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 17 Academic Faculty, 2 Teaching Faculty, 10 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
Alexis Navarre-Sitchler
Professor, Department Head and Joint Faculty Appointee, Energy and Natural Resources Security Group Los Alamos National Laboratory
Aqueous Geochemistry
asitchle@mines.edu
303-273-3066
Gabriel Walton
Professor, Associate Department Head
Engineering Geology, Underground Construction & Tunneling
gwalton@mines.edu
303-384-2235
Academic Faculty
David Benson
Professor
Hydrology
dbenson@mines.edu
303-273-3806
Wendy Bohrson
Professor
Volcanology
bohrson@mines.edu
303-273-3066
Mathias Burisch
Associate Professor
Mineral Systems, Economic Geology, Crustal Fluids
burisch@mines.edu
303-384-2456
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, Department Head and Joint Faculty Appointee, Energy and Natural Resources Security Group Los Alamos National Laboratory
Aqueous Geochemistry
asitchle@mines.edu
303-273-3800
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
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
University Distinguished 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
Ryan Venturelli
Assistant Professor
Paleoglaciology, Isotope Geochemistry
venturelli@mines.edu
303-273-3306
Gabriel Walton
Associate Professor, Associate Department Head
Engineering Geology, Underground Construction & Tunneling
gwalton@mines.edu
303-384-2235
Lesli J. Wood
Professor, Weimer Distinguished Chair
Sedimentary Geology
lwood@mines.edu
512-294-8705
Wendy Zhou
Professor
Engineering Geology, GIS
wzhou@mines.edu
303-384-2181
Research Faculty
Kevin Cannon
Assistant Research Professor
Planetary Sciences, Space Resources, Remote Sensing, Geospatial Analysis, Mineralogy
cannon@mines.edu
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
Shiqiang Huang
Research Assistant Professor
Economic Geology, LA-ICP-MS Techniques, Magma Fertility
shiqianghuang@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
J. Frederick (Rick) Sarg
Research Professor
Petroleum Geology and Stratigraphy
jsarg@mines.edu
Arnoud Slootman
Assistant Research Professor
Basin Analysis, Energy Exploration, Sedimentary Geology
slootman@mines.edu
Richard Wanty
Research Professor
Aqueous Geochemistry
rwanty@mines.edu
Research Associates
Simon Kocher
Research Associate
Ore Mineralogy, Hydrothermal Ore-forming Processes, Mineral Systems
skocher@mines.edu
303-273-3817
Staff
Kelsey Livingston
Lab Coordinator
klivingston@mines.edu
Berthoud Hall 147
303-273-3824
Cheryl Medford
Administrative Assistant
GGE@mines.edu
Berthoud Hall 221
303-273-3800
Emeritus Faculty
Graham Closs
Associate Professor Emeritus
Exploration Geochemistry and Economic Geology
lcloss@mines.edu
Timothy Cross
Associate Professor Emeritus
Stratigraphy and Petroleum Geology
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
Gregory S. Holden
Associate Professor Emeritus
Petrology
gholden@mines.edu
Neil F. Hurley
Professor Emeritus
Petroleum Geology
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
Bruce Trudgill
Associate Professor Emeritus
Petroleum, Structural Geology
btrudgil@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
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
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.
Jeffrey D. Hyman
Numercial Modeling of Flow & Transport in Fractured Media, Computational Geometry/ Mesh Generation, Network Science Applications in the Geosciences
Robert Zielinski
Trace Element Geochemistry, Energy Development Environmental Impacts, Uranium Ore Deposit Genesis & U Source Rocks, Geochemistry of Uranium, Radium, and their Isotopes
Affiliate Faculty
Geoffrey Ellis
Organic Geochemistry, Stable Isotope Geochemistry Sedimentary Basin Geology
Cathy Farmer
Petroleum Geology, Sedimentology
clfarmer@mines.edu
Nigel Kelly
Applied Petrology, Geochemistry and Geochronology
nkelly@mines.edu
Phillip S. ‘Flip’ Koch
Rock Mechanics, Structural Analysis, Economic Development
pskoch@mines.edu
Ryan Kromer
Geohazards, Remote Sensing, Landslide Monitoring
rkromer@mines.edu
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
Jeffrey May
Sequence Stratigraphy, Siliciclastic, Mudrock Sedimentology
jmay@mines.edu
Lawrence D. Meinert
Economic Geology, Magmatic-Hydrothermal Processes, Mineralogy, Skarn Deposits, Space Resources, Scientific Publishing
lawrencemeinert@mines.edu
Jeffrey Pontius
Applied Economic Geology, Ore Deposits
jeff.pontius@mines.edu
T. James Reynolds
Fluid Inclusions, Economic Geology
treynolds@mines.edu
Keith Shanley
Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Petrophysics, Reservoir Characterization
keith.shanley@mines.edu
Sankhaneel Sinha
Computational Geomechanics, Mining Ground Control, Rock Characterization
sankhaneelsinha@mines.edu
Yuanhai (Steve) Yang
Unconventional Reservoir Characterization, Tight Formation Analysis, Specialty Logging Interpretation, Evaluation of Frac Effectiveness
yyang@mines.edu