Picture of various types of pollenCourtesy of http://www.theora.com/msdb.php
Dr. Allen found research opportunities with the Barton Village Site through the Appalachian Festival when he first started teaching at FSU. He had worked with an archeological conservancy (“non-profit organization that acquires and preserves archaeological sites in the United States” (Wikipedia Contributors).) before he took his position at FSU. Now he gets to continue his experience with Dr. Wall and the archeological conservancy, Western Maryland Chapter of ASM, in their research, also mentioned in my previous post. Dr. Allen even got be a part of the radar experiment that produced the exciting photo of village sites.
Since the Barton Village Site is located in the flood planes of a river, the archeological site is a stratified. This means that the layers of the soil are defined as shown in the picture below.
Courtesy of Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage at http://www.mhgp.org/?p=anne-arundel-2011
Every time the river banks flooded, new sedimentary material settled on older soil. The change in color and texture of the soil defines the change in the natural history of the site. Dr. Allen's job, as a Geomorphologist, is to show how the land changed through his findings on the pollen found in the soil samples taken from the layers of soil at the site. Dr. Allen, in his words, can then “figure out what caused the vegetation to change (either natural or mechanical) and further build Dr. Wall's case”. Dr. Allen expressed that finding pollen is a laborious process so his findings will take some time, however, he has promised to release photo's of the pollen found in December.
It's amazing at what all Dr. Allen is doing considering that the work going into the project with Dr. Wall is nothing compared to Dr. Allen's personal research. The implications of such have a big impact on the Frostburg Area. For more information read, Is There A Silent Killer On Campus?, By blogger, Burdin1251.
Dr. Allen will be posting updates on his research, which you can find at this site: http://mirror.frostburg.edu/dept/geog/faculty/phil-allen/
What do You think?
What do students think of faculty research in relation to time management? It seems that Dr. Allen has a lot on his plate. Would his students be concerned about this or are students concerned in general about professor time management? Keonda Issac, a FSU Law and Societies major, and local of Baltimore MD, doesn't seem too concerned. “I don't see anything wrong with it as long as the professor doesn't get distracted from the syllabus”. Keonda's friend LaQuasia Burns, a FSU Business major, and also a local of Baltimore, agreed with her. “As long as we don't get the short end of the stick then I'm fine with it”.
Sarah Stevens, a Park's and Recreation major, and local of Lusby MD, is actually going to be involved in Dr. Diane C. Blankenship's research next semester. Sarah wasn't exactly sure on what all she'll be involved in doing but she did express that Dr. Blankenship is not only engaged in research and teaching 6 classes but is also finishing writing a textbook. When asked if she had any concerns with Dr. Blankenship's work load, Sarah replied, “She balances everything out fine! She never seems overwhelmed”.
Though these quotes do not represent all students at FSU, it seems that a few who represent the whole spectrum, those who don't know about faculty research to those who are involved in faculty research, are not concerned with the ability of professors to manage their time.
If you have any opinions on this please comment.
1) Wikipedia contributors. "The Archaeological Conservancy." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 18 Apr. 2011. Web. 9 Oct. 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Cite&page=The_Archaeological_Conservancy&id=424714030
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