Student to Present Results of Sand Dune Research

September 26, 2005 == MEDIA ADVISORY

Melinda Campbell, a junior at Calvin who hails from Saginaw, will be giving a
presentation called, "Communicating to the Public the Results of a Study of
Contemporary Lake Michigan Dune Activity," at the annual meeting of the
Geological Society of America (GSA), to be held October 16 to 19 at the Salt
Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

"This is the premiere conference for geology," says Deanna van Dijk, the
Calvin professor of geology who mentored Campbell's research. "There are
thousands of people attending."

Though she confesses to some nerves, Campbell is looking forward to her part
in the GSA gathering.

Campbell will report on how she spent the summer months of 2005.

Her project: studying the parabolic sand dunes (dunes blown into a crescent
shape by wind) at P.J. Hoffmaster State Park.

Using erosion pins, ground surveys and surface condition observations,
Campbell studied how the wind affects the growth and erosion of the dunes.

Her research, part of a year-long study funded by a $12,500 grant from the
Michigan Coastal Management Program, will produce two tangible results, and
both will benefit a wide audience.

The first is an interpretive panel which will be built at Hoffmaster Park as
an educational tool for the public. The second result is the Lake Michigan
Coastal Dune Web site, which will be hosted and maintained on Calvin's geology
department server and likely launched in mid-October.

For the complete story see
http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2005_06/dunes.htm

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Received on Mon Sep 26 09:55:46 2005