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Grant Colip

I am a Physical Scientist at the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center in Reston, Virginia, where I work on the USGS Glaciated Regions Geologic Mapping Project.  I also manage the Sediment Petrology Laboratory for the Bascom Center.

Employment

2023 - present: Physical Scientist, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Reston, Virginia.

  • Glaciated Regions Geologic Mapping Project (2023 - present).  I work with Dr. Christopher Swezey and other USGS scientists, focusing on mapping of bedrock and surficial (Quaternary) deposits in the northern US.  I also manage the Sediment Petrology Laboratory for the Bascom Center, which includes pXRF, microscopy, and laser-diffraction (LD) grain size analysis equipment.

2018 - 2023: Student Trainee (Physical Science), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Reston, Virginia.

  • Glaciated Regions Geologic Mapping Project (2022 - 2023)
  • Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Project (2019 - 2022)
  • Geology of the Appalachian and Illinois Basins (2018 - 2019)

2020 - 2023: Graduate Research / Teaching Assistant, North Carolina State University, Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, Raleigh, North Carolina.

  • Master's Thesis: "Interpreting seismic reflection imagery to reconstruct late Quaternary earthquake history at Lake Crescent, Washington, USA."

2017 - 2019: Undergraduate Laboratory Assistant, James Madison University, Department of Geology & Environmental Science, Harrisonburg, Virginia.

  • Honors Thesis: "Grain size and vegetation as controlling variables for stream channel morphology."

Education and Certifications

  • M.S. (2023) - Earth Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina.

  • B.S. (2019) - Geology, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia.

  • B.A. (2019) - Modern Foreign Languages - Spanish, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Affiliations and Memberships*

  • Geological Society of America (GSA)

  • Sigma Gamma Epsilon (SGE) - national earth science honor society

Honors and Awards

  • 2023 - USGS STAR Award, for outstanding educational outreach efforts and facilitation of land access for geologic mapping

  • 2022 - CSD Facility Visiting Graduate Student Travel Grant, for carrying out ICD (initial core description) work at the CSD (Continental Scientific Drilling) facility at UMN, Minneapolis, Minnesota

  • 2019 - Philip R. Cosminsky Award, for outstanding service to the Geology department and the University

  • 2018 - Spade Field Camp Scholarship, for the JMU Geology Field Course in Ireland

  • 2017 - Fred Schaefermeyer Scholarship, for excelling in the Mineralogy course & showing enthusiasm for mineral collecting

  • 2017 - Inducted into Sigma Gamma Epsilon, national earth science honor society

  • 2015 - Second Century Scholarship, 75% of in-state tuition cost for all four years of undergraduate study, for showing outstanding promise as an incoming STEM major with a GPA of over 3.5

Abstracts and Presentations

  • Leithold, E., Wegmann, K., and Colip, G. (2024) An 8,000-year Holocene earthquake record from the northern Cascadia forearc: evidence for multiple sources at Lake Crescent, Washington. Seismological Society of America Annual Meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, April 29 - May 3, 2024.

  • Colip, G., Swezey, C., Mahan, S., Toomey, M., and Rodysill, J. (2023) Quaternary permafrost-fluvial and lacustrine sediments deposited during glacial intervals in the Water Sinks depression, a prominent karst sinkhole in Silurian-Devonian limestone, Highland County, Virginia. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 15-18, 2023.

  • Colip, G., Leithold, E., Wegmann, K., Brothers, D., and Burr, R. (2023) Seismic reflection imagery aids late Quaternary earthquake reconstructions at Lake Crescent, Washington, USA. Geological Society of America Joint Northeast-Southeast Section Meeting in Reston, Virginia, March 17-19, 2023.

  • Swezey, C., Brent, E., Colip, G., and Mahan, S. (2021). Luminescence dating of sand in Butler Cave (Burnsville Cove, Bath and Highland Counties, Virginia) reveals a sedimentary record from the last glaciation. Geological Society of America Northeastern Section Meeting (Online), March 14-15, 2021.

  • Colip, G., Swezey, C., Rodysill, J., Toomey, M., and Hayslett, M. (2020). Holocene sediments at Browns Pond, a vernal pool located within a karst sinkhole in the Silurian Tonoloway Limestone in Bath County, Virginia. Geological Society of America Northeast-Southeast Join Section Meeting in Reston, Virginia, March 20-22, 2020.

Science and Products

link
Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Task 4 Image

Task 4-Synthesis of Michigan, Illinois, and Appalachian Basin Stratigraphy

The objective of Task 4 is to develop an improved understanding of the lithostratigraphic framework of the Michigan, Illinois, and Appalachian Basins, with specific emphasis on how the lithologic characteristics of strata that accumulate in a sedimentary basin have been controlled by variations in tectonics, sea level, and climate. The resulting improved understanding of stratigraphy will aid...
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
link

Task 4-Synthesis of Michigan, Illinois, and Appalachian Basin Stratigraphy

The objective of Task 4 is to develop an improved understanding of the lithostratigraphic framework of the Michigan, Illinois, and Appalachian Basins, with specific emphasis on how the lithologic characteristics of strata that accumulate in a sedimentary basin have been controlled by variations in tectonics, sea level, and climate. The resulting improved understanding of stratigraphy will aid...
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Brandon using tool to collect from sediment exposure
Brandon Graham collecting a sample from a sediment exposure at Army Base Fort Drum, New York
Brandon Graham collecting a sample from a sediment exposure at Army Base Fort Drum, New York
Brandon using tool to collect from sediment exposure

Brandon Graham collecting a sample from a sediment exposure at Army Base Fort Drum, New York

Brandon Graham collecting a sample from a sediment exposure at Army Base Fort Drum, New York

Brandon Graham collecting a sample from a sediment exposure at Army Base Fort Drum, New York. These samples were collected as part of an OSL (optically-stimulated luminescence) dating campaign in collaboration with Shannon Mahan of the USGS Luminescence Lab in Denver, CO.

Fall 2023 Photo Contest Winner: Grant Colip, USGS at Work category

By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
Brandon using tool to collect from sediment exposure

Brandon Graham collecting a sample from a sediment exposure at Army Base Fort Drum, New York

Brandon Graham collecting a sample from a sediment exposure at Army Base Fort Drum, New York

Brandon Graham collecting a sample from a sediment exposure at Army Base Fort Drum, New York. These samples were collected as part of an OSL (optically-stimulated luminescence) dating campaign in collaboration with Shannon Mahan of the USGS Luminescence Lab in Denver, CO.

Fall 2023 Photo Contest Winner: Grant Colip, USGS at Work category

By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Science and Products

*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government