Back for real this time!

After my accident nearly two years ago, I thought that I would rebound quickly. Truth is, the injuries forced me to rethink much of what I was trying to do at the time. Although I posted a notice that I would resume posting in Sept. 2009, I decided to take time off to pursue other interests.

In addition to my work as a consultant, I have been teaching Physical Geology (lecture and lab) at Austin Community College, and I have been working on an outline for a combination text/lab manual for Physical Geology. I am not satisfied with the way the most texts and manuals approach key topics - such as mineral and rock identification, stratigraphy, structural geology, and groundwater. Much of what is out there is woefully inadequate, outdated, and - frankly - poorly presented. I still have a way to go with that project, but I am making progress.

I have been working on what I call "A Manual of Applied Geochemistry for Hydrogeologists and Environmental Engineers." It is more of a "how-to" document than a textbook on the principles of geochemistry. I will post an outline of topics in that manual by the end of May. I will appreciate any comments that readers of this blog might have about organization and subject matter. As I do a lot of geochemical modeling (especially arsenic, naturally occurring radionuclides, and groundwater age-dating), I am developing chapters illustrating the use of public domain modeling programs (PHREEQCI, CHEAQS Pro, and Visual MINTEQ and inexpensive commercial geochemical graphing programs such as AqQA to model and illustrate a wide range of problems encountered in hydrology. I considered adding examples using Geochemist's Workbench, Standard v. 8.0, but that program sells for $3,499. I typically default to GWB, for my modeling work, but I decided to focus on the use of public-domain programs for this effort.

I also joined Hydrogeologists Without Borders. In January of this year, Laurra Olmsted (Executive Director of HWB) and I traveled to Kenya to conduct a preliminary survey of water resources in the Marakwet District. Our objective is to develop spring water resources along the western escarpment of the Great Rift Valley. This will be a long-term project - one that will involve many trips to Kenya. I expect to return to Kenya at least two times this year, and no telling how many times over the next few years. HWB is also working with the University of Nairobi Geology Department to expand and update the department's course offerings in hydrogeology.

The focus of this blog will change somewhat, as I plan to cover a much broader range of water-resource topics than intended when I set up the blog. I look forward to posting again.


Best Regards,

aquadoc