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, I’m 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

(back to top of page) .

My current area of research

Weathering and the consequences of

global climate change

on groundwater chemistry

in continental interior grasslands

(back to top of page) .

Other research projects

• recent or current projects with other researchers

• Precambrian paleosols and oxygenation of the Earth’s 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

• nitrate in groundwater

• geochemistry of sedimentary basin formation water

• low-temperature geothermal resources

(back to top of page) .

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

(back to top of page) .

Publications—see individual research projects

(back to top of page) .

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)

(back to top of page) .

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.

(back to top of page) .