Susan Schnur presented her PhD dissertation defense on April 17th.  She is a graduate student in Geology and Geophysics, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University. The topic of her research is Temporal Evolution of Submarine Volcanoes and Seamount Trails. Susan’s research interests cover a wide range of topics relating to intra-plate seamount formation and submarine volcanism. She is currently studying the evolution of the young Walvis Ridge guyot province in the South Atlantic using 40Ar/39Ar geochronology, a method for measuring the ages of rocks based on the slow radioactive decay of the elements potassium (K) and argon (Ar). Susan also has strong interests in digital terrain analysis and image processing and has previously worked on image analysis methods for automatically extracting tectonic features from bathymetric maps. As a PhD student, Susan has had the opportunity to sail on UNOLS vessels as part of two expeditions to dredge seamounts in the South Atlantic and the West Pacific. Susan hopes to one day pursue a career in seafloor mapping or marine geological consulting. 

In 2013 Susan recieved the Schlanger Fellowship. The Schlanger Ocean Drilling Fellowship Program offers merit-based awards for outstanding graduate students to conduct research related to the International Ocean Discovery Program. At the conclusion of the Fellowship in 2015, Susan traveled to Ocean Leadership headquarters in Washington, D.C., to present the initial results of her research and take part in the U.S. Science Program related activities.

Four ARCS members attended Susan's defense as well as her donor Elisabeth Lyon.

Elisabeth and Peter Lyon sponsored Susan's ARCS scholar award.

Research information courtesy of OSU website