News

Karl Leonard, Associate Professor of Geosciences in the Department of Anthropology and Earth Science, attended the annual Drone Focus Conference May 31 and June 1 in Fargo. The conference featured many prominent speakers who discussed the emerging UAS industry, and Karl attended several workshops that focused on UAS applications in agriculture, construction, and energy. Karl also attended a ground training class to obtain the FAA Part 107 UAV operators license. The Department of Anthropology and Earth Sciences recently received funding to purchase several DJI UAVs and will be incorporating these systems into course work and research.

Please join us in congratulating this year’s Dille Fund for Excellence Grant recipients:  Read the rest of this entry →

Close to 200 Boy Scouts converged on the MSUM campus Saturday, Nov. 23 to work on merit badges. Named the “Merit Badge University” this is an event held annually at one of the three universities in the area to give scouts work on the badges that assist them in their trail toward the Eagle Rank. Merit badges represent skill or knowledge areas where scouts can explore an area of study in depth and complete tasks in that area. Read the rest of this entry →

Still looking for an LASC course to fill out your schedule for Spring 2014? Karl Leonard, Anthropology and Earth Science, will be offering Oceanography – an LASC area 10 course (Course ID: 001455 GEOS 305 01 Oceanography) in an online format.

Geoscience students Stephen Kunz, Adam Marks, Jon Sands, and their advisor Dr. Karl W. Leonard presented the paper “Sequence Stratigraphy of the Tyler Formation (Lower Pennsylvanian/Morrowan) in the Williston Basin, North Dakota” at the annual North Central Section of GSA meeting in Kalamazoo, Michigan on May 3.  Read the rest of this entry →

Geology students Scott Flores, Kyle Wohnoutka, Kaitlyn Nelson, Gerardo Rodriguez, and their research advisor Karl Leonard presented a paper at the 2011 annual convention of the Geological Society of America meeting in Minneapolis on Oct. 9.  The paper, “The Stratigraphic Significance of a Fossiliferous Shale in the Lower Part of the Raytown Limestone Member of the Iola Limestone (Upper Pennsylvanian) in Eastern Kansas,” was presented as a poster in the Sigma Gamma Epsilon Undergraduate Research session.

Russ Colson and Karl Leonard, along with six students from the geology program in the Department of Anthropology and Earth Sciences, attended the 2011 annual meeting of the Geological Society of America Oct. 9-13 in Minneapolis.

Karl Leonard, Anthropology, presented a talk on the Bakken Play at the 72nd Annual Wells County Winter Show December 16 in Fessenden, N.D. The Bakken Formation and several formations below it are currently part of Dr. Leonard’s ongoing research at MSUM. The Bakken has estimated recoverable reserves of over 4 billion barrels of oil, and about 60% of which lie in the North Dakota part of the Williston Basin. Although the first discovery wells were completed in the Bakken almost 50 years ago, the current Williston Basin “oil boom” is largely the result of the application of new technologies for completing oil wells.