Geology Major Wins Award

Senior Earth Science major Jonathan Skyles won best poster in June at the North Central-South Geological Society of American meeting at the University of Kansas at Lawrence. It was one of 151 oral and written presentations competing for eight awards. Skyles won Best Undergraduate Poster for his work with research mentor Professor Stephen Leslie. Skyles’ winning presentation was titled The Use of Sequence Stratigraphy to Predict the Distribution of Conodonts in the Fayetteville Shale, Northern Arkansas. The research concerns condonts, a small group of tiny fossils that may be the earliest vertebrates. The presence of condonts’ fossil remains in rocks can give clues to the thermal histories and age relations of rocks – relationships that hold great significance in the search for oil and gas deposits. Leslie’s research is supported by two National Science Foundation grants and a grant from the Petroleum Research Fund. Skyles is currently an intern working for the United States Geological Survey Water Science Center in Little Rock.