Victoria Bierwirth will be graduating with her Bachelor of Science degree in Geological Engineering and minor in Geospatial Technology in May 2014 from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Her interests in politics and natural resources led her to work in former Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin’s field office in Rapid City and as a park guide at Jewel Cave National Monument. At each location, she communicated the importance of national resources on a political and educational level, respectively. She came to AGI after completing an internship at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and is interested in energy, space, and public lands policy.

Vicki has been selected to the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program for Young Professionals and will spend a year studying geological engineering and participating in an internship in Germany. (04/12)

Publications while at AGI: What Makes a National Park Awesome?: The Geology, of Course, The Professional Geologist, Nov/Dec 2011

Erica Dalman is a rising senior at Grand Valley State University (GVSU), where she will graduate with a B.S. in Geology and a minor in International Business. She is a member of the Fredrick Meijer Honor’s College and an active student life participant as president of Sabrosísimo (GVSU’s latin dance group). Erica came to us from the state of Michigan by way of Venezuela; she is bilingual, fluent in Spanish and English. In the summer of 2010, she was selected to participate in an ExxonMobil/GSA undergraduate field course.  Erica has presented a joint geoscience education research poster at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting (Oct. 2010). She recently completed field camp in the Republic of South Africa and hopes her career as a geologist will continue to open opportunities for travel.

Erica will begin graduate school at the University of Kansas in 2012 and will be conducting neotectonics research in the Andes Mountains of Columbia. (5/12)

Publications while at AGI: Adapting a Nation to an Ever Changing Ocean, The Professional Geologist, Nov/Dec 2011

Presentation to the American Institute of Professional Geologists:Three Interns on Capitol Hill, September 2011

Lauren received a B.S. in Geosciences and a B.A. in Geography in May 2011 from Pennsylvania State University (Penn State). She graduated from the Schreyer Honors College and completed her senior thesis on the use of electrical resistivity imaging to model the flow of acid mine drainage.  She spent a summer in Germany as a research assistant studying landscape development during the Holocene.  She studied abroad for a semester in Ghana and has done research projects in West Philadelphia, Bulgaria, and India.  At Penn State she volunteered as a high school math tutor, education abroad Peer Advisor, and community language partner.  Lauren’s policy interests include water and energy resources, climate change, and science education.  In her free time she enjoys running, trying to learn Persian, drinking good coffee, grocery shopping, looking at maps, reading, and eating Indian food.

Lauren is currently abroad in Tajikistan studying water resource issues on a Fulbright grant. You can follow her blog here. (05/12)

Publications while at AGI: Developing Alaska's Oil and Gas Resources: How Should the U.S. Proceed?, The Professional Geologist, Nov/Dec 2011

Dana completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Geology at Louisiana State University in August of 2010. She served as a field assistant in the Beartooth Mountains of Montana looking at metamorphic rocks as an early Earth analogy and as a laboratory assistant for clay mineral analysis with Professor Ray Ferrell. She was an active member of the LSU Geology Club, organizing educational visits to K-12 classes and coordinating member field trips. She spent a summer as a geology intern for Southwestern Energy Company analyzing a potential oil field. Within the community, Dana has devoted more than 4 years of time as a swim instructor for Crawfish Aquatics of Baton Rouge and as a Reading Friend for Volunteers in Public Schools in Baton Rouge. She started her internship in January 2011 after traveling through Southeast Asia and is interested in energy policy and science education.

Dana will be attending Stanford University in the fall of 2011 to begin an advanced geoscience degree with a research focus on geochemical aspects of carbon sequestration and mineral trapping.

Matt graduated from Washington University (St. Louis) in May, receiving his B.A. in Earth and Planetary Sciences with a minor in legal studies. As an undergraduate, Matt studied carbon sequestration in restored tallgrass prairies for his senior thesis, looking closely at the link between plant diversity and productivity. He has also researched greenhouse gas exchange in turf grass lawns for a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), and has served as a student consultant, specializing in hydrology, for the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic at Washington University. He is interested in carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems, federal water policy, and biofuels. 

Matt is an Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Education (DOE) Fellow. He works with the Climate Ready Water Utilities group -- helping water utilities adapt to climate change by providing a clear understanding of climate science and adaptation options. (4/11)

Publications while at AGI:
Ampleman, M.D.. Rare Earth Elements Face Supply Squeeze. AAPG Explorer, Dec 2010.

