Celebrating 2022 Graduating Seniors
Jarett Baker-Dunn
Hi everyone! I like studying the Earth because it is such a foundational part of our lives. As a kid I always wondered about rocks, because they could be found everywhere but were also durable, mysterious, and inscrutable. Studying geology has kind of felt like feeding my childhood curiosity about the Earth, which had been dormant for years before coming to Macalester. After graduating I plan to either return to working in the geotech industry or go into software.
Carolyn Eckstein
I knew I wanted to be a geology major after Karl took us on a field trip to a landfill for Dynamic Earth/Global Change. It was love at first sight, really. I’ve really enjoyed learning about all the different flavors of geology from the wonderful faculty here at Macalester, and I feel like my future is wide open because of that. Currently my interests lie within the surface processes side of things, specifically with groundwater hydrology, but I am sure that will change later in my life. I am excited to be working for the Minneapolis Department of Parks and Recreation after graduation, where I will be performing water quality testing and monitoring in the lakes, wells, and stormwater treatment sites in the city. I feel very passionate about performing work that directly helps people in my community, so I am excited to begin that part of my life. In the future, I can see myself attending graduate school and adding another degree to my belt, but I think I need to work for a while to figure out what I may want to study further. Thank you so much to the faculty and staff of the geology department for teaching me about not just geology, but also about how to be a successful human being. I look forward to getting drinks with my peers and mentors in the future, and hearing about all the amazing things you are doing.
Alex Johanson
Hi all, my name is Alex Johanson. I am from Walla Walla, Washington and I am a Macalester Geology (and Geography) major in the class of 2022. I am currently interning at the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization while also finishing my honors thesis which focuses on tracking a unique Cretaceous fluvial sandstone body through the subsurface. This summer, I will be starting a position in Kirkland, WA as a staff geologist/hydrogeologist at Associated Earth Sciences Incorporated.
The geology department was my second home throughout college. I have enjoyed amazing relationships with professors and classmates who I can turn to for anything. Landing in Karl Wirth’s Dynamic Earth and Global Change first year course is one of the most important events in my life.
Andy Kern
Geology rocks because it lets us get a feel for deep time, getting familiar with the patterns that continuously shuffle the surface of Earth into complexes of rock, plant, fungal, and animal diversity. I am particularly interested in the present-day applications of geological cycles to mitigate and adapt human society to climate change. The Anthropocene is upon us, and it has been thoroughly shown that humans have incredible power and responsibility(like spiderman) in our present-day reality. Google “96 percent of mammals” to find out more. We must accept this power and responsibility and work to create systems which protect and regenerate ecosystems and strive to reduce our impact as much as we can. Starting a native garden in my backyard, using a bike for transport, and not eating/consuming meat and other animal products are ways I practice reducing harm to animals, ecosystems, and the planet.
After graduation, I plan on continuing my work at R and R cultivation in the Twin Cities, growing and selling mushrooms at farmers’ markets. While I haven’t quite figured out what I will do there yet, I’m planning to move to Vancouver, BC in the fall, and do something related to soils, GIS mapping, or food. I hope to eventually go to grad school somewhere for mycology, sustainable food, or soil science. Stay crunchy, my friends.
Logan McCutcheon
Hello! I’m Logan McCutcheon from Chicago, Illinois. I’m graduating with a Geology major and French and Biology minors. I’ve spent most of the past year working on some tiny phosphatic fossils from the Deborah Shale for my Senior Thesis, working closely with both Kristi Curry Rogers and Raymond R. Rogers. When I was younger, fossils were my life. Now that I’ve grown up and spent the past four years learning with everyone else in the department, I’m proud to say that fossils are my life now more than they ever were before. Next year I’ll be starting a Masters program at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology for Paleontology. I’m so thrilled with the adventures and opportunities that this department has given me and I can’t wait to use all I’ve learned here in the future!
Claire McHenry
Hello all, my name is Claire (she/her), and I am a geology major and GIS minor in the graduating class of 2022. This past summer I completed an REU through the University of Minnesota and collected field data on a floodplain forest in St. Paul that has directly been impacted by climate change and an invasive beetle. My honors thesis focuses on this research. Specifically, I studied how the soil moisture content is depleted over time below native and non-native tree species across the floodplain. Additionally, I am working on a remote sensing project that analyzes the correlation between remotely sensed surface soil moisture and in situ measurements. My goal is to submit this work for publication.
After graduation, I am moving to Lafayette, Louisiana for two years where I will work for the USGS at the Wetland and Aquatic Research Center. I will be utilizing remote sensing to understand land cover change across wetlands and the impact of hurricanes on the coast of Louisiana. Eventually, I hope to understand my passions better and decide what I want to delve into and study deeply in graduate school.
