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Geography-Geology Continues Partnership with IEPA
Dr. Skip Nelson discusses the
characteristics of the St. Louis
Limestone at Pere Marquette State
The Department of Geography-Geology and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) recenty pledged to continue their partnership for a second year. The partnership involves Department faculty providing continuing education to IEPA personnel in return for a $25,000 contract that supports a number of departmental initiatives, including student summer support, faculty travel, and service contracts for analytical equipment. "The benefits of this partnership are tremendous," said Dave Malone, Department Chair of Geography-Geology.

"We have been able to develop important professional contacts and provide essential training to Agency geologists and engineers."

Specifically, the continuing education program trains IEPA personnel in the regional geology of Illinois through field trips to various parts of the state, specialized field instruction, laboratory, lecture, and workshop courses in Environmental Geology and Hydrogeology. The program involves the delivery of ten courses by departmental faculty including: Dagmar Budikova, Steve Van der Hoven, Dave Malone, Skip Nelson, and Eric Peterson. Each course consists of two full days of direct instruction and includes topics such as field studies of the St. Louis, Rockford, Chicago, and Quad Cities areas; Geostatistics; Aquifer Tests; General Hydrogeology; and Contaminant Hydrogeology. The partnership was initiated by IEPA scientists Sherri Otto (BS Geology '79) and Karen Nelson. Between 10 to 40 IEPA personnel participate in each course, and about one course is offered per month.

This semester's courses took place on March 16 and 17. The March 16th course concentrated on the Geology of Illinois Beach State Park, and topics such as Beach Processes at the Lodge Beach and the Evolution of Lake Michigan Shoreline were discussed. The March 17th concentrated on 3 Dimensional Geologic Mapping of Glacial Materials in Lake, McHenry, and Kane Counties, and featured such topics as Ground and End Moraines and Ice Disintegration Features at Glacial Park.

"Partnerships such as this one between the Department of Geography-Geology and the IEPA are really win-win situations," said Dean Olson. "The IEPA benefits from the expertise our faculty have to offer, and the Department benefits financially as well as from the opportunity to teach to a practicing audience."
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