Greetings everyone! Whew, what a busy summer this has been for me – by the end I’ll have embarked on trips to at least six different sites for field work. A big chunk of that was for PSU’s Field Camp, though. That’s how I spent most of my June and I was very grateful for the opportunity to both teach and learn about the amazing geology of some western states I’d never visited before.

After arriving back in State College I jumped right into fieldwork with the two REU students working with me, Roman and Li Li at the CZO this summer. We started with a lesson on Quaternary mapping at Garner Run, but also had the chance to work with some visiting researchers from Rutgers and Dickinson on hydrogeophysical methods.

This morning(!) we’re going to begin to test the sprinkling experiment we invented for evaluating runoff and infiltration on the rocky soils at Garner Run (spoiler alert, you can’t use an infiltrometer on a pile of rocks…) Stay tuned! I have literally no idea how it will turn out but it will be a learning experience for all!

I have just discovered that the CZO does neat little news write-ups and tags you in the stories if you’re associated with the event, so in addition to the nice lil write up for my QGG award there’s also a link to our geophysical work in May as well as the PIHM model developer workshop I attended for your perusal.

And of course there’s been a little free time for adventures this summer, one of which was a truly lovely weekend backpacking trip in Loyalsock State Forest on the Old Loggers Path, a 27-mile loop featuring a couple of lookouts, bedrock-bottomed tributary streams perfect for lounging, and many snakes!!