Mentors
Micheal Petronis
Michael Petronis is Professor of geology and has extensive expertise in paleomagnetism, volcanology, rock-magnetism, and geologic mapping. He maintains a strong field-based research program involving several graduate and undergraduate students. He has conducted field AMS and paleomagnetic investigations in NW Scotland and Ireland, Precambrian paleomagnetic studies in the high-Arctic of Svalbard, Norway, and China, volcanic studies in the Chaîne des Puys, France, Czech Republic, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, California, and Utah. He brings over 15 years experience in rock and paleomagnetism and the application of the AMS technique. He maintains a state-of-the-art paleomagnetic-rock magnetism laboratory at NMHU and has all required field equipment for sample collection. He has a proven record of mentoring both undergraduate and graduate students and has published several papers with students.
Jennifer Lindline
Lindline is Professor of geology and brings more than eighteen years of field experience in mapping igneous and metamorphic terranes and evaluating the field relations, mineralogy, and chemical compositions of these rocks. She interprets rock genesis via optical, powder x-ray diffraction, geochemical, and electron microprobe analysis. She has studied the role of igneous processes in contributing to the thermal history and chemical evolution of the crust in the Coast Mountains orogen in southeastern Alaska, the Mazatzal orogen in north-central New Mexico, the Cienega and Cerros del Rio volcanic fields, New Mexico, and the Tertiary British Igneous Province, Scotland. She has researched the effects of magma mingling and mixing on magma chamber dynamics and documented physical and geochemical linkages between volcanic and plutonic systems.
Marek Awdankiewicz
Marek Awdankiewicz is a geologist specialized in studies of volcanic rocks in ancient successions. He carried out research mainly in the Sudetes in the eastern part of the Variscan Belt, working on metabasites and other Lower Paleozoic metavolcanic rocks, Permo-Carbonifeorus volcanites and lamprophyres, as well as Cenozoic basalts. Using the results of field work, petrographic and mineralogical methods, geochemistry and isotope geochemistry as well as U-Pb zircon dating he tries to reconstruct the evolution of ancient volcanic systems in the context of their tectonic and environmental setting. He is professor of geology and the head of the Department of Mineralogy and Petrology at the University of Wrocław. He carries out lectures and laboratory and field courses in general geology, petrology, mineralogy,
igneous geochemistry and volcanology.
Vladislav Rapprich
Rapprich is an expert on physical volcanology at the CGS, Prague, Czech Republic. He speaks Czech, English, and Spanish. His mentor roles include organizational capacity to the project from experience participating and managing natural disasters and geological mapping projects. He is presently also leading the project on Capacity building in Environmental Geology Mapping of Georisks, including hydrogeological conditions in Southern Ethiopia. He cooperates closely with a large group of geophysicists experienced in geophysical mapping and tomography of volcanic systems. He has an exceptional publication record, with diverse subject themes that encompasses physical volcanology, volcanostratigraphy, petrology, volcanic geochemistry, and geophysical methods applied in volcanology. His direct IRES mentor roles include a broad range of volcanology, petrology and ground magnetometry.
Filip Tomek
Tomek is a recent geologist (PhD 2015) at CU/AoS. His direct IRES mentor roles include structural aspect of magma flow and emplacement in shallow crustal and volcanic environments. His research covers studies of volcano-plutonic-tectonic interactions on the example of granitic plutons, collapse calderas, lava domes and ignimbrite sheets. His field work includes several volcano-plutonic complexes in Bohemian Massif, Western Carpathians, and North American Cordillera. Other IRES mentoring roles include field and structural mapping, textural and microstructural analysis, AMS, and U-Pb zircon geochronology.
Jan Valetta
Valenta is a highly skilled exploration geophysicist with more than ten years experience in this field. He works in the Institute of Rock Structure and Mechanics, AoS and at CU. His main IRES mentoring activities include high-resolution seismic and geoelectrical surveys in complex areas (archaeological sites, complex geology, etc.). Moreover, he is also capable of providing guidance on different geodetical tasks and has certain background in several geological disciplines. He speaks English, Russian & Spanish. He cooperates closely with volcanologists and structural geologists. He has a excellent publication record in a diverse range of subjects-exploration geophysics, seismology, volcanology and geophysical methods applied in archaeology. His direct IRES mentoring expertise includes a broad range of geophysics, volcanology and geodesy.
Kristof Verner
Kristof Verner is an expert on magma emplacement and structural geology at the CGS, Prague, Czech Republic. He is a field oriented researchers who studies structural geology and tectonics, emplacement of magmatic rocks and the interplay between magmatic and tectonic processes. His direct IRES mentoring expertise include the application AMS, electron backscatter diffraction methods, petrology of magmatic rocks, and geological mapping of the magmatic complexes and high-grade rocks. His experience and expertise will provide strong support to the IRES students in linking the measured AMS fabrics with the rock petrography and interpreting the data. He is the current President of the Czech Geological Society.
