O’Connell – Page 2

Suzanne O'Connell, professor of earth and environmental sciences, was named a Councilor of the Geological Society of America for the GSA's governing board. O'Connell will hold this position July 2017 through June 2021 along with two other faculty from the University of Rochester and California State University. "GSA members have again elected thoughtful and innovative individuals to lead the organization and further the impact of geoscience," said GSA Executive Director Vicki McConnell. "I am excited to work with the new Officers and Councilors as they join the GSA leadership team." In addition, Marty Gilmore, the George I. Seney Professor of Geology, professor of earth and environmental…

From April 27-30 the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences hosted the 30th Annual Keck Geology Consortium Symposium at Wesleyan. The event involved several field trips to local sites of geographic significance and concluded with presentations at Exley Science Center from those who attended the field trips. The first trip was led by Paul Olsen, the Arthur D. Storke Memorial Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University. This excursion examined the Connecticut River Valley Basin for remaining traces of the mass extinction that preceded the rise of the dinosaurs 202 million years ago. "The Connecticut River Valley Basin is one…

Suzanne O’Connell, professor of earth and environmental sciences, faculty director of the McNair Program, together with Ed Laine ’69 and Kerry Brenner ’94, attended a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NAS) workshop in Washington, D.C. on April 20-21. The three were involved in a report on Service Learning in the Geosciences. O’Connell presented the report at the meeting. Laine, recently retired from Bowdoin College, was on the meeting steering committee, while Brenner, a senior program officer in the Board on Science Education in the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (NAS) coordinated the meeting. A summary…

Suzanne O'Connell, professor of earth and environmental sciences, faculty director of the McNair program, is the author of a new op-ed appearing on Inside Sources and The Hartford Courant, in which she urges aggressive action to counteract climate change. O'Connell acknowledges the difficulty in communicating the urgency of climate change, and writes that one way she's found to express this to her students is to liken climate change to cancer. That is, it is the rapid rate at which we are introducing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere—much like the accelerated rate of cell growth in cancer—that is so harmful. She writes: Cancer progresses at different rates in different…

Suzanne O'Connell, professor of earth and environmental sciences, received the Exchange Award from the Association for Women Geoscientists at its annual awards breakfast on Nov. 2. The Exchange Award recognizes the contribution of those who exchange technical, education, and professional information in the field. The award ceremony took place at the Baltimore Convention Center in Maryland in conjunction with the Geological Society of America's annual meeting. O'Connell is also faculty director of the McNair Program. According to Blair Schneider, president of the Association for Women Geoscientists, O'Connell won the organization's Outstanding Educator Award in 2000. Since then, she has been an active…

For her distinguished contributions to the geosciences, Suzanne O’Connell, professor of earth and environmental sciences, recently became a Fellow of the Geological Society of America. Society Fellowship is an honor bestowed on leading professional geoscientists. New fellows are nominated by existing GSA fellows in recognition of their contributions to the geosciences through such avenues as publications, applied research, teaching, administration of geological programs, contributing to the public awareness of geology, leadership of professional organizations, and taking on editorial, bibliographic and library responsibilities. “Suzanne O’Connell is an accomplished geoscientist who highly honors the traditions of research and scholarship in the geosciences,…

Suzanne O’Connell, professor of earth and environmental sciences, is the co-editor and co-author of the book, Women in the Geosciences: Practical, Positive Practices Toward Parity, published in May 2015 by Wiley and the American Geophysical Union. The geoscience workforce has a lower proportion of women compared to the general population of the United States and compared to many other STEM fields. This volume explores issues pertaining to gender parity in the geosciences, and sheds light on some of the best practices that increase participation by women and promote parity. Highlights include lessons from the National Science Foundation-ADVANCE; data on gender composition of…

Three faculty members from Earth and Environmental Sciences, as well as two graduate students and two undergraduate students, presented their research at the annual conference of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in San Francisco, Calif., Dec. 5-7. The conference drew more than 20,000 scientists and policy makers from around the world. Associate Professors Suzanne O’Connell and Dana Royer, Assistant Professor Phillip Resor, and Austin Reed MA-candidate, Rosemary Ostfeld BA ‘10/MA ‘12, and Julia Mulhern ’12 all attended. In addition, a poster by Katherine Shervais ’13, was also presented. “Our research in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences is so…

Suzanne O'Connell, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, director of the Service Learning Center, received a grant worth $21,000 from the Keck Geology Consortium on April 27. The award will support an undergraduate research project titled "Sediment Dynamics in the Lower Connecticut River" this summer.

Suzanne O’Connell, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, director of the Service Learning Center, and Edward Laine ’69, associate professor of earth and oceanographic science at Bowdoin College, organized a virtual workshop on service learning through the National Science Foundation in early 2010. Several participants met in person at the fall American Geophysical Union (AGU) national meeting in fall 2010. Timothy Ku, associate professor of earth and environmental science, one of virtual workshop participants, presented information about his service learning course “Environmental Geochemistry” at the AGU meeting. Laine, O’Connell, and Ku are pictured above at the AGU meeting.

Suzanne O’Connell, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, associate professor of environmental studies, director of the Service Learning Center, received a $21,850 grant from the Keck Geology Consortium to support the “Connecticut River Project.” The award is effective through June 30, 2011.

Suzanne O'Connell, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, director of the Service Learning Center, will be the K. Douglas Nelson Lecture Series keynote speaker at Syracuse University April 22. Her title is “Weddell Sea Sediment, ODP Site 694: One Clue to Antarctica’s Past.” The event is sponsored by Syracuse's Department of Earth Sciences.

O’Connell, Gilmore Elected to Positions with Geological Society of America

Wesleyan Hosts 30th Annual Keck Geology Consortium Symposium

O’Connell, Alumni Participate in National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Workshop

O’Connell Writes ‘Time to Stop Climate Cancer’ in Op-Ed

O’Connell Honored by Association for Women Geoscientists

O’Connell Named Society Fellow of the Geological Society of America

O’Connell Edits Book that Focuses on Women in the Geosciences

Faculty, Students Present at International AGU Conference

O’Connell Receives Keck Geology Grant for Sediment Research

O’Connell, Ku, Laine ’69 Attend Geophysical Union Meeting

Keck Supports O’Connell’s River Project

O’Connell Lectures on Sea Sediment at Syracuse University