Having grown up intrigued by the world around her, Joanne Best decided to study geology so she could discover more. Having completed her undergraduate studies at Durham Univerity in Britain, Joanne moved to Flagstaff where she soon felt at home. Her thesis will be investigating the eruption at Quilatoa in Ecuador to the processes that occured inside the caldera 800,000 years ago, which led to a pause between two large plinian eruptions. She encourages everyone to check out geology. "You get to do the theory and then escape the classroom to really learn what is going on. Having been to places such as Spain, Cyprus and Nicaragua I can testify that you can get to travel, and develop an understanding of the amazing landscapes that you are seeing as you go."

Kyle Eastman is a junior Geology (and eventual Geochemistry) major. He is also the founder and past president of the NAU Geology Club. The NAU Geology Club meets every Wednesday at 5:30 to plan field trips and other events. Kyle has been an avid mineral collector and lapidary enthusiast for many years, and has been collecting all over Arizona and the western US. His hobbies (besides mineral collecting) include rock climbing and mountain biking. Kyle also works as a geology tutor at the Learning Assistance Center in the Field House.
Amanda Millhouse

Tim Murray is an undergraduate geology major from West Virginia. He is the current NAU Geology Club president, and also the lab assistant in the Geology computer lab. He chose Flagstaff for school because the strong outdoor environment reminded him of West Virginia while giving him an opportunity to see the southwest. After taking Physical Geology there was no longer any doubt what he wanted to do. When Tim’s not busy with school work he enjoys getting outdoors. Tim’s advice to new undergraduates would be to find other people with similar interests in geology and spend as much time as possible with them. According to Tim, you’ll find you have to do far less studying and memorizing if you put yourself in that environment.
Tim at Rams Head

Amanda Millhouse is a second-year grad student from Grand Blanc, Michigan. She received her B.A. from Albion College, a small liberal arts school in MI, where she spent three years doing research on emydid turtles from the Eocene of Wyoming. This included many hours putting together numerous turtle shells and two summers out in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming collecting more specimens. Amanda is studying vertebrate paleontology. She will be working with Dave Elliott and Ron Blakey looking at the vertebrate trackways in the Coconino Sandstone in the Grand Canyon. She’s going to do a paleo/sedimentology study of the tracks, focusing on how/why they formed where they did and what the tracks themselves say about the animals that made them. Amanda’s advice to her fellow grad students is to sign up for vert paleo next spring! “It'll be fun! Undergrads, you should take the class too if you're interested. The more the merrier!”
Mary Carson was born and raised in Cleveland Ohio. As a child she was endlessly interested in the natural world and started her college career in biological sciences. Then she took a few years off from college to travel. While working in Yellowstone National Park she developed an interest in geyser studies which sparked her interest in other aspects of Yellowstone geology (CALDERAS!) and eventually the science as a whole. Mary decided to change her college focus to geology and with every semester she is more and more intrigued with our dynamic Earth. Mary is currently a senior in the Geology program. She looks forward to seeing more amazing places in her geology studies and introducing them to her son Dante who, at four years old, has already begun to display a tremendous enthusiasm for geology.
Tenielle Martin is a first-year grad student who spent several years in college trying out different majors (math, anthropology, history). After taking a few years off, she came back to NAU to get a geology degree because studying the Earth, how it originated and evolves, is what she has loved to learn about since she was a kid.
Tenielle grew up in southern Arizona and spent her childhood reading, and investigating cacti, creosotes, snakes, jackrabbits, and, of course, rocks. Even though she has lived in Flagstaff off and on since 1992, she also attended Simon’s Rock College of Bard in MA (not a geology reference) and Central Arizona College in Casa Grande. Tenielle’s senior thesis project (also at NAU!) was a petrologic and geochemical study of the Crazy Basin pluton of the Bradshaw Mountains in central Arizona.
 
 

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