More
about Amy
Assistant
Professor, 1998-2004, Associate Professor 2004-
Courses taught: Physical Geology, Geology of National Parks (odd
falls), Geology of Natural Hazards (even falls), Environmental Geology (spring
only), Soils and Surficial Processes (odd falls), Sedimentology and
Geochemistry (even falls), Regional Field Geology (spring only), Geology of
Myth (odd springs), Hydrology (even springs), Paleontology (upon request),
Geology of Ohio (upon request), Fossils of Ohio (upon
request)
Contact
Information
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aberger@heidelberg.edu
http://www.heidelberg.edu/~aberger Office phone: (419) 448-2292 |
I arrived at Heidelberg in the fall of 1998 after a varied career:
I went to high school in Coon Rapids, Minnesota,
where I pursued such geek interests as debate, oratory, mathleague,
and student congress. I ran for class president, but came in last. Thus ended my career in politics.
I completed my bachelors degree in Geology
at Pomona College in California.
I tried debate in college, but the participants were morbidly serious, so I
quit and went instead into ballroom dancing and glee club. My favorite class in college was
Shakespeare: Tragedies and Romances, primarily on the strength the professor
(and an amazing group production of Act III of "The Tempest"). I
conducted my undergraduate thesis research on San Salvador Island in the
Bahamas. If you're going to do field work, why not pick someplace scenic? The
thesis title is A comparative study of Neogoniolithon on the island of San Salvador, Bahamas,
and focuses primarily on coralline algae as a paleoindicator
of wave energy.
My doctoral degree is from the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. My graduate
career in geology was tempered by a brief career in ballroom dancing, which is big at
UIUC. In addition to teaching, I also competed around the Midwest—great fun but
needless to say I was not headed for Sydney 2000. After intermittent singing
with the university's Oratorio Society, I ended up in a great women's choir
called Amasong. I did
continue the outstanding-field-site streak by working in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in
northern New Mexico. My dissertation is entitled is Controls on heavy metal
mobility at the Pecos Mine Operable Unit, New Mexico and contains results
concerning natural remediation of toxic metals in acid mine drainage.
I love to teach, and over the course of my life have taught (or
attempted to teach) such subjects as geology, ballroom
dancing, German, folk art painting, calligraphy, and swimming. For a brief
period I even directed a choir, although calling it a "choir" was
probably being a little optimistic. Please visit my Step Aerobics class at the
Y, MWF at
Frequently asked questions about AMY:
How
many places have you traveled?
I have visited
49 of 50 states, and 5 of 7 continents. I hope to visit
Do
you know how to polka?
I learned to
polka in a barn in
What’s
your favorite geology movie?
Most movies
with geology are so abysmal they are actually entertaining. For a really good laugh,
watch “Volcano”.
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Correspondence
welcomed: aberger@heidelberg.edu · Last modified: 9 January 2007