Elizabeth received her BA in geology from Occidental College in May 2009. As an undergraduate, she studied tectonic geomorphology and apatite fission-track thermochronology. In the summer of 2008, Elizabeth participated in a NSF-REU program at Mesa State College, where she studied the incision history of the upper Colorado River. She participated in a Keck Geology Consortium summer program, which took her to western Mongolia for four weeks. This fall, Elizabeth will start her PhD at Yale University as a NSF Graduate Research Fellow, where she will work on topics related to climate change and landscape evolution. While at AGI, Elizabeth will focus on topics related to natural hazards, energy policy and climate change. She is looking forward to exploring a new city and gaining a new perspective on the importance of the geosciences.

Elizabeth will attend Yale University in the fall of 2010 in pursuit of an advanced geoscience degree. (08/10)

Publications while at AGI: Earthquake Preparedness: Avoiding Catastrophe By Acting Now, The Professional Geologist, Nov/Dec 2010

Elizabeth is entering her junior year at the State University of New York at Geneseo, where she is working on her bachelor degrees in Geology and English. After taking an environmental science class to fulfill a general education requirement in her freshman year, she became interested in the geological sciences and has not looked back since. Lizz looks at the internship with AGI this summer as an opportunity to combine the skills she has learned in her two majors, along with a chance to consider her career choices. She is eagerly anticipating the research she will be conducting next winter on her trip to Death Valley with faculty and students from the Geneseo Geology department. For now, however, she is excited about exploring Washington, DC, even if it means leaving her beloved Adirondacks for the summer.

Publications while at AGI: Collective Amnesia: The History of Oil Spill R&D, The Professional Geologist, Nov/Dec 2010

Kiya is a rising senior at Oregon State University, where she is an Earth Systems Science major. Kiya participated in the NSF-REU program at Oregon State, where she studied glacial-interglacial climate variability as recorded in coastal margin marine sediments. She has continued the work as an undergraduate thesis and has presented her findings at GSA and AGU conferences. Kiya travels to us directly from Svalbard, where she has spent the past six months studying high arctic climate change and glacial hydrology. In her free time, Kiya loves backcountry skiing, spelunking, and photography. Kiya intends to pursue graduate work in polar climate studies, and is eager to spend the summer in DC learning how her future scientific work can best impact policymaking.

Kiya graduated from Oregon State and will begin her PhD program at Penn State in the fall of 2011. She will study subglacial hydrology with Dr. Richard Alley. (04/11)

Publications while at AGI: Unable to Break the Ice: U.S. Arctic Policy and Law of the Sea, The Professional Geologist, Nov/Dec 2010

Maureen Moses is in the final stages of completing her Masters degree from Central Washington University on the petrology of basalt lavas from the 1646-1669 eruptive period at Mount Etna in Sicily with Dr. Wendy Bohrson. She received her B.S. degree in 2007 from San Diego State University and completed her senior thesis with Dr. Victor Camp with a minor in Religious Studies. While at SDSU she was a volunteer for Scripps Institute of Oceanography aboard a P.L.U.M.E. research cruise which studied the Hawaiian Mantle Plume using seismic tomography. In summer 2004 she participated in a NSF-REU internship at Carnegie Institution of Washington. She attributes all of these experiences to shaping and refining her scientific interests, and has thoroughly enjoyed the adventures they provided. Maureens policy interests include Natural Hazards and Public Health, Climate Change, STEM education, and the controversy surrounding the teaching of evolution in some regions of the country. Maureen was born and raised in San Diego, and enjoys travel, exotic food and music, and bocce ball.

Maureen is currently a program assistant in education/outreach at the American Meteorological Society (6/10).

Mollie just finished earning BS degrees in both geology and mathematics from West Virginia University. She has done geology Research Experiences for Undergraduate internships the past two summers, first at Virginia Tech then at the University of Colorado. Although she most recently comes from WV, she lived in the Midwest for most of her life and is excited about living near a big city for once. Mollie has little experience with public policy and is looking forward to the knowledge and experience she will gain from this internship opportunity.

Mollie graduated from Stanford University with a Master's degree in geology - concentration hydrogeomorphology - in the spring of 2013; her thesis focused on water driven slope instability and coastal erosion. (Updated 1/29/16)

Publications while at AGI:
Pettit, M.M. Geothermal Projects Gather $team. AAPG Explorer, Dec 2009.