Nov. 6, 2006
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Michael Zaleha |
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Michael Zaleha, Wittenberg associate professor of geology, was energized by a successful presentation of his recent research at the prestigious annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA).
The GSA annual meeting convened at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia from Oct. 22-25. More than 6,200 scholars from a variety of avenues in the geology field were in attendance.
This year’s conference, titled “The Pursuit of Science: Building on a Foundation of Discovery,” gave geological scholars an opportunity to share research about a wide range of topics, paying close attention to natural disasters and resources. It allowed for “the open exchange of scientific information and ideas,” according to the GSA Web site.
Since his arrival at Wittenberg in 2001, Zaleha has attended the GSA annual meeting twice, and he has presented research on both occasions.
"It’s the largest conference for geologists,” he said. “I had a good time. It was exciting to present and see a lot of old friends.”
Zaleha’s presentation focused on research gathered in Wyoming that showed the “inverse relationship between sediment accumulation rate and channel-belt connectedness.” His specialties are physical sedimentology, stratigraphy and basin analysis, with emphasis on intra- and extra-basinal controls on basin filling. Zaleha’s current research concerns depositional responses of Early Cretaceous rivers to basin-scale subsidence and small-scale syndepositional faults and folds in Wyoming.
“There has been much debate during the last 30 years regarding the effects of sediment accumulation rate on the distribution of river-channel deposits,” Zaleha said, adding that his presentation was well received.
In addition to presenting at the conference, Zaleha and fellow scholars attended short courses, symposia, field trips and divisional events, and they also had a few sightseeing opportunities. Though the field trip and the sightseeing were enticing, he found himself immersed in the numerous discussions and poster presentations.
Zaleha also presented prior research results in Delft, The Netherlands, in 2005. Although students did not participate in the research for the current presentation, Joe Rumschlag, Wittenberg class of 2005, co-authored one of Zaleha’s previous presentations.
Zaleha earned his bachelor’s degree in geology and biology from Muskingum College, his master’s degree in geology from Ohio University and his Ph.D. in geology from Binghamton University.
By: Erica Strauss ‘08
136-06
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