Graduates seek groundwater for Georgetown
[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/staceygrandcanyonslompka.jpg” caption=”Jessica Slomka and Stacey Puckering are graduating from McMaster’s School of Geography and Earth Sciences at the 2009 Faculty of Science convocation.”]It's difficult to pin down most graduates this time of year, but for Stacey Puckering and Jessica Slomka, who graduate from McMaster's School of Geography and Earth Science today, it's not celebrations that are keeping them busy. It's water.
Both students work for Carolyn Eyles, professor in the School of Geography and Earth Sciences, on the Halton Water Project, which aims to locate a new groundwater source for the growing urban regions of Georgetown. Their work is based in McMaster's Glacial Sedimentology Lab, but they spend ample time in the field dealing with sediment samples and trying to recreate environmental conditions that existed in the area between 30 000 and 12 000 years ago.
Slomka and Puckering met Eyles in their first year at McMaster and she has proven to be an inspiration throughout their time at the University. Not only have they held teaching assistant positions for the professor, but Slomka also works under her as a program development assistant for McMaster's new Integrated Science (iSci) Program.
“Her enthusiasm toward undergraduate students and teaching gave me a more positive attitude toward my own learning and toward life in general,” said Slomka. “Although professors like Dr. Eyles are few and far between, these are the professors that students will admire and remember for the rest of their lives.”
With leadership like this, the young graduates may be tempted to spend all of their free time immersed in field work, but both have taken part in many other McMaster activities during their University career. Both women enjoyed athletics at McMaster, as Slomka played for four years on McMaster's women's lacrosse team and Puckering occasionally plays for the GEO FC soccer team.
Both are set to return to McMaster in the fall to complete graduate work on groundwater exploration under Eyles. Although neither woman is sure what their post-graduate futures entail, they are sure McMaster has prepared them for success in any endeavor.
“My experiences have exposed me to the international world of cutting edge scientific research in my field of study,” said Slomka.
“McMaster has really prepared me for any career,” adds Puckering. “Graduates come out of the School of Geography and Earth Sciences with a wide range of knowledge that can be applied to many fields of Earth sciences.”
