Sera Thomas

Graduate Assistant

Faculty Advisor: Brenda Hall

Office Location: 313 Bryand Global Science Center, University of Maine, Orono, ME

Biographical Statement:  I received my B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in spring of 2023. My focuses at UTC included geologic resources, atmospheric, and Earth processes. While there, I volunteered at a local waterway preservation nonprofit, Waterways, and participated in research in which I identified an unknown precipitate along the Chattanooga Riverwalk using SEM analysis and XRD. In my final semester as an undergraduate, I participated in field work on the Cumberland Plateau near Altamont, Tennessee, in which my team and I detail-mapped a large karst collapse pit using GPS data, Lidar, and GPR. I am currently pursuing a Masters degree in Earth and Climate Sciences, working with Dr. Brenda Hall. My interests in glaciers stem from observing and studying glacial landscapes in Scotland during my undergraduate career.

Research Statement: Under the advisement of Dr. Brenda Hall, I am investigating the timing of the termination of the last glacial Ice Age in southernmost South America. My research focuses on surface dating, specifically cosmogenic nuclide dating, of rock samples from the Cordillera Darwin Ice Field in Chile.