David H. Voorhees

(Pemaquid, Maine 2005)

Why should you be interested in earth science?

Please view this short video on U-Tube

My primary professional interests are in geoscience education. I want to bring as much of the vastness and complexity of the earth to my students both in and out of class. As part of that, I am involoved in several projects that are trying to reach out to, not only my students, but also the Waubonsee community.

• Waubonsee Community College is an Educational Affiliate in the IRIS consortium (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology), a group dedicated to exploring the earth's interiori and using geophysics and earthquake science. As part of this membership we received an AS-1 seismograph, which has been collecting data since June of 2005. The AS-1 is prominently displayed in our Science Building, and its data is used in our Earth Science and Geology classes and labs. You can see a real-time view of our data here.
  • Click here to see how our AS1 has contributed to the IRIS (IRI) regional network of seismometers
  • Click here for a list of recent earthquakes
  • Click here for an interactive viewer of data from the most recent earthquakes
• I am interested in the issue of sustainablity, and improving the sustainability of myself, my stidents, and the Waubonsee community. I gave a presentation in our Asset Earth seires on sustainability, the powerpoint slides can be found here(I have removed images that might have copyright issues). A list of readings and webites can be found here.
• Waubonsee Community College, in cooperation with the City of Aurora, the Illinois State Museum, and the Illinois State Geological Survey, undertook a systematic archeologic dig to uncover a rumoured mastodont (this is not a typo) under Mastodon Lake in Phillips Park, in Aurora, IL. We didn't find the rumoured mastodont left after the WPA project in the 1930's, but we did uncover significant background data and samples which provides a clearer understanding of the paleoenvironment the Aurora mastodonts lived in, 10,000 to 13,000 years ago.

Other stuff

I live northeast of Woodstock, IL (home of the movie Groundhog Day, with Bill Murray) on a horse boarding and traning facility called Entropy Farm, which is owned and operated by my wife and myself.

(Hopewell Rocks, Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, 2005)

(GLG100 Field trip, Fall 2009)

ESC100: Survey of Earth Science

This 3 credit course is designed so the student will demonstrate a familiarity with the basic vocabulary of meteorology, geology, and some oceanography.  The student will demonstrate an ability to examine earth science information through critical reading, writing, and discussion.  In doing so, the student will realize the wonders and complexities of the fragile Planet Earth upon which they are a steward.  The student will be able to more fully understand the stewardship role they are undertaking by developing an understanding of the geologic concepts and data that are at the core of current discussions of topics such as climate change, environmental hazards, and sustainable resource management.  Specific objective sheets will be distributed which should be used as study guides for exams

AST100: Introduction to Astronomy

This 3 credit course is designed so the student will demonstrate a familiarity with the basic vocabulary and concepts of modern astronomy.  The student will demonstrate an ability to examine astronomic information through critical reading, writing, and discussion.  Through an understanding of ideas and concepts in astronomy, the student will be able to more fully understand the complexities of one of the fundamental questions of humankind: What was the beginning of the universe like?  Along the way, students will discover the contents and composition of our solar system, our own galaxy, and some of the galaxies in the great beyond, and perhaps beyond the edge.  Specific objective sheets for each exam will be distributed, which should be used as a study guide.

GLG100: Introduction to Physical Geology

This 3 credit course is designed so the student will demonstrate a familiarity with the concepts and basic vocabulary of physical geology.  The student will demonstrate an ability to examine geological information through critical reading, writing, and discussion.  The student will gain an appreciation of the geologic materials and processes that govern, and have governed their familiar physical landscape.  Specific objective sheets will be distributed which should be used as study guides for exams.

GLG101: Introduction to Physical Geology Laboratory

A laboratory course meant to be taken concurrently with Introduction to Physical Geology (GLG 100).  Weekly laboratory work will involve mineral and rock identification, topographic and geologic map exercises, and some field work.

(GLG101, Spring 2011)

GLG103: Environmental Geology

This course is intended to address issues that have not traditionally been considered in most environmental discussions.  In so doing, this course will contribute to a better trained environmental scientist, a more informed student, and future elector to be able to solve critical local and global environmental issues in the new millennium.  These issues include recognition and mitigation of geologic hazards (floods, landslides, subsidence, earthquakes, and volcanoes), groundwater contamination, the source and supply of energy and mineral resources, as well as global warming and climate change.

GEO121: Physical Geography

This course in Physical Geography is designed so the student will demonstrate a familiarity with the basic vocabulary and a working knowledge of the dimensions and processes of many of the environments and systems of the Earth.  This will be accomplished by examining the fundamental atmospheric, tectonic, and geomorphic processes that are part of the dynamic, yet fragile planet Earth.

