Brad Allgood (B.S. 2003)
Since finishing the Peace Corps in Nicaragua in 2007, I moved to Washington, D.C. where I’ve been living for the past 3.5 years and working in documentary film. I received my M.A. in Film and Video Production from American University in 2010 and am currently working in PBS Marketing and Communications producing nationally-broadcast television, radio and on-line promos for PBS series such as NOVA, American Experience, Masterpiece, American Masters and Great Performances.
Since transitioning to documentary filmmaking, I’ve had the opportunity to intern at National Geographic where I worked on the film “The Human Family Tree,” film with Oprah and the First Family in the White House and travel both domestically and internationally to produce and/or film documentaries covering issues such as environmental problems in the Chesapeake Bay (http://www.american.edu/soc/news/Ecoviews.cfm), the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (www.waitingforoil.com), lobster diving in Nicaragua (nomading.com), HIV/AIDS in Botswana (www.theroadweknow.com) and fisheries conservation initiatives in Colombia (http://vimeo.com/10247100), among others.
I will be leaving my current job at PBS in May to take a position as the Nicaragua Field Project Manager for the renewable energy non-profit Power to the People (www.powertothepeople.org). Power to the People works with volunteers to bring solar electricity to community buildings in rural areas of the developing world. Their mission is to create opportunities for people to improve the quality of their own lives through the installation of renewable energy technologies.
David Bacchus (B.S. 1977)
I get to see my former UGA Geology Lab Instructor Marty Robinson once a week or so during exploration meetings or at our favorite restaurant in Dhahran where some menu entrees are named after him (a story Marty should share someday). Marty is a lot of fun. For me, at this point in my geological career, I am buried in administrative assignments, some are interesting and all are challenging due to mixed cultural work force communications.
Sam Bentley (in camo waders) taking vibracores on a class
field trip to the Wax Lake Delta of the Atchafalaya River.
Sam Bentley (M.S. 1991)
After five years at Memorial University in St. John’s Newfoundland (where I was a Canada Research Chair in Seabed Processes, in the Earth Sciences Department), my family and I have moved back to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where I have taken the Harrison Chair in Sedimentary Geology in the LSU Department of Geology and Geophysics. I was at LSU 1999-2006, in the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences.
Newfoundland was great, and I still have an active research program there, but my wife Fiona and sons Jack and Rory all love not having to wear socks again, and I am very happy to be able to grow hot peppers in the back yard once more.
Randy M. Drummond (B.S. 1981)
Randy worked in Oklahoma oil fields during the boom of 1980-1983, has worked with the Army since 1983, and has worked as a civilian with the Department of Defense, Army National Guard, for the last 19 years as an Environmental Geologist. His current job duties consist of cleanup and remediation of soil and groundwater contamination sites owned and/or operated by the Georgia Army National Guard, which consists of approximately 11,500 soldiers and 500 civilians with approximately 100 facilities across the state.
A very young Kevin Gantz in Nova Scotia.
Kevin K. Gantz (B.S. 1984)
I have taken up residency at the MWH Global office in Alpharetta, Georgia. My new title is Senior EHS Manager (I tried to get them to spell it Señor, but they were not having it). I have been working with MWH as a subcontractor for over 8 years and finally came on-board full time. I have enjoyed working around the country on many interesting projects with their clients and am pleased to finally have a real office (is a cubicle office with a door a “real” office?). You also know you are finally getting old when your daughter goes off to UGA and ends up having a geology class with Mike Roden and going on a field trip with Dr. Dallmeyer. I was also pleased to have Dr. Allard join my family for a dance performance featuring my daughter at the UGA Dance theater. I greatly enjoyed my time at UGA and am thankful for the guidance and counsel of the fine teaching staff in our wonderful Geology Department. Feel free to drop me a line and catch up at kevin.k.gantz@us.mwhglobal.com.
Shelly Frampton and R. David Dallmeyer, May 1978.
Stephen Henderson (Ph.D. 1984)
Hope you’re doing well. I’m still over here at Oxford and I was promoted to full professor last year. This June, I’ll be doing my desert geology course out to Big Bend National Park again, if it’s open. Ash Raymond and Chris Fleisher will be teaching and driving the students with me, as they did last year. I’ve given them complete responsibility for the volcanic geology of the Davis Mountains. Scary. In June, I’ll present a paper at the 9th International Conference on Military Geosciences held this year in Las Vegas and hosted by the Desert Research Institute. I’ll speak on the influence of geology and geography on the Indian Wars of eastern Washington Territory. In July, Tony Martin and myself will be team-teaching some courses at James Cook University for Emory Summer Abroad in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. We’ll teach environmental geology and ecosystems through time. We are tag-teaming it, with Tony doing the first two weeks in June, then we’ll be together on the one-week field trip the first week of July, and then I finish it off with the last two weeks of the courses. These are Emory students who will be getting an Australian perspective on these topics. Kitty (Kathryn Langmyer Henderson) is teaching 6th, 7th, and 8th grade gifted science this year. Three preparations are trying but she has created some amazing PowerPoints. My daughter, Sarah is a junior in anthropology at Emory.
Ken Leonard.
Ken Leonard (B.S. 2005)
Ken received his Ph.D. from UGA’s Odum School of Ecology in December, 2010. He sends sincere thanks to everyone in UGA Geology for everything and especially to Sally Walker who, inter alia, taught him the value of slicing rabbits. Ken is perpetually trying to determine with field work in his spare time from teaching at GGC whether his enigmatica from Dalton, Georgia, are diagenetica, various deformed trilobita, or veritable protocoral-ish cnidaria. He really does intend to take-up Randy Kath’s offer of use of the ESEM at UWG.
Gayle Levy (M.S. 2003)
In May of last year, I changed jobs to become the web manager at Conservation International. It’s a perfect fit for me because I get to work on science content all day, but yet continue to work on the Web, which I enjoy. On a personal note, my husband Brian and I welcomed our second child (Ian) in December. We’re all settling in and Ellie is adjusting well to being a big sister.
Jon McKenna (M.S. 2002)
After a brief stint as a cartographer at the Georgia Geologic Survey, the second job I got after graduating was as a geologist for the Aggregates Division of the Georgia Marble Company. This photo was taken in April of 1989 of me in the Cumming (Georgia) quarry of Georgia Marble by another fellow UGA geology grad and Georgia Marble geologist Bill Bradley (B.S. 1982). We had just pulled a shot and located the fault contact that was responsible for overturning the beds in the quarry.
Allan Nix (B.S. 1991)
I can hardly believe that it has been 20 years since I graduated. After spending way too much time doing environmental consulting (about 16 years), I got a job with the Georgia EPD in 2007 and am still there. Currently, I am a geologist in the Response and Remediation Program. My job is to oversee the assessment and remediation of contaminated properties. Unfortunately, I have not been out west since field school with Drs. Howard and Roden in 1990. I still remember the coyotes howling at night when we camped in New Mexico. I also remember that the soil at our campsite was so full of organic matter that I had a hard time putting out the campfire. It kept smoldering in the near subsurface. Anyway, my email address at EPD is allan.nix@gaepd.org. I would enjoy hearing from any of the faculty, staff, or my old classmates.
