Eastern Student Daniel Grondin of East Hartford Presents Research in Washington

2015 May 4

A total of 14 Eastern Connecticut State University students from 11 academic departments presented in Spokane, WA, this past April at the 2015 National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR).

Among the presenters was Daniel Grondin '15 of East Hartford, who majors in Environmental Earth Science. Mentored by Environmental Earth Science Professor Dickson Cunningham, Grondin's presentation was titled "Rheomorphic Folding of Super-Hot Ignimbrites in the Southern Snake River Plain, Idaho."

"Dan’s project involved looking at volcanic rocks related to North America’s most violent volcanic system--the Yellowstone-Snake River Plain hotspot track," said Cunningham. "Specifically, Dan looked at the internal geology of super-hot pyroclastic flow deposits that were erupted from super-volcanoes in Idaho about 10 million years ago."

"It was great working with Dan," said cunningham. "In the field he was enthusiastic and hard-working and always had good questions and imaginative ideas."

Eastern was the top school in Connecticut for NCUR participation this year, and top two in the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC), which contains more than 30 schools.

With approximately 3,700 submissions, NCUR reported a more competitive selection process occurred this year. Eighty-eight percent of Eastern submissions were accepted for presentation. The emails notifying students of acceptance stated, "Your abstract demonstrates a unique contribution to your field of study and we are pleased to offer you the opportunity to present your work to your peers, faculty and staff from around the world."