ancient mountain belt and oldest rocks in Wisconsin. Connect with him or one of our other professors about research projects!