Van Wyk de Vries
Van Wyk de Vries is Professor of Volcanology at Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans (LMV), Université Blaise Pascale, Clermont-Ferrand, France. He speaks fluent English, French, and Spanish and teaches and works in all three languages. His IRES mentoring includes a strong organizational capacity to the project from experience managing natural disasters and geotechnical projects, as well as managing the teaching and research parts of LMV. He is presently also the coordinator for the International Master degree program at LMV and International Relationship coordinator for the laboratory. He has a large group of PhD students working on collaborative projects with Czech Republic, Italian, UK, Ireland, Switzerland, US and Latin American colleagues, and supports many masters’ projects. His direct IRES mentoring expertise include a broad range of structural geology, tectonic and volcanological applications, founded on a long career in academia, government hazard and risk organizations, and industry.
Jiri Žák
Jiri Žák is Professor of Geology at CU and Director of the Continental Tectonics Group. His IRES mentoring expertise covers a wide range of topics related to geologic evolution of continental crust from magmatic systems from migmatites through batholiths to surface volcanic processes, with a particular focus on tectonic setting and emplacement of granite plutons. Other research he has directed is related to dynamics of Precambrian accretionary wedges and mélange formation. He has pursued various tectonic studies in ancient collisional orogens and active margins in Europe, North America, and Antarctica with collaborations with a broad research network established with numerous colleagues from the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, and United States. His IRES mentoring activities include detailed field mapping, AMS, U-Pb geochronology, petrology, geochemistry, and numerical modeling.Type your paragraph here.
Students
Jake Erickson
Jacob Erickson is a graduate student in the Media Arts and Cultural Technology department at New Mexico Highlands University. He’s been involved in film and storytelling since before he received his BFA from NMHU, during which he worked on several small promo video shoots, music videos, and videos for cultural institutions. Following his BFA, he spent a couple of years in AmeriCorps where he recorded more stories through video oral history projects; WWII stories for the New Mexico History Museum, stories about Los Alamos for the Los Alamos Historical Society, stories of makers throughout Northern NM for the New Mexico History Museum, and a larger documentary story about the Segessor Hide Paintings for the New Mexico History Museum. As part of his master’s degree, he worked on the Jemez Historic Visitor Center re-design on a projection mapping project and an oral history documentary video about the Jemez People told in the Toa language. The opportunity to film research and cultural documentaries was an amazing chance to showcase his skills in an international setting, as well as getting to test his grit with living abroad. His professional career aim is to tell stories in new and emerging ways, for example using 360-degree video and immersive design to take the viewer to a new reality, give them a firsthand perspective in events and let them explore different individual lives and vast worlds for themselves.
Terence D. Garcia
Terence Garcia is a Masters student in the Media Arts and Cultural Technology program at Highlands University in Las Vegas New Mexico. He's been studying all genres of filmmaking and has extensive experience in videography, photography, editing, cinematography and project management. Terence has participated in several historical, cultural and scientific projects throughout the state of New Mexico including documentation and editing for the Manhattan project exhibit at the Bradbury science museum, creating nature videos for the Pajarito Environmental Education Center in Los Alamos, project management positions in projection mapping and informational videos at the Jemez visitor center as well as promotional material for the Currents new media festival in Santa Fe. The chance to work on the IRES project has allowed him to broaden his skills in all aspects of media arts and gain experience working internationally.
Jacob Helesic
Jacob Helesic is a graduate student from Sul Ross University in southern Texas. Hi master was a paleomagnetic analysis of vertical axis rotation along the Tascotal Mesa fault zone in West Texas. In the summer of 2018 he functioned as field assistant to Mike Petronis and mentor to Sindy Lauricella on her quarry and field work. His previous time spent in the Czech Republic makes him an excellent tour Gide for students who have never visited the country.
Sindy Lauricella
Sindy Lauricella is a masters student at New Mexico Highlands University studying Natural Science with a concentration in Geology. She has been involved in a wide range of environmental science and geophysics studies throughout her college career. Sindy has participated in two IRES expeditions and in multiple Natural Science conferences presenting her master’s thesis that focuses on magma emplacement characteristics and paleomagnetic analysis on a 20 million old volcano in the Czech Republic, granted by her first 2018 IRES opportunity. She has attended two Geological Society of America conferences including the Materials Research Society conference in Boston and Washington, D.C. In 2019, IRES selected Sindy Lauricella to participate as a mentor and field assistant for new upcoming research students. These experiences have encouraged Sindy to become a better geologist and improve her knowledge and passion for her degree all thanks to a once in a lifetime opportunity such as the IRES grant.
Luke Romero
Luke Romero is an undergraduate at New Mexico Highlands University studying Environmental Geology with a concentration in Environmental Science. He's had limited field experience prior to the summer 2019 IRES Internship that include course related field work and field experience from the 2018 Fall NMGS Field Conference. He has worked as a Supplemental Instructional Leader four semesters for Physical Geology 101, acting as outside classroom support for students enrolled in the course. The opportunity has allowed him to improve in his fieldwork as well gaining knowledge of operating multiple pieces of laboratory equipment. The experience not only has broadened his skills as a geology but also commutation skills with colleagues and mentors involve in this project.