Current Faculty Research

John P. Buchanan

• Development of a computer model of the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie aquifer system, Washington and Idaho for water budgeting purposes
• Sedimentology of fluvial deposits in cave systems in Belize, Central America
• Ground water/surface water interaction between the Spokane River and aquifer in the Spokane valley, Washington

Ernest H. Gilmour

• Permian bryozoans of the Productus Creek Group, South Island, New Zealand
• Biostratigraphic studies of Pennsylvanian and Permian bryozoans in North America and Pakistan
• Permian bryozoans of the carbonate units of the Mission Argillite, northeastern Washington
• Paleobiogeography of Late Permian Bryozoa

James I. Hoffman

• Economic geology of the Yellowhead ore zone, the Metaline District, Pend Oreille mine
• Interpretive geology, Columbia Plateau Trail, Devils Canyon to Snake River junction - Washington State Parks & Recreation Commission
• Environmental mitigation practices, Coeur d'Alene mining district, Idaho

Mohammed Ikramuddin

• Use of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry in environmental research and mineral exploration
• Chemical analysis of water, wastewater, soil and sediments using EPA methods and EPA quality assurance quality control protocol
• Trace-element geochemistry of water, soil, plants and stream sediments affected by mining activities
• Distribution of metals in the Spokane aquifer and Spokane River, Washington
• Development of new analytical methods by ICP-mass spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry, and Zeeman graphite furnace atomic absorption
• Lead isotopes and trace elements in tree rings:  chronology of pollution in Coeur d'Alene River, Idaho
• Use of lead isotopes to identify lead contamination in rivers, lakes and groundwater
• Isotopic composition of lead in contaminated sediments and soil
• Chemical analysis of ultrapure electronic materials
• Microwave digestion of alloys and analysis of volatile elements

Eugene P. Kiver

• Glacial and catastrophic flood history of eastern Washington
• Quaternary mapping of northeastern Washington east of the Okanogan River
• Geology of national parks
• Erosion rates along Lake Roosevelt

Linda B. McCollum

• Lower Paleozoic paleogeography and sequence stratigraphy
• Pattern of extinction and replacement at the Lower-Middle Cambrian boundary in the Great Basin and South China
• Description of basal Middle Cambrian faunas and paleogeography in the Great Basin
• Geologic mapping in the Osgood Mountains, Nevada

Jennifer A. Thomson

• Melting of pelitic rocks, south-central Massachusetts
• Petrologic and geochemical investigation of the Wallace Formation, Fernwood-Clarkia, Idaho
• Compositional zonation and diffusion in Emerald Creek garnets, Idaho