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Bayne Westrick-Snapp
Masters of Geology candidate
About Me
I am currently at Cal State Universary Fullerton working on my Masters degree in Geology, with a specific interest in geochemistry and marine geology. I received my BS in Geology at CSUF with a minor in Chemistry. I am working on my thesis with Dr. Sean Loyd, with whom I finished an undergrad thesis with in Summer 2016. Some interests beside geology include: Herps (reptiles/amphibians), gardening, insects (I raise Monarchs and ocassional Swallowtails), as well as marine organisms (I currently work for an aquarium).
Geology Research Experience
Current MS project: I will be looking at the Carbon and Sulfur isotopes of the Bonanza King Formation in California. This formation is primarily a Cambrian aged limestone/dolostone. Many late Cambrian aged lime/dolostones globally show a positive excursion with both isotopes. I will be looking to see if this area exhibits the same excursion and continue from there.
Undergrad Thesis: I looked at the Carbon 13 make up of Concretions found within the Castaic Formation (located north of Castaic, CA) under Dr. Sean Loyd. The purpose was to determine how much was sourced from organic or inorganc C sources.
Independent Studies: I spent a month mapping parts of the Andes Mountains in Argentina with Dr. Vali Memeti, fellow undergrads, Argentinian Geologiest, and PhD candidates in May of 2015.
Other Research and Work Experience
I currently work for Cabrillo Marine Aquarium where I am a part of the education department. At the aquarium, I interact and educate the public as well as teach groups of students (pre k and above) about various aspects of the ocean (animals, algae, physical and chemical processes, etc) based on what their field trip is about.
While working here, I had the opportunity to help some friends collect fish for their research in Mexico. I continue to help another friend collect grunion (during their mating season) for his PhD work.
I continue to do coastal park, salt marsh, and tide pool surveys that are performed by the aquarium (doing these led to me being hired). In these surveys, we either use quadrats to sample sites, or a seine net to gather organisms, then we count, measure, and sometimes weigh the specimens and release them.
