Independent and original research is a valuable part of an undergraduate education as a Geology major, and all Geology majors complete a research project during their senior year. Senior research provides students the opportunity to explore a particular sub-discipline of geology in detail and to apply the research skills that they have mastered in their geology coursework to a specific research question they find fascinating.
Submit Your Geology Senior Thesis
Geology Senior Theses are restricted to On-Campus Access Only and not available by ILL.
Geology Senior Theses from 2021
Developing a Fossil Exhibit at York River State Park (James City County, Virginia), Megan Sidlo
Isolation basin records constrain late Holocene sea-level trends in northern Norway, Sarah Snipes
Quantifying Morphological Variation in the Ornament and Shape of Dermal Scutes in Sturgeon (Acipenseridae), Chris Snyder
The Importance of the Sedimentology of Dunes in the Protection from Sea Level Rise, Melanie Strik
Tectonic Inversion in the Sherando 7.5' Quadrangle, Blue Ridge Province, Virginia, Kelly Thigpen
The Origin and Significance of Metamorphosed Ultramafic Rocks in the Chopawamsic Terrane, Buckner Quadrangle, Virginia, Nicholas Vaka
HOLOCENE TRENDS IN BIOGENIC SILICA REVEALED BY FTIR SPECTROSCOPY APPLIED TO A LAKE SEDIMENT RECORD FROM NORTHERN NORWAY, Caitlin Walker
Geology Senior Theses from 2016
Alluvial Island Formation in the James River Piedmont Province, Virginia, Carrie Adams
Assessing Models of Landscape Evolution using Stream Profile Analysis, Shenandoah National Park, Michael Bekken
Does Shell Chemistry Differ Among Oysters from Different Rivers?, Kallie Brown
Basin-average Erosion Rates and Watershed Hypsometry in a Transient Landscape, Nathaniel Chien
Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Low Shield Volcanoes in Ceraunius Fossae, Mars, John M.M. Chistoph
Knickpoints and Erosion Rates: Determining Transience in the Central Blue Ridge, Virginia, Tiffanie Choi
A Kinematic History of Brittle Deformation at the Blue Ridge-Piedmont Boundary, central Virginia, Vicent F. Cunningham
Mineralogy, Geochemistry, and Timing of Neoproterozoic Mafic Magmatism in the Roanoke Rapids Terane, Piedmont Province, Virginia, John P. Dearborn
First Measurements of Cosmogenic 24Na in Rain and Runoff Samples in Williamsburg, Virginia, Daniel Dores
Impact of Weathering on Bedrock Channel Geometry and Channel Response to Base Level Change, Sarah E. Flaherty
Using Apatite to Model Chlorine Contents of High SiO2 Magmas: An Enhanced Methodological Approach, Ryan Flesch
Development of Cosmogenic 22Na as a Tool to Measure Young Water Age in Multiple Watersheds, Claire Goydan
Evolution of the South Anna and Chickahominy River Basins in the Eastern Piedmont and Fall Zone, Virginia, Alexander S. Greene
Near & Far: Understanding Long-distance Trade and Interaction within the Society Islands through the Application of Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence, Lindsey Guthrie
Coring the Crim Dell: A Reconstruction of Sedimentary History in Williamsburg, Virginia, Annabel Hess
Mineralogical and Geochemical Constraints in the Origins of Kyanite Quartzite in the Kings Mountain Terrane, North Caroline and South Carolina, John Hollingsworth
Paleomagnetic Analysis of the Scottsville Mesozoic Rift Basin, Virginia: Implications for Regional Geologic History, Nathan C. Keithline
Kinematic History of the North Anna Gneiss Dome in the Goochland Terrane, Eastern Piedmont, Virginia, Virginia Latane
The Formation of Fluvial Channels on Alba Mons, Mars, Karin Lehnigk
Seasonal and Spatial Variability in the Sedimentology of the Merrimack Embayment, George B. Marino IV
Paleoecology of northeast Florida Bay, Everglades National Park, Florida: Reconstruction of Salinity and Hydrology for the past ∼2000 years, Allison McCluskey
Analysis of potential felsic volcanics in the Mechum River Formation, Blue Ridge, Virginia: Implications for the Snowball Earth, Cait G. McCormick
An Investigation into the Production of Phytoliths in Yellow Bamboo (Phyllostachys aurea) Compared to Soil Activity, Ben Olinger
A Regional Analysis of Strike-slip Fault Morphologies on Europa, Reid Perkins
Pseudotachylite in the Fork Church Fault Zone, Eastern Piedmont, Virginia: A Record of Mesozoic Seismic Activity, Nathan Ribyat
Multi-proxy Records of Anthropogenic Impacts on Fluvial Sediment Discharge at Joppa Flats, Massachusetts, Justin Shawler
Changes in Tornados along the Eastern United States: A Study of Tornados over Time with Climate Change, Sarah Springmann
Measuring the impact of land use on sedimentation rates along the industrialized coastline of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Kaylin J. Stigall
A Self-Efficacy Intervention in Introduction Geology Labs: Increasing Motivation in Introductory Geology Students, Blair Stuhlmuller
Motivation and Achievement in Introductory Geology Laboratories: The Impact of Career-Relevant-Intervention, Paige L. Stuhlmuller
Cenozoic Faulting in the Eastern Piedmont, near Doswell, Virginia, Lauren Thronson
Eigenshape Analysis as a Tool for Family-level Identification of Nepomorphans from the Solite Lagerstätte (Triassic, Virginia), Katherine A. Turk
A Kinematic and Petrographic analysis of Deformed Rocks at the Base of Semail Ophiolite near Buwah, Oman, Marissa von Nessi
Deformation and Magmatism: Geology of the Ivy Creek Natural Area, Eastern Blue Ridge, Virginia, Benjamin R. Weinmann
Late Holocene Benthic Micropaleontology and Reconstruction of Past Sea-level Rise on the Potomac River, Virginia, USA, Hannah Whitworth
Geology Senior Theses from 2015
Post-fire Hillslope Aspect Controls on Erosional Processes Traced by Fallout Radionuclides in Fourmile Canyon, Colorado, Edward R. Abrahams
Testing a Steady State Model of 22Na Transport in Small Watersheds for the Purpose of Dating Young Freshwaters, Alana Burton
Analog Modelling of Structural Defomation, Heather Cameron
Nitrate and Phosphate Removal in a Biochar-Amended Denitrifying Bioreactor, Brady Steward Leigh Coleman
Barrier Island Migration, Changes in Tidal Prism, and Marsh Loss on Virginia's Eastern Shore, Charlie Deaton
Priming for Supereruption: the hot pre-Peach Spring Tuff Lavas and Peach Spring Tuff Magmatic Enclaves, Black Mountains, Arizona, Megan E. Flansburg
Vicious Cycles: An Analysis of Cyclical Erosion and a Migrating Erosional Hotspot on Plum Island, MA, Haley Gannon
Characterization of Seafloor Sediment to Inform Marine Electromagnetic Induction Imaging, Mary E. Gillespie
