VT College of Science Magazine Summer 2008 | Page 6

unCovering a Century of learning

M a g a z i n e

4

S C i e n C e

An ancient fossil from 560-millionyear-old rocks in Newfoundland,
Canada. Morphological analysis of
similar fossils by Virginia Tech geosciences students and faculty reveals the
evolutionary pattern of early complex
life forms.

Photo courtesy of Michal Kowalewski

Issue No. 5 suMMeR 2008

C o l l e g e

o f

Photo courtesy of Shen, B., Dong, L., Xiao, S.,
and Kowalewski, M.

Michal Kowalewski (Virginia Tech) and
Lindsey Leighton (San Diego State
University) work with students to deploy
an ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle)
to acquire high-resolution images
and movies of ocean bottom habitats
around the San Juan Islands.

Faculty member Mike Hochella uses
aerial reconnaissance to study large
environmental contamination sites.
Photo courtesy of Mike Hochella

Three-dimensional rendition of a
four-celled animal embryo recovered from ~600-million-year-old
rocks in South China. X-ray tomographic analysis of this specimen
shows that possible nuclei (green)
may have been preserved.
Photo courtesy of Hagadorn, J.W., Xiao, S.,
Donoghue, P.C.J., Bengtson, S., Gostling, N.J.,
Pawlowska, M., Raff, E.C., Raff, R.A., Turner,
F.R., Yin, C., Zhou, C., Yuan, X., McFeely, M.B.,
Stampanoni, M., and Nealson, K.H.

thE NEXt cENtury
Future generations of young minds with a penchant for As the next generation embarks on a journey of discovuncovering the complexities of the Earth will continue ery about this planet, perhaps a quote from T.S. Eliot is
to seek educational, research, and teaching opportuni- a fitting tribute to the first century of geosciences at
ties within Virginia Tech’s Department of Geosciences. Virginia Tech:
Future goals for this exemplary program include in“We shall not cease from exploration
creasing the number of faculty members and graduate
And the end of all our exploring
students and establishing additional scholarship opportunities. The department also plans to build a worldWill be to arrive where we started
class geosciences research, lecture, teaching, and eduAnd know the place for the first time.”
cational center in the near future.
— T.S. Eliot