Evan Lundgren

Undergoing courses like The Earth with Bill Clement, History of the Earth and Methods in Geosciences with Mark Leckie, Mineralogy with Sheila Seaman, Petrology With Mike Rhodes, Sedimentology with Tim Cook, and Structural Geology and Mapping with Mike Williams are among my favorite memories during my time at UMass-Amherst. The grace, discernment, eagerness, and sympathy which radiated from my geoscience professors helped me get through my courses along the way, while further 'lithifying' the idea that my decision to pursue a career in geology is a good one. This past couple of semesters have contrasted so differently with the others past, really putting them into a shiny perspective I reminisce on. Looking back I wish I could learn those geologic fundamentals again, to experience the joy and fulfillment that came from learning of it for the first time with all of you. A couple of field trip during my time at UMass that remain more vivid in my mind are; During what I believe is History of the Earth with Mark Leckie, we travelled to Utica, NY to see a few beautiful outcrops of shale and limestone which were quite fossiliferous. This was my first time encountering fossil containing rocks in-situ and it kind of blew my mind away that this was all right next to a freeway. Regardless, along the trip I picked up a partially broke trilobite fossil in addition to some cool sponge and a bunch of brachiopods. During Geologic Mapping with Mike Williams we travelled to the Catskills Mountains in New York where we mapped a large fold which plunged under a freeway over the course of a couple days. This was the first multiple-day geology field outing I've had, and learning how to observe outcrops and use your intuition in the field to solve complex problems regarding structural geology was somewhat mind blowing (grab a stereonet). There's no doubt in my mind that people like TA Ian Kennedy and Prof. Mike Williams made my time with them so valuable, but the peers which I worked alongside during these field trips and in courses the past 4 years were also paramount in my time here as they expressed that desire and willingness to learn about the earth like I had and do.