Chuck Bailey's Blog

A number of William & Mary geologists changed their latitude (and perhaps their attitude) by making a showing at the Geological Society of America's spring meeting in St. Petersburg, Florida over Spring Break.

For the first two months of 2009, Williamsburg escaped any measurable snow.

Charter Day is a good time to reflect upon the foundation of the College: not the events of 316 years ago that established the College, nor the buildings and bricks that frame campus, but rather the landscape that literally forms the College's foundation.

William & Mary may start the spring semester under a blanket of snow. That's a big deal around here.

William & Mary students are in the throes of final exams. It can be a stressful time. The Structure & Tectonics research group had an additional wrinkle added to their end-of-the-semester calendar- a geological research conference to attend.

The Earth's moon is pockmarked with craters. But just how did those craters form? The origin of lunar craters was debated from the mid-17th century well into the 20th century, with many astronomers favoring a volcanic origin while a number of geologists explained them as the result of impacts from the collision of extra-lunar bodies with the moon.

As the weather cools and the hours of daylight grow ever shorter, the structural geology seminar finds itself grinding away on the research projects. Perhaps we are not yet close enough to see light at the end of the tunnel (or the semester), but progress has been made. Early in the semester we divided into three research teams, each focusing on a different study area with its own set of geologic problems that need answers.

Rogers Hall is currently being gutted and will emerge as part of the Integrated Science Center II. Built in 1975, Rogers Hall housed the Chemistry department and took its name for William & Mary educated William Barton Rogers (1804-1882)...

Professors talk for a living. In the classroom we talk (and sometimes talk and talk) on subjects we're passionate about, but the College's annual Raft Debate turns professorial chatter into a brawl of fact and innuendo...

This semester's structural geology seminar is an upper level course populated with an eager crew of juniors and seniors. The class is working on three research projects intended to better understand the tectonics of the Appalachian Mountains...

Space the final frontier. It's the classic opening line from the original Star Trek television series and is an underlying theme for the Planetary Geology course I am teaching this semester...

Geology is a wonderful reason for travel. In contrast to many scientific disciplines, geologists typically go to the field for their primary data...