Orange Alert

San Andreas Fault Zone is the topic for SU's annual Chauncey D. Holmes Lecture and Award Ceremony

Twelve to be recognized for scholarship

March 26, 2010, by Judy Holmes

Twelve Syracuse University undergraduate students will be recognized for excellence in 
introductory earth science during the annual Chauncey D. Holmes Lecture and 
Award Ceremony on Thursday, April 8 at 7 p.m. in Heroy Auditorium, located in the 
Heroy Geology Laboratory.

A reception will be held immediately prior to the lecture outside Heroy Auditorium. The event is presented by the Department of Earth Sciences  K. Douglas Nelson Colloquium Series in SU's 
College of Arts 
and Sciences and is free and open to the public. Paid parking is available in the University’s visitor lots.

The featured speaker for the event will be Mark Zoback, professor of geophysics at Stanford University. Zoback will present “Scientific Drilling into the San Andreas Fault Zone: Results from SAFOD’s First Five Years.”

Zoback, whose research interests are in the fields of crustal stress and geo-mechanics, is one of the principal investigators of the SAFOD project (San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth), which investigates the physics of faulting. He also studies active faulting in Taiwan, in the deep mines of South Africa as well regional tectonic problems in other parts of the world.

Other projects Zoback’s research group is pursuing include research on reservoir geo-mechanics, especially in regard to shale and tight gas reservoirs, geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide, and coastal subsidence in Louisiana.  Zoback’s recent book, “Reservoir Geo-mechanics”  (Cambridge University Press), integrates the fields of structural geology, rock mechanics, and petroleum engineering.

Alumnus Chauncey Holmes G'27, who received a master's degree in geology from 
SU in 1927, established the Chauncey D. Holmes Award. An esteemed geologist, 
Holmes considered raising geologic awareness among undergraduate students a 
prime objective of his academic career.  The awards were established to recognize outstanding introductory geology students.

Recipients of the 2010 Chauncey D. Holmes Awards are:

•    Marybeth Anagnost, sophomore in The College of Arts and Sciences
•    Arielle Berger, sophomore in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
•    Darren Consolati, sophomore in the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science
•    Sara Dool, junior in The College of Arts and Sciences
•    Gregory Gordon, sophomore in the School of Information Studies
•    Casey Lawless, sophomore in the College of Human Ecology
•    Lauren Ottaviano, sophomore in The College of Arts and Sciences
•    Nicole Peters, junior in The College of Arts and Sciences
•    Bryan Sakakeeny, sophomore in The College of Arts and Sciences
•    Matthew Streeter, junior in The College of Arts and Sciences
•    Grace Verchota, sophomore in The College of Arts and Sciences
•    Elin Wiklund, sophomore in The College of Arts and Sciences

Media Contact

Judy Holmes