Faculty and Staff

Our faculty and staff set us apart.

The Department of Geology and Geological Engineering has the teaching and research faculty to train the next generation of geoscientists and geoengineers. It is our commitment to maintain solid experimental, hands-on, field-oriented, quantitative, and analytical education.

We currently have 19 Academic Faculty, 2 Teaching Faculty, 9 Research Faculty, and many active Emeritus Professors and Affiliate Faculty. You will find that we are involved in research from Alaska to southern Chile, and from California through Europe and Africa to the Far East, in addition to many projects here at home in the Rocky Mountains. We also have four staff members in the department who are happy to help.

Department Head

Wendy Bohrson

Professor and Department Head
Volcanology
bohrson@mines.edu
303-273-3066

Academic Faculty

David Benson

Professor
Hydrology
dbenson@mines.edu
303-273-3806

Wendy Bohrson

Professor and Department Head
Volcanology
bohrson@mines.edu
303-273-3066

Mathias Burisch

Associate Professor
Mineral Systems, Economic Geology, Crustal Fluids
burisch@mines.edu
303-384-2456

Kevin Cannon

Assistant Professor
Planetary Sciences, Space Resources, Remote Sensing, Geospatial Analysis, Mineralogy
cannon@mines.edu

Zhaoshan Chang

Professor and Charles F. Fogarty Endowed Chair
Economic Geology
chang@mines.edu
303-384-2127

Brendan Hanger

Teaching Assistant Professor
Geoscience Education, Igneous Petrology, Geochemistry
hanger@mines.edu
303-273-3828

Yvette Kuiper

Associate Professor
Structural Geology, Field Geology, Geochronology
ykuiper@mines.edu
303-273-3105

Adrienne Marshall

Assistant Professor
Snow Hydrology, Ecohydrology, Hydropower, Climate Change
adriennemarshall@mines.edu
303-273-3886

Thomas Monecke

Professor and Co-Director of CMRS
Economic Geology
tmonecke@mines.edu
303-273-3841

Alexis Navarre-Sitchler

Professor and Joint Faculty Appointee, Energy and Natural Resources Security Group Los Alamos National Laboratory
Aqueous Geochemistry
asitchle@mines.edu
303-384-2219

Piret Plink-Björklund

Professor
Stratigraphy, Sedimentology
pplink@mines.edu
303-273-2042

Eric Roberts

Professor Applied Geo-Energy Systems
Director, Potential Gas Agency
Basin Analysis, Energy Exploration, Sedimentary Geology
eric.roberts@mines.edu
303-273-3887

Danica Roth

Assistant Professor Jointly Appointed: Geology & Geological Engineering and Geophysics
Geomorphology, Environmental Seismology
droth@mines.edu
303-273-3802

Paul Santi

Professor
Engineering Geology
psanti@mines.edu
303-273-3108

Christian V. Shorey

Teaching Professor
Environmental Science, Climatology
cshorey@mines.edu
303-273-3556

Kamini Singha

Professor and Associate Dean of Earth and Society Programs
Hydrogeology and Hydrogeophysics
ksingha@mines.edu
303-273-3822

Stephen A. Sonnenberg

Professor and Charles Boettcher Distinguished Chair
Petroleum Geology
ssonnenb@mines.edu
303-384-2182

Bruce Trudgill

Associate Professor
Petroleum, Structural Geology
btrudgil@mines.edu
303-273-3883

Ryan Venturelli

Assistant Professor
Paleoglaciology, Isotope Geochemistry
venturelli@mines.edu
303-273-3306

Gabriel Walton

Associate Professor
Engineering Geology, Underground Construction & Tunneling
gwalton@mines.edu
303-384-2235

Lesli J. Wood

Professor, Weimer Distinguished Chair
Sedimentary Geology
lwood@mines.edu
303-273-3801

Wendy Zhou

Professor
Engineering Geology, GIS
wzhou@mines.edu
303-384-2181

Research Faculty

Mary Carr

Research Assistant Professor
Petroleum Geology
mcarr@mines.edu
303-273-3107

Marsha French

Research Professor
Petroleum Geology
mwfrench@mines.edu

Ben Frieman

Research Assistant Professor
Structural Geology, Tectonics
bfrieman@mines.edu
303-273-3854

