Kathleen C. Benison

Professor of Geology

kcbenison@mail.wvu.edu

Ph.D., Geology, University of Kansas, 1997

M.A., Geology, Binghamton University, 1993

B.S., Geology and Chemistry, Bridgewater State College, 1990

Maya BradFord

Ph.D. Student

myb00001@mix.wvu.edu

M.S., Geology, West Virginia University, 2023

B.S., Environmental Sciences, Emory U., 2020

working dissertation title: Environments and climates of the Permian Goose Egg Formation and Triassic Chugwater Group, Wyoming

EMILY JoHNSON

M.S. Student

ecj00005@mix.wvu.edu

B.S., Geology, University of Washington, 2019

working thesis title: fluid inclusions and biosignatures in White Sands gypsum

Recent past members of REO lab group:

MARTHA E. Gibson

Visiting Scholar

Ph.D., Palynology, University of Sheffield, 2021

M.Biol.Sci., Zoology, University of Sheffield, 2015

Research title: “Evaluating the Pangaean paleobotanical record from midcontinental U.S.A. evaporites” funded by a Lindemann Trust Postdoctoral Fellowship

MATTHEW ELLIS

UNDERGRADUATE ReseArcher

B.S., Geology, West Virginia University, 2023

Karena GiLL

Post-Doctoral ReseArcher

Ph.D., Geology, University of Alabama, 2022

M.S., Geology, Auburn University, 2017

B.S., Geology/Geol. Eng., Colorado School of Mines, 2015

A.S., Natural Resource Management, University of Belize, 2011

research: Fluid inclusions in Mars-analog mirabilite; funded by NASA Mars 2020 grant

Maya Bradford

M.S., Geology, West Virginia University, 2023

M.S. thesis: Continental saline environments interpreted from bedded gypsum of the Triassic Red Peak Formation (Chugwater Group), northcentral Wyoming

B.S., Environmental Sciences, Emry U., 2020

RYAN PRCHLIK

M.S., Geology, West Virginia University, 2023

M.S. thesis: A study of accidental daughter crystals in fluid inclusions in bedded halite from the Permian Opeche Shale and Cedar Hills Sandstone of the midcontinental United States

B.S., Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, 2020

SARA SCHREDER-GOMES

M.S., Geology, West Virginia University, 2021

M.S. thesis: A snapshot of ancient microbial life: Microorganisms and organic compounds in primary fluid inclusions in bedded halite, Neoproterozoic Browne Formation of central Australia

B.S., Geology, St. Norbert College., 2019

Brigitte Petras

M.S., Geology, West Virginia University, 2021

M.S. thesis: Refining the sedimentology and geochemistry of the mid-Permian Blaine Formation in the Rebecca K. Bounds core, Greeley County, Kansas

B.S., Geology, Youngstown State U., 2018

Bradley Smith

B.S., Geology, West Virginia University, 2020

senior thesis: Fluid and solid inclusions in halite as an environmental indicator: Petrography and spectroscopy of the Permian Cedar Hills Sandstone and Permian Salt Plain Formation, Kansas

Jonathan Knapp

Ph.D., Geology, West Virginia University, 2020

dissertation title: Evolution of extreme continental saline environments: Alluvial fans, loess plains, lakes, and distributive fluvial systems: Depositional systems of the Permian-Triassic redbeds and evaporites of Wyoming (U.S.A.)

B.S., Geology, Env. Studies, History, Central Michigan University, 2009

Anna Sofia Andeskie

Ph.D., Geology, West Virginia University, 2020

dissertation title: Evolution of extreme continental saline environments: a sedimentological investigation of Permo-Triassic redbeds and evaporites in Northern Ireland and Kansas

M.S., Geology, West Virginia University, 2016

M.S. thesis: Depositional and diagenetic history of the Triassic red beds and evaporites from the Mercia Mudstone Group in the Carnduff 02 core of County Antrim, Northern Ireland

B.A., Geology, Binghamton University, 2014

Jackson Jakeway

M.S., Geology, West Virginia University, 2019

M.S. thesis: Beneath the dunes: Cenozoic history of wind and water from a core drilled at White Sands, New Mexico

B.S., Geology, Central Michigan University, 2016

JEREMIAH BERNAU

M.S., Geology, West Virginia University, 2017

M.S. thesis: Testing the acid origin of the Neoproterozoic Browne Formation of central Australia through fluid inclusion analysis of bedded halite

B.S., Earth Science, Vassar College, 2014