Message from the Chair

Back by popular demand – The Redbeds!

Hello Earth and Planetary Science Alumni,

In recent years, I have heard a common theme - you like keeping up with the department and I hear you.  The Redbeds provided an important link to the comings and goings in the department. It is back, using an electronic format with clickable links to more in-depth stories which will be integrated into our website. 

Alumni are important to Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS) and we are exploring ways to stay connected with you.  I will be inviting you to meet (virtually at first) to hear what you would like from EPS.  As travel restrictions at Rutgers continue to ease, Rutgers EPS will have a presence at national meetings.  Inspired by Matt Golombek (Rutgers College Class of 1976), who year-after-year dropped by our booth at the Annual Geological Society of America (GSA) Meeting asking about the alumni reception. We started in 2018 with a small table at GSA where we hosted about 40 people. Going forward, this will continue at GSA.  Starting next year, I hope to attend the Annual American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), now called IMAGE (International Meeting for Applied Geoscience and Energy) and will work with Dean Peter March on coordinating an alumni event in Houston.  We also have significant presence at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference and we will explore if there is a need to have a formal meet up event there.

For many of us, getting out in the field is what drew us into studying our planet.  We are grateful for a gift from Darryl and Lynn James that supported a group of 22 students in 2018 who geologically toured Yellowstone and other nearby places of interest.  These students chronicled their trip with a series of pictures and videos.  Join our EPS Facebook group to see all the pictures and check out the edited footage below created by two time EPS alumni, Michael Klaser (School of Arts and Sciences class of 2015, Masters earned in 2017).  Emerging from Covid, EPS will be taking a group of 15 students to Book Cliffs, Utah in the summer of 2022.  This trip has been a staple in our department, and we are already looking into a departmental trip for 2023 to a new destination. 

In addition to the Facebook group, we have created a Rutgers Earth and Planetary Sciences Alumni LinkedIn group.  I encourage you to join and am hopeful that LinkedIn will be another way in which you can stay in touch with each other and possibly help connect EPS job seekers with job openings among our alumni. 

Another idea we hope to start is an event at Rutgers for our local alumni.  This is still in the planning stage, but I envision an evening cookout to reconnect with alumni who still live near Rutgers.  Our alumni in Texas might be tempted because I often fire up my smoker and slow cook pork butt and beef brisket for departmental events.

Our department is always evolving and The Redbeds will keep you informed of what’s happening in EPS.  If you have news to share, we’d like to hear about it.  Don’t hesitate to reach out to me or others in the department to ask questions or share your news. 

Best regards,

Jim Wright

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.