Richard Goldfarb

Research Professor
Geology, Metallogeny
goldfarb@mines.edu

Zane R. Jobe

Research Professor and
Director of the Chevron Center of Research Excellence (CoRE)
Sedimentary Systems
zanejobe@mines.edu
303-273-3601

David Leach

Research Professor
Sedimentary Metal Ore Deposits
dleach@mines.edu

Katharina Pfaff

Research Associate Professor
Mineral Exploration
kpfaff@mines.edu
303-384-2487

J. Frederick (Rick) Sarg

Research Professor
Petroleum Geology and Stratigraphy
jsarg@mines.edu
303-273-3729

Richard Wanty

Research Professor
Aqueous Geochemistry
rwanty@mines.edu

Research Associates

JOHN DEDECKER

Research Associate
Gold-Rich VMS Deposits, Geology of the Iskut River Area, Uranium and Vanadium Deposits.
jdedecke@mines.edu

Simon Kocher

Research Associate
Ore Mineralogy, Hydrothermal Ore-forming Processes, Mineral Systems
skocher@mines.edu
303-273-3817

Susann Stolze

Research Professional – Lab Manager
Stable Isotope Geochemistry, Palynology
sstolze@mines.edu
303-384-2128

Postdoctoral Researchers

SHIQIANG HUANG

Economic Geology
shiqianghuang@mines.edu

Staff

Mary Doherty

Program Manager for Professional Master Non-thesis Students
medoherty@mines.edu
Berthoud Hall 311D
303-273-3930

Kelsey Livingston

Lab Coordinator
klivingston@mines.edu
Berthoud Hall 147
303-273-3824

Cheryl Medford

Administrative Assistant
cmedford@mines.edu
Berthoud Hall 221
303-273-3800

Gabrielle Reimer

Department Manager
gabrielle.reimer@mines.edu
Berthoud Hall 221F
303-273-3978

Emeritus Faculty

Graham Closs

Associate Professor Emeritus
Exploration Geochemistry and Economic Geology
lcloss@mines.edu

Timothy Cross

Associate Professor Emeritus
Stratigraphy and Petroleum Geology
tcross@yahoo.com

John B. Curtis

Professor Emeritus
Petroleum Geology and Geochemistry
jbcurtis@mines.edu

WENDY HARRISON

Professor Emerita
Aqueous Geochemistry and Geochemical Modeling
wharriso@mines.edu

Jerry D. Higgins

Professor Emeritus
Engineering Geology and Geotechnics
jhiggins@mines.edu

Murray W. Hitzman

Professor Emeritus
Economic Geology
mhitzman@mines.edu

 

Gregory S. Holden

Associate Professor Emeritus
Petrology
gholden@mines.edu

Neil F. Hurley

Professor Emeritus
Petroleum Geology
nfhurley@comcast.net

Keenan Lee

Professor Emeritus
Remote Sensing, Geomorphology, Catastrophic Geology
klee@mines.edu

Eileen P. Poeter

Professor Emerita and former director of IGWMC
Geohydrology, Inverse Modeling
epoeter@mines.edu

Samuel B. Romberger

Professor Emeritus
Aqueous Geochemistry, Economic Geology
sromberg@mines.edu

John E. Warme

Professor Emeritus
Stratigraphy, Basin Analysis
jwarme@mines.edu

Richard (Ric) F. Wendlandt

Professor Emeritus
Geochemistry and Mineralogy
rwendlan@mines.edu
303-273-3809

Joint Appointees

M. STEPHEN ENDERS

Mineral Exploration, Mining Industry
menders@mines.edu

ELIZABETH HOLLEY

Economic Geology, Mining Geology, Sustainability
eholley@mines.edu

JEFFREY LEE

Structure, Tectonics
lee1@mines.edu

External Joint Appointees

Eric Anderson

Geophysics, Economic Geology
ericanderson@usgs.gov

Matt Emmons

Analytical instrumentation/ mass spectrometry/ time-of-flight mass spectrometry; Isotope ratio measurement methods/ applications; Stable isotope ratio analysis of palynomorphs; Micropaleontological applications of stable isotope ratio analysis.
MEmmons@USGS.gov