Phoebe Morris
My name is Phoebe Morris (she/her) and I’m from Mundelein, IL (tragically no good rocks in the area). I thought taking a cool paleontology-esque class as my FYC would be an interesting little thing to do the first semester before delving into the world of pre-med and biology. Four years later, I’m standing here with 400 different flannels, a rock collection, and an entire honors thesis dedicated to volcanic ash. High school Phoebe would have an aneurysm to see me now. The Macalester Geology department fully converted me to the world of geosciences and I don’t think I would have done anything differently.
In the next few years, I’m taking a small break to work, maybe travel around a bit, and take a breather from academics. But after that, I am planning on going to grad school for paleobiology, probably in a conservation or ecology direction. After working at a fossil bed over the 2021 summer, I learned that I love paleo, but more in the big-picture environmental sense. To be honest, I have no idea what I’m doing or where I’m going, but I suppose half the adventure is figuring it all out. My future is probably going in an academia direction, but plans have a strange habit of changing regardless of how certain they feel in the moment. However, the best choice I ever made for myself was sticking with the Mac Geo people and I would recommend it to anyone.
Kaitlin Osterman
Hello! My name is Kaitlin Osterman (she/her). I am a geology and media and cultural studies double major graduating this spring. I first became interested in geology when I took Karl’s Dynamic Earth and Global Change FYC. Since then, I have most enjoyed Kelly’s Geomorphology and Hydrology courses. I just finished up a project looking at the rise of fast fashion as a business model and the associated effects on surface and groundwater systems in major production centers. After graduation, I will be doing groundwater remediation site work for AECOM!
Rock Park
Hi, my name is Rock (she/hers), and I am a dual major in Geology and Political Science. I was a hesitant Geology major here at Mac, but after deciding to take two geology classes my sophomore spring, I was hooked! The professors, people in the department, and my peers have all provided me with ample reasons to stay engaged as a Geology major.
I hope to use all of the wonderful skills that I’ve learned in the Mac Geology department to work in the intersection of hydrology and policy, either working in water policy or environmental remediation. My immediate post-college plans are to work as the healthcare director for a summer camp in Minnesota, after which I will contemplate grad school or potentially finding a job in hydrology or conservation either in the Twin Cities, or in my hometown of Boulder, Colorado.
Julia Ricks
Hi, I’m Julia, a geology major and biology minor from Carnation, WA, graduating in the class of 2022! My first-year course at Macalester was Dynamic Earth and Global Change which really sparked my interest in geology right away. I’d always been super excited about fossils and rocks, but I never knew it was something I could major in!
Over the past year, I’ve been working on my honors thesis which was based on research I started over last summer with Kristi Curry Rogers and Ray Rogers. My thesis focused on small fossil eggshell fragments from the Judith River Formation in Montana and what they can tell us about the ancient nearshore ecosystem animal diversity of the Cretaceous. It was impactful to use tiny fossils like those to see into the past and imagine the many amazing dinosaurs, crocodiles, and turtles laying eggs in those ecosystems and how it mirrors our ecosystems today.
After graduation, I’ll be working as a naturalist and environmental educator for the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board, and I eventually plan to pursue a graduate degree in geology or biology with the goal of working in science communication and education. It’s more important now than ever to make science accessible and exciting! The geology department has helped me develop so many skills in research, communication, and big picture thinking that I will carry with me forever.
Sun Tun
Hi everyone, my name is Sun Tun (he/him/his), and I am from St. Paul, Minnesota. It’s an honor to be one of the graduating seniors in the phenomenal class of 2022. I never thought I would be in the geosciences and be a geologist in training, but like all geologists we are called to action and we answer that calling from the Earth courageously. I was fortunate enough to have an amazing first-year course experience with professor Kristi Curry Rogers in the class Flying Dinosaurs/Walking Whales, and it really brought me into geology and made me believe that I could do geology even if there weren’t too many people that looked like me in the field. I continued to take geology class and realized that I was reading a much different book from my peers and therefore my chapters will be filled with many different adventures and experiences which makes it all the more exciting and worthwhile. The people in the department and the classes I’ve taken will always have a special place in my heart and I want to thank them for all the smiles and memories because MAC geology will always stay with me wherever I go in life. This past semester, I completed my senior honors thesis project that focused on the taphonomy of fossil eggshell fragments found in the Judith River Formation, Montana. My postgraduate plans are to stay in the Twin Cities area and work some jobs during these gap years before potentially deciding to go to grad school. It feels surreal to be graduating because it felt like yesterday I was just taking my first few classes at Macalester. As a first-generation, low-income, and son of immigrants, I am proud of myself for having come to college and having endured all the madness these last four years. I hope to use what I’ve learned as a student during my time at Macalester College to be of service to my family, community, and city.