Dr.
Gwen (G. L.) Macpherson
Associate Professor and Director, KU Plasma Analytical
Laboratory
University of Kansas, Dept.
of Geology
1475 Jayhawk Blvd., Room 120, Lindley Hall
Lawrence, KS 66045 USA
E-mail: glmac@ku.edu Telephone: 785-864-2742
Personal web page (this one): www.people.ku.edu/~glmac
KU Department of Geology web page: www.geo.ku.edu
Graduate students, IÕm always looking for
motivated students. Contact me!
¥ research
projects available from field- to laboratory- based, and all gradations
between
¥ support
(including summer) available through Research Assistantships or Teaching
Assistantships
¥ opportunities for training and hands-on experience with
laboratory and field equipment
Weathering and the consequences of
global climate change
on groundwater chemistry
in continental interior grasslands
Other research projects
¥ recent or current projects with other researchers
¥ Precambrian paleosols and oxygenation
of the EarthÕs atmosphere
¥ diagenesis
of hyaloclastites (primarily Dr. Tony Walton)
¥ dolomite
precipitation (primarily Dr. Jen Roberts and students)
¥ REE in
Fossil Bone (primarily Dr. Luis Gonzalez and student)
¥ past research projects
¥ geochemistry of sedimentary basin formation water
¥ low-temperature
geothermal resources
Facilities
¥ KU-Plasma Analytical Laboratory: ICP-MS (quadrupole), Laser ablation
microprobe, ICP-OES, Class 100 clean areas in dedicated laboratory
¥ KU Aqueous Geochemistry
Laboratory: Microdrill, ion
chromatograph, UV-VIS spectrophotometer; Class 100 laminar flow hood;
sub-boiling still; water distiller; water deionizer; pH, Eh, SC, DO, turbidity, T meters; pressure
transducers and data loggers for continuous water-level monitoring; e-lines for
instantaneous water-level measurement; Teflon bailers and surge pumps;
flow-through cells and filtering equipment
¥ dedicated field laboratory van
¥ 35 wells and 100 soil lysimeters
permanently installed at the Konza Prairie LTER Site
¥ access to facilities overseen by other faculty members in Geology (SIRMS, GC, TIMS) or on campus (environmental SEM)
¥ Department computers, PC and Macintosh
platforms; in addition, I oversee operation of eight computers for running
instruments or data processing
PublicationsÑsee individual research projects
What I teach (most recent courses)
¥ GEOL 302 Oceanography (undergraduate)
¥ GEOL 753 Chemical Hydrogeology (graduate, undergraduate)
¥ GEOL 791 Analytical Techniques, ICP-MS, and LAM (graduate, undergraduate with
permission)
¥ GEOL 791 Geochemical modeling (graduate)
¥ GEOL 752 Field Techniques, Hydrogeology (team taught)
¥ GEOL 552 Introduction to Hydrogeology (team taught)
Current and former students
Alan Wade, 1992, (co-supervised), Ground water flow systems and the water resources potential of the Dakota Aquifer in a two-county area in north-central Kansas: MS thesis.
Michael L. Pomes, 1995, (co-supervised), A study of the aquatic humic substances and hydrogeology in a prairie watershed: Use of humic material as a tracer of recharge through soils: Ph.D. dissertation, 296 pp.
Mary C. Bitney, 1995, non-thesis MS.
Martin Smith, 1995, (co-supervised), Hydrostratigraphic controls on ground-water flow and the distribution of chloride in the Upper Dakota aquifer of southwestern Ellis County, Kansas: MS thesis, 229 pp.
Edwin Lindgren, 1996, Aqueous geochemistry of the Tonganoxie Sandstone aquifer, Leavenworth County, Kansas: MS thesis, 135 pp.
David Streiler, The stratigraphic distribution of bromine in Upper Pennsylvanian cyclothems of the mid-continent.
Julie Grauer, 1998, non-thesis MS.
Jenney M. Hall, 1998, Nitrate in a confined, alluvial aquifer, Douglas County, Kansas,: MS thesis, 110 pp.
Jessica Kidwell, 1999, Nitrate distribution and reduction in a semi-confined alluvial aquifer; Geohydrologic Experimental and Monitoring Site (GEMS), Douglas County, Kansas,: MS thesis, 99 pp.
Liz McVay, 2000, Geomicrobial denitrifying and nitrifying characteristics of a nitrate-contaminated alluvial aquifer, northeastern Kansas: MS thesis, 116 pp.
Marcia Schulmeister, 2000, Hydrology and geochemistry of an alluvial aquifer near a floodplain margin: Ph. D. dissertation, 132 pp.
Kato Dee, 2001, Lead contamination and attenuation in a shallow monitoring well, Konza Prairie Long-Term Ecological Research site, Riley and Geary Counties, Kansas, 124 pp.
Heather Wood, 2001, Seasonality and rates of mineral weathering in karst aquifers at the Konza Prairie,: MS thesis, 114 pp.
Gabby Cohen Blair, GRA for 137Cs soil sampling project, 2001-2004.
Kimberly Kissing Beisner, URA for Konza LTER water project, 2003-2006; Honors in Geology, 2006.