Susan Hall

Economic Geology
susanhall@usgs.gov

Jeffrey D. Hyman

Numercial Modeling of Flow & Transport in Fractured Media, Computational Geometry/ Mesh Generation, Network Science Applications in the Geosciences
jhyman@lanl.gov

Robert Zielinski

Trace Element Geochemistry, Energy Development Environmental Impacts, Uranium Ore Deposit Genesis & U Source Rocks, Geochemistry of Uranium, Radium, and their Isotopes
rzielinski@usgs.gov

Affiliate Faculty

DONNA S. ANDERSON

Stratigraphy, Sedimentology, Reservoir Characterization
danderso@rmi.net

TUCKER BARRIE

Genesis Metallic Mineral Deposits, Igneous Geochemistry, Sustainable Resource Management
barriect@sympatico.ca

MATTHEW BAUER

Petroleum Geology, Data Anlytics
matthew.w.bauer.pg@gmail.com

MIKE BOYLES

Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Reservoir Characterization
jmichaelboyles@yahoo.com

BEN BURKE

Geochemistry, Data Analytics, Petroleum Geology
ben@transitional.energy

MICHAEL DOE

Proterozoic Geology, Geochronology, Tectonic Processes, Structural Geology, Petroleum Geology
mfdoegeo@gmail.com

GEOFFREY ELLIS

Organic Geochemistry, Stable Isotope Geochemistry Sedimentary Basin Geology
gsellis@usgs.gov

MILOVAN FUSTIC

Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Reservoir Characterization, Petroleum Geology/ Geochemistry
milovan.fustic@nu.edu.kz

NIGEL KELLY

Applied Petrology, Geochemistry and Geochronology
nkelly@mines.edu

PHILLIP S. ‘FLIP’ KOCH

Rock Mechanics, Structural Analysis, Economic Development
pskoch@mines.edu
pskoch56@icloud.com

RYAN KROMER

Geohazards, Remote Sensing, Landslide Monitoring
r.a.kromer@leeds.ac.uk

AL LACAZETTE

Hot Sedimentary Aquifer Geothermal Energy, Structural Geology, Natural Rock Fracture Mechanics & Fracture Systems, Borehole Image Interpretation, Seismic Interpretation, Chemical & Mechanical Interplays of Fluid-rock Interaction
lacazette@mines.edu

MARK LONGMAN

Carbonates, Petrography, Mudrock Reservoirs, SEM Studies
mwlongman1@aol.com

JEFFREY MAY

Sequence Stratigraphy, Siliciclastic, Mudrock Sedimentology
jmay.krossen@gmail.com

LAWRENCE D. MEINERT

Economic Geology, Magmatic-Hydrothermal Processes, Mineralogy, Skarn Deposits, Space Resources, Scientific Publishing
LDmeinert@gmail.com

JESSE MELICK

Smart Geologic Upscaling, Deep-water Sedimentology and Stratigraphy, Geomechanics, Petrophysics
jessemelick@gmail.com

RICHARD PALIN

Metamorphic Petrology
richard.palin@earth.ox.ac.uk

JEFFREY PONTIUS

Applied Economic Geology, Ore Deposits
jeff.pontius@mines.edu

T. JAMES REYNOLDS

Fluid Inclusions, Economic Geology
fluidinc@comcast.net

THERESA SCHWARTZ

Sedimentary Geology
tmschwartz@usgs.gov

KEITH SHANLEY

Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Petrophysics, Reservoir Characterization
keith.shanley@oxy.com
shanleypk@msn.com

SANKHANEEL SINHA

Computational Geomechanics, Mining Ground Control, Rock Characterization
sankhaneelsinha@mines.edu

KIRA TIMM

Petroleum Geology, Mudrock Sedimentology, Petrography, Fluid Inclusions
kira.k.timm@gmail.com

YUANHAI (STEVE) YANG

Unconventional Reservoir Characterization, Tight Formation Analysis, Specialty Logging Interpretation, Evaluation of Frac Effectiveness
steve.yang01@comcast.net