SUS101: Creating Your Sustainble Future

In this class, you will
• Develop a personal definition of sustainability
• Discuss the differences among, and importance of, global climate change, global warming, and weather to sustainability
• Describe the role of anthropogenic greenhouse gases and climate models in global climate change discussions
• Discuss the role of global population in global sustainability
• Discuss the current state of biodiversity, it’s predictions, and it’s influences
• Understand and describe the types of natural resources needed for a sustainable lifestyle, their distributions, and humans impact on those distributions (IPAT).
• Debate the role of developed nations in allowing developing nations to develop sustainably
• Describe the significance of the ‘Tragedy of the Commons’ to sustainability
• List and describe current economic incentives for business and individuals
• Describe the role of biodiversity and ecologic thresholds in the understanding of the earth’s carrying capacity
• Understand the role of carbon and ecologic footprints in becoming a sustainable world citizen
• Describe the significant global and political sustainability initiatives of the last 20+ years
• Discuss sustainability issues that affect residents of IL, including climate change, energy production, carbon sequestration, production and use of ethanol
• Describe the status of renewable energy sources in IL
• Describe the strategies and actions proposed by the City of Chicago to become more sustainable
• Understand the different types of hybrid vehicles and their status in the CAFÉ standards
• Understand the typical energy users in a typical home, and the role of LEED and RESNET to improving sustainable home energy use
• Describe the significance, differences of, and the different examples of, carbon and ecologic footprints.
• Describe and analyze your water footprint
• Discuss the future of water in this region
• Describe the types and management of solid waste, and the roles of recycling and precycling in becoming more sustainable
• Describe where and how energy is used in your daily life, including the home, your car, and diet

(GLG100 Field Trip, 2011)

Websites I check most every day

WCC AS1

Websites for college success

Hints for success Self-help start Scheduling More time scheduling Skill checkllist Note taking Editing lecture notes

Websites I use in class

Geology

General geology

Ground Water

Geologic time

Minerals

Glaciers

Fossils & Evolution

Rocks

Earthquakes

Structural & mountains

Weathering & soils

Volcanoes

Tectonic history of N. America

Mass Wasting

Plate tectonics

Deserts

Running water

Environmental

Global warming

Oceanography

Panoramas of sea floor Ocean planet virtual museum Ocean drilling program USGS Coastal & Marine USGS Coastal & Marine Coastal change Hurricanes & coasts LA Barrier Islands Black smokers Woods Hole animations NOVA: Into abyss Sea mountains! SEAWIFS pix Sea Surface Temps Sea Level rise, EPA Sea level rise: FL SEAwifs home NOAA: Ocean explorer

Astronomy

Astronomy 101

Moon

Archeoastronomy

Sun & data services

Stars & galaxies

Solar system

Observing & night sky

Cosmology

Meteorology

Meteorology 101

Water, clouds, ppt

Weather: data & forecasts

Severe storms

Climate data

Thunder & lightning

Tornadoes & hurricanes

Geography

Maps

Biomes & climate

Phys Geog 101

Earth Images

(Acadia National Park, ME, 2005)

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS

•Instructor of Earth Science and Geology at Waubonsee Community College since 2002.  Taught Physical Geology and Earth Science at 2 other Illinois Community Colleges for 5 years and various geology discussion sections and labs at the University of Illinois. 

•Coursework and research for a Ph.D. degree in geology (ABD), specializing in glacial geology, geomorphology, and sedimentology, with supplemental coursework in hydrology and soils.
 
•Seven years experience as an Exploration Geologist for two major oil companies

EDUCATION 

Ph.D.(ABD): Geology UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, Urbana, Illinois
  
Dissertation: Stone bed sedimentology and petrography of Wisconsinan tills used to infer subglacial bed conditions in Northern Illinois.

M.S.: Geology RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, Troy, New York: 1983
Thesis: The Stratigraphy and Sedimentary Petrography of the Oriskany Sandstone in Eastern New York State.

B.A.: Economics  UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER: 1980

SIGNIFICANT PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Associate Professor: Waubonsee Community College: 2009-present
Assistant Professor: Waubonsee Community College: 2008-2009
Instructor: Waubonsee Community College: 2002-2008; tenure effective in September 2005
Responsible for developing and teaching lecture sections and laboratories in Earth Science, Physical Geology, Environmental Geology, Astronomy, and Physical Geography; in addition to curriculum development and community-based outreach activities.

Interim Dean of Technology, Mathematics, and Physical Sciences Division: WCC, 5/05 to 9/05
Temporary position during national search for permanent candidate, responsible for scheduling of classes, personnel issues, and budgetary duties for the Division.

Adjunct Instructor: McHenry County College and College of Lake County: 1997-2002.
 Taught lecture sections and laboratories in Earth Science, Physical Geology, and Environmental Geology.

Exploration Geologist: Gulf Oil Corporation / Chevron U.S.A., New Orleans, LA: 1982-89.
Identified drillable oil and gas prospects in the Gulf of Mexico through interpretation of electric logs, reflection seismic data and reservoir parameters to assess structural /stratigraphic relationships and fluid content of both producing and potential petroleum reservoirs.   Includes three years supervisory experience in well site evaluation.

SCIENTIFIC INTERESTS

Earth Science education, Quaternary stratigraphy, sedimentology and landscapes, glacial geology and geomorphology; fluvial landscapes and environments and their relationships to environmental problems.

HONORS AND AWARDS

•  Campus wide list of teachers ranked as excellent by their students (Fall 1991, Fall 1992), Geology Department Outstanding Teaching Assistant (Fall 1992)
•  Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research (1982, 1995)
•  Sigma Gamma Epsilon, Geological Honor Society (1982)
•  Participation in Penrose Conference on Fractured Unlithified Aquitards: Origins and Transport   Processes (1994).
•  Participation in the Technical Workshop on the Micromorphology of Glacial Deposits, Amsterdam,   The Netherlands (1993)
•  Nominee for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) U.S. Professors of the Year Award (2005)
•  Promoted to Assistant Professor (August 2008)
•  Promoted to Associate Professor (August 2009)
•  Principal Investigator on a 5 year NSF grant to Waubonsee Community College “Waubonsee Community College S-STEM Scholarship Program”

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

National Association of Geoscience Teachers
National Earth Science Teachers Association
Geological Society of America
American Quaternary Association
Association of Ground Water Scientists and Engineers
American Geophysical Union
American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Illinois Science Teachers Association

PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

Hansel, A. K., Johnson, W. H., and Voorhees, D. H., 1993, Subglacial till of deformation origin from the last glacial episode in Central Illinois (abs.), Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Abstracts with Programs, v. 25, no. 6, p. A-393.

Marshak, S. and Voorhees, D. H., 1993, Planet Earth, Discussion Session Notes, Ginn Press, Needham Heights, MA, 73 p.

Moore-Moauro, D.S., and Voorhees, D.H., 2006, Implementation of a fossil preparation lab as an enhancement to activity based learning for the Earth Science, Geology, and Biology laboratory curriculum at Waubonsee Community College(abs), Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Abstracts with Programs, v. 38, no. 7, p 499.

Oliver, J.S., Curry, B., Stafford, T.W., and Voorhees, D., 2005, The Aurora Mastodont Project: Implications of new radiocarbon dates for understanding the timing and causes of the Late Pleistocene extinction event (abs.), 2nd International Congress “The World of Elephants”.

Voorhees, D. H., 1993, Methodology and preliminary results of a petrographic study of Midcontinent, USA glacial diamictons, Technical Workshop on the Micromorphology of Glacial Deposits, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 18-24 September 1993.

Voorhees, D. H., 1995, Microscopic inhomogeneities of the macroscopically homogeneous subglacial tills in Illinois (abs.), Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Abstracts with Programs, v. 27, no. 6, p. A-59.

Voorhees, D. H., 1996, Evidence and implications of a stone bed of a subglacial fluvial origin in east-central Illinois (abs.), Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Abstracts with Programs, v. 28, no. 7, p. A-111.

Voorhees, D.H., 2006, Simple implementation of the oil game as an effective problem-based learning exercise into an Environmental Geology lecture-format class (abs), Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Abstracts with Programs, v. 38, no. 7, p. 523

Voorhees, D.H., 2005, Education and outreach opportunities at Waubonsee Community College, a new IRIS Educational Affiliate (abs), 2005 UNAVCO / IRIS Joint Workshop, Dolce Skamania Lodge, WA

Voorhees, D.H., 2008, Aurora Mastodont Project 2004 – A successful outreach and educational experiment, inCurry, B. (ed), Deglacial History and Paleoenvironments of Northeastern Illinois, 54th Midwest Friends of the Pleistocene Field Conference, DeKalb, IL, Illinois State Geological Survey Open File 2008-1, p. 112 – 122.

Voorhees, D.H., 2008, In-class active engagement exercises for rapid assessment and student development of the scientific method, in Fraknoi, A., (ed), Cosmos in the Classroom 2007, Conference Proceedings, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, p. 111-116.

Voorhees, D.H., 2009, “Asset Earth” as a method of outreach to improve the scientific literacy of Waubonsee Community College students and the Waubonsee Community, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 41, no. 4, p. 26.

Voorhees, D.H., 2010, What is sustainability and how do we teach it?, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 42, No. 5, p. 531.

Voorhees, D.H., and H.S. Forsthoff, 1985, Oil and Gas Developments in Louisiana Gulf Coast Offshore in 1984, American Association Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 69, p. 1604-1607.

Voorhees, D. H., Johnson, W. H., and Hansel, A. K., 1994, Glacigenic stone horizons as indicators of subglacial bed conditions in north-central Illinois (abs.), Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Abstracts with Programs, v. 26, no. 7, p. A-125.

Voorhees, David H., Oliver, James S., Curry, Brandon B., and Saunders, Jeffrey J., 2004, Interdisciplinary collaboration in the extraction of mastodont and associated faunal remains in Phillips Park, Aurora, IL (abs.), Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 36, no. 5, p. 420

Voorhees, David H., Oliver, James S., Saunders, Jeffrey J., and Curry, B. Brandon, 2004, Excavation of mastodont remains from Mastodon Lake in Aurora, IL (abs.), Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 36, no. 3, p. 9

Weiss, E.A., and D.H. Voorhees, 1984, Oil and Gas Developments in Louisiana Gulf Coast Offshore in 1983, American Association Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 68, p. 1367-1369

(Createous - Paleogene (formerly Tertiary) boundary, dinosaur extinction above scale, Stevns Klint, Denmark